Instructions for 2006 Crafts Application

Letter to Crafts Applicants

Links To Download 2006 Crafts Area Application: Acrobat PDF Format, 103Kb MS Word DOC Format, 36Kb

Guidelines for the Craft Area

Coordinator

Leslie Burhoe

Purpose

The purpose of the Crafts Area is: 1.) to contribute to the quality of rural life for Maine craftspeople by giving them a place to sell their work, and 2.) to encourage craftspeople to use Maine resources in ways creatively compatible with the goals and objectives of MOFGA.

General Guidelines for Crafts

1. Applicants must read and abide by the general guidelines for the Common Ground Country Fair.
2. Applicants must reside in Maine. The CGCF may require proof of Maine residency.
3. Applicants must design and make the crafts they wish to sell.
4. Applicants must make their crafts in Maine.
5. Applicants' work must be original in design and concept.
6. Applicants may only sell work included in their application.
7. The CGCF accepts crafts in the following categories: basketry; ceramics; fiber; fine arts; glass; graphics; handmade paper; jewelry; leather; metal; mixed media; photography; and wood.
8. The CGCF will not accept new vendors in the following categories: cosmetics; dried flowers; embellished objects; foodstuffs; herbs; toiletries; works made from kits.
9. The CGCF will not accept applications postmarked after the deadline specified in the Crafts Area application packets.

Jurying Process For Crafts Area

1. The CGCF asks applicants a series of questions about their residency, where their work is made, the items they intend to sell, the price range of their items, their intended customer interaction (e.g., demonstrations, educational displays, commission work, entertainment, staffing), sources of their raw materials, their means of production, other craftspersons involved in making their products, etc...
   
2. The Crafts Area Coordinator and a person involved in MOFGA and the CGCF will review the answers to the application questions.

2. Slides

1. Applicants must submit with their applications four slides which are representative of the range, both in price and originality, of the products they intend to sell. Printmakers and photographers may submit two small (9" X 12" maximum) pieces of work with the slides. The CGCF does not accept samples of work from other categories.
   
2. The Crafts Area Coordinator appoints the slides jury.
   
3. The slides jury consists of an odd number of people with a knowledge of crafts and a connection to MOFGA. The jury may include former CGCF crafts vendors, other craftspeople, or crafts shop owners.
   
4. Slides jurors serve for two years. The Crafts Area Coordinator maintains continuity by replacing members on a rotating basis.
   
5. The CGCF makes public the names of the slides jurors.
   
6. The applicants' slides are anonymous to the slides jurors, and identified only by a number.
   
7. Slides jurors view slides by category and at a pace slow enough to allow for comments and questions.
   
8. The CGCF will not return slides of accepted and waitlisted vendors until the Fair.

1. The Crafts Area Coordinator appoints the on-site inspection jury.
   
2. The on-site inspection jury consists of people with a knowledge of crafts and a connection to MOFGA.
   
3. On-site inspection jurors inspect CGCF Crafts Area booths for quality and presentation of work, interaction with the public, educational content and consistency with vendors'applications.
   
4. After the CGCF, on-site inspection jurors submit a report to the Crafts Area Coordinator. The Coordinator uses the report to evaluate Recognized Crafters (see below) and vendors who reapply to the Crafts Area the following year.

Acceptance to Crafts Area

1. The Crafts Area Coordinator accepts a predetermined number of applicants with the highest scores. There are no category (medium) quotas in the Crafts Area, although the Coordinator reserves the right to balance the categories if needed.
2. The Crafts Area Coordinator evaluates and accepts both traditional and contemporary (or innovative) work.
3. Recognized Crafters

1. When the CGCF accepts a craftsperson for seven of the last nine years (including at least one of the last two years), it will recognize that craftsperson for her/his commitment to the CGCF and for consistently producing quality work. The CGCF recognizes such a craftsperson by automatically accepting her/him into the Crafts Area the following year if she/he completes and submits an application that meets the guidelines by the established CraftsArea deadline.
2. Recognized Crafters are subject to the On-Site Inspection part of the jury process.
3. If the number of Recognized Crafters exceeds 45% of all vendors, the CGCF Steering Committee will review the Recognized Crafters guidelines.

Instructions for 2006 Crafts Application

Who May Apply: The Crafts Area is open to individual craftspeople that reside in Maine and who make high-quality work that is original in design and concept. As an organization dedicated to protecting the environment by promoting organic agricultural practices, MOFGA is especially attracted to crafts that use non-polluting, organic materials and processes whenever possible.

How To Apply: Submit a completed application with four slides [Slide #4 must be of your most popular Item] and a $10.00 processing fee by the postmark deadline, January 28, 2006. Mail your application to:

Common Ground Country Fair, PO Box 170, Unity, ME 04988-0170.

Items You Wish to Sell: It is not necessary to list every specific item you wish to sell. For example, if you are a potter, you can say "tableware" for plates, bowls, cups. But if you are a potter and you have been experimenting with woodcarving, you will not be allowed to sell those items unless they are listed on your application. This is to protect other vendors and prevent the introduction of low quality, unjuried products (see #3 under Selection Criteria below).

Slides: Your slides must be representative of the type of work you plan to sell. Naturally, everyone wants to send slides of their most unusual and special work, but at Common Ground we value the craftsperson who offers a group of items that range in price from the low to high end. Therefore, a slide of one of your most popular items is required (see #2 under Selection Criteria below). If you haven't had this slide taken, do it yourself, today, so you can meet the postmark deadline. It doesn't have to be professionally done, but it must be included.

Problems we have with slides are decreasing (O Happy Day!). Thank you to those of you who make the effort. However, there are always new applicants and recalcitrant returnees who need to read this:

1) Please do not send "fat" slides, as they do not fit in the 140-slide carousel trays that we use. If you do, you will be juried solely on the slides that can be projected.
2) Please make sure your slides aren't sticky with old tape residue.
3) Please be sure to put your name on the front of your slides (side away from the screen).
4) Please send your slides in a store-bought slide sleeve; do not tape, staple or otherwise mutilate your slides. You may staple or tape the sleeve to the application; put your name on the sleeve.

"Recognized Craftspeople" do not have to send slides, since their work is not juried.

Slide Tips. We want to see the work, up close and against a non-distracting background. Shots taken against outdoor props such as the woodpile, generally don't work. Remember, a great photo is totally different from a great slide for jurying.

A special note for artists and photographers: You may submit 2 small (9" x 12" max) pieces of work in addition to slides if you wish. These will be returned to you. No other samples of work will be accepted.

If you are accepted or put on the waiting list, your slides will not be returned until the Fair.

Booth Sizes and Demonstrations: All booths are 10' x 10', whether inside or outside, straight or corner. Frontage of booths is accurate, especially inside the tents. You have 10 feet of frontage. We have allowed only a few inches to spare. On the depth, you will have a few feet behind your booth for storage.

Wide booths have been left off the application because they will no longer be offered except to the few Recognized Vendors who already have them.

Demonstration space has been left off the application as well. If you wish to demonstrate from an outside booth or a tent space that is on an outside corner you are free to do so as long as you do not need additional electricity and do not cause congestion in the aisles. Demonstrations that require electricity must be cleared by the Crafts and Electrical Coordinators.

Attachments: Do not send any attachments. They make our job more difficult and they do not improve your chances of being accepted.

Selection Criteria

To help you get accepted, we offer the following. All things being equal:

1. The person who has more hands-on involvement in the creation of his/her craft from start to finish will be chosen over the person who has less. Here are some examples of whom we will choose in certain categories:

Basketry: the person who gathers, splits or otherwise processes the materials they weave over the person who buys the materials;
Ceramics: the person who throws, or uses the slab or coil technique, over the person who slip casts and only decorates; Fiber: the person who spins, and/or weaves or knits over the one who purchases yarn; the one who weaves or hand paints over the one who sews with purchased material; the one who prints on clothing they made over the one who prints on ready-made clothing; the one who uses natural fibers over the one who only uses synthetic fiber;
Jewelry: the one who creates the piece over the one who assembles purchased components;
Photography: Until recently a photographer took photos, developed, printed and sold them. We choose the one who did his own developing and printing over the one who sent his film out. Now there are many ways to reproduce a photo taken with film and you can even take pictures without film. We do not believe we should reject a new technology just because it is not a traditional craft. But the same criteria apply: the more hands-on, the higher the craftperson's score. Original photographs or original hand-painted photographs must be available for sale. The person who makes his own reproductions on his own computer in his studio will be chosen over the person whose work is reproduced by offset or computer by others outside his control;
Fine Arts & Graphics: Applicant must offer original paintings, drawings, or prints. The person whose small pieces (cards, postcards, etc.) are also made by them (screen prints, block prints, mixed media etc.) is chosen over the person who has their work offset or computer reproduced by others.

3. The person who concentrates on one medium usually fares better in the slide jury than someone who works in several media. Perhaps it implies professionalism or seriousness about developing skill in one's chosen medium.

4. The person who uses non-polluting, organic, Maine materials and/or processes will be chosen over the one who does not.

5. Recognized Craftspeople - In 1997, the FSC revisited the issue of automatically accepting certain long time vendors in the Crafts area. After much discussion the Committee decided to continue to have unjuried vendors for the sake of loyalty to those vendors. The new policy allows any craftsperson that has been accepted for 7 out of the last 9 years (including at least one of the last two years) to be automatically accepted for the next year, if he or she completes the application.

Fee: Enclose the $10 processing fee.

Signature: Don't forget to sign your application and get it postmarked no later than January 28, 2006.

Questions or Comments: Call or email Leslie Burhoe, 685-9805, laburhoe@gwi.net.

For general information about the Common Ground Country Fair contact the Fair Office. Mailing address: PO Box 170, Unity, ME 04988-0170. Phone: 568-4142. Fax: 568-4141. Email: cgcf@mofga.org

PLEASE SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS FOR FUTURE REFERENCE!

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA)
Common Ground Country Fair
PO Box 170
Unity, ME 04988
Phone: 207-568-4142
Fax: 207-568-4141
Email: cgcf@mofga.org