Streetalk: Is Atlanta a good market for your art?

Greg, Greenville, R.I.: Atlanta is definitely one of my best shows every year. It’s right up there with Pittsburgh and Boston. It’s just a very enthusiastic crowd, very educated crowd and they like crazy funky weird art, too, which is perfect for me. People are really nice, polite and good natured. You don’t get that in Boston. They’re grouchy. Hopefully, I’ll be coming back in the fall. They’re buying expensive pieces, lower-end pieces, just the full range. My favorite is Pittsburgh because they buy a lot of art of penguins and zombies.

Adewale, New Orleans: Atlanta’s market has a lot of prospect, but it’s actually sound because of the diversity of the people: the blacks, the whites, the greens, the yellows, whatever. When it comes to income level and the age group, they are so diverse and that’s really an avenue for expanding a market. I love Atlanta. In New Orleans, it’s good because of the tourists, but New Orleanians don’t buy art. But here you see the tourists and the people from here buying art. In the top 10, Atlanta is an eight. Miami and Naples are the best.

Meredith, Austin, Texas: Atlanta has some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. They seem to be really knowledgeable about art. However, I did a show last week in the Houston area. Good show. Texas is just kind of out there. They’ll grab whatever. Atlanta, not really so good. This is my first time in Atlanta. I’ve spoken to a lot of artists and they all are pretty much saying the same thing. It’s surprising because last year a lot of people did really great numbers and this year it’s a dramatic difference. Sales are certainly not what we had hoped.