SUNSHINE ARTIST MAGAZINE 200 BEST IN 2024
 

Sunshine Artist magazine, www.sunshineartist.com, has announced the release of its annual 200 Best, ranking the most profitable art and craft festivals in the country based on artists’ reported sales in 2023.

Launched in 1993, Sunshine Artist’s 200 Best is split into two categories: Fine Art and Design for events that focus on unique, fine-art pieces and Classic and Contemporary Craft for events that focus on traditional or modern craft and production work.

The No. 1 Fine Art and Design Show is Affordable Arts Festival, in Berthoud, Colorado. The No. 1 Classic and Contemporary Craft Show is Shaker Woods Festival, in Columbiana, Ohio. Information about all the shows that made this year’s 200 Best list is available in Sunshine Artist’s September 2024 issue, as well as online at sunshineartist.com/200-best.

Artists were able to cast their votes from February through April to nominate their highest money-making shows from 2023. The ballot asked artists to list the 10 most profitable art and/or craft shows they exhibited at during the previous year, indicate their level of gross sales at each event, and note whether they considered themselves fine artists or craftspeople for each event. The results were tabulated using a weighted scale based on four sales levels to ensure all events competed against each other fairly.

Sunshine Artist’s 200 Best focuses solely on artist show revenue, because that is the most objective indicator of a show’s future success. Subjective attributes, such as artist treatment, amenities, attendance levels, management, and overall quality, can impact sales but are harder to gauge and therefore have no direct bearing on the rankings.