Booth Displays for 3-d Art at Art Festivals

For the most part, just about any art that doesn't hang on a wall is considered 3-d art. At local shows the most popular 3-d art includes ceramics, jewelry and glassware. Most 3-d art is arranged on tables but some work can be hung on display racks, similar to a hanging a picture on a wall. See the notes on Caryne Mount's display about hanging 3-d work on display racks.

Below, local Tri-Valley artists share what works best when displaying 3-d work at art festivals.

3-D Booth Layout Examples

Rhonda Chase - Jewelry

Rhonda Chase is one of the Tri-Valley’s most diverse and popular jewelry artists, creating everything from intricate wire wrapped jewelry to award winning jewelry from recycled materials. Despite the variety in Rhonda's jewelry style, her show and gallery displays exhibit cohesion and tempt show patrons from around the Tri-Valley.

Rhonda says the main objective of her displays are " to catch the attention of the passerby and have a comfortable viewing experience to keep them looking [at my jewelry]”. Some of her display ideas include:

Show items at various heights. Use different height tables, shelves and risers.
Keep your most exciting pieces at eye level. People should not have to reach up or bend down to see your best work.
You can arrange items by color, product type or size – play and figure out what works best for your art.
Put jewelry on display forms so that they stand out more and are less likely to walk away.
Set up at home before the show and view the overall affect so that there are not any surprises during show time.
For additional display ideas, visit pinterest.com.

You can find more of Rhonda's work at the Livermore Art Association Gallery.

Caryne Mount - Fabric Artist

Caryne Mount produces fabulous fabric creations, from intricate kimonos and coats or simple but elegant purses and scarves. The work she displays in shows covers a wide gamut of price points from simple beautiful but chic hand died scarves and hand-sewn purses to highly detailed kimonos.

Caryne and Rhonda Chase successfully shared booth space at the 2016 Art Under the Oaks show. A picture of their booth is below. Because of the difference in medium and style used in their individual art, Caryne and Rhonda created separate show spaces for their work in the same booth, rather then mixing it together. Caryne’s display made use of grid wall rented from the Livermore Art Association, where she hung purses and scarves. A simple white back drop behind the grid wall separated the display from the activity in the rest of the show, concentrating the views eye on the items being displayed.

You can find more of Caryne's work at the Livermore Art Association Gallery.

Erin Davis - Ceramics

Erin Davis is a popular ceramics artist and teacher in the Tri-Valley. Her work includes elegantly shaped and brightly colored vases and bowls.

Erin's display is versatile, allowing her to set up under a 10x10 foot canopy or a longer, narrower 5x15 foot strip. Her shelves and cabinets were purchased at IKEA and with help from touch up paint, have lasted through a number of shows over the years. To keep her display from looking flat on the tables, Erin uses metal risers, designed and made by her husband, Phil. Erin arranges her pottery by color temperature, with the warm red and orange tones occupying center stage, the cooler blues and greens on the side tables and the white and darker tones rounding out the display.

Sue Vincent - Ceramics

Sue Vincent is new to the Tri-Valley but has garnered much experience from her old home in the South Bay. Her beautiful and earthy bowls, plates, teapots and cups have garnered much attention at Tri-Valley shows in the last couple of years.

Sue sets up her display on top of tables under and 10x10 canopy. She keeps her display from looking flat on the table with the use of wooden crates, purchased from a local craft store, Michaels’ and fold up shelving, purchased a number of years ago from Orchard Supply Hardware.

You can find more of Sue's work at the Livermore Art Association Gallery. She also teaches at the meet mART.