Fair way to artistic success

Faye Garlick has been a regular at the Artisan Fair since it started in 2001. Photo / Michael Cunningham

All great businesses need nurturing incubation - it's no surprise then that the Artisan Fair in Whangarei is the vital, if incredibly windy, womb for Northland artists.

If the Canopy Bridge is the womb, fair organiser Kaari Schlebach is certainly the midwife helping artists develop and deliver their creations from ideas to successful business models.

This year, almost 70 stallholders have signed up to show their products at the Canopy Bridge and, last Saturday, between 10,000 and 15,000 people came through the fair. Some stallholders were sold out.

"The fair is an attraction and shows visitors, and locals, that we are not a boring, conservative city. We have a whole community of art - we are innovative and growing. This is a real tourist hot spot," she said.

Starting out in the car park beside Forum North in 2001, there were just 25 stalls. It moved to the library courtyard and then to the popular Rose Gardens.

After an invite from Whangarei District Council, the Canopy Bridge became the fair's new home.

"I had no budget - the first nine years cost me in money and pure effort." This year, WDC has given $6000 towards some costs. Next year, it will give $4000. Stallholders pay $23 per day to $50, depending on the size and location of the stall and whether or not they avail of discounts for booking in for the entire season.

The fair has given birth to artistic successes such as Jiwa Steel and Tutukaka artist Steve Moase, who credit the fair with their success.

Artist Faye Garlick from Whangarei said she relied on the fair for exposure but also feedback from customers.

She said the challenges included the severe winds on the bridge and the gusts of unappreciative browsers who also whipped up on to the bridge.

"Often our prices are at the bare minimum that we can let them go for. Sometimes, people don't recognise the time it takes to hand make things.

"People haggle over prices.

"The public make comments like 'I could go home and make that'.

"They don't understand the time we put into it."

Garlick said she had to diversify her work to sustain her business, working in a variety of mediums. "I work towards goals, such as exhibitions and the Artisan Fair too, to help keep me in focus."

From food vendors to art and crafts, including fashion and furniture, stallholders hail from across the region, all looking to sell in the social setting.

The first fair kicked off on Monday, October 27, and it will run each Saturday until Christmas, and every two weeks after that until Easter Monday.

Last Saturday, the fair had its busiest day yet, with the town in full party mode due to the Whangarei 50th parade and the Kiwi v Toa Samoa game.