CityArts Day 3

A lot cooler and grayer today, and I had enough to keep myself busy that I didn't bother to go check out any more stuff on this last day of CityArts. I did, however, go up to Asbury late in the afternoon so that I could pick up my artwork. (sidewalks in front of my location are due to be dug up starting tomorrow, so access in the next few days might be even more difficult than it was installing it Friday) And on a Sunday afternoon that felt a lot more like autumn than yesterday; parking was considerably better- I was able to get a spot right across the street. Packing up took no more than 5 minutes. The store owner told me that a few people commented positively on my art, but in general there weren't many people on the streets the past few days.

Don't know what the future holds for this event. I've heard a number of suggestions for why attendance was so low (other than at Second Life Bikes on Friday night) through the whole weekend. Maybe the weather, which was either too hot or too cool. The condition of the street may have turned off a lot of potential pedestrians. Asbury might have benefitted in the past from having the festival also promoted in Long Branch and Red Bank, while this year they were going it alone. I'm also thinking that moving it to late September hurt, when you don't have the additional summer people around, and it gets dark a lot earlier. I believe that they need to give this whole thing some serious thought before next year. I can't complain too much- all it cost me was a few hours of my time, I got a little more exposure in an arts neighborhood, and you never know what opportunities a show can lead to. I hope they can continue some version of CityArts in the future, but if things end up like they did this time, few people will be happy with it.