One of nation's top ten art fair directors to speak in Springfield

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Name: Andrea Quiroz-Jira

Address: 2101 West Broadway #322

Columbia, MO 65203

Phone 866-699-2664

E-mail: director@bestofmissourihands.org

One of nation's top ten art fair directors to speak in Springfield

Cindy Lerick, Director of St. Louis Art Fair, at Art Springs in Springfield

Springfield, MO, March 21 to 23, 2014 The Best of Missouri Hands welcomes one of the top people in the industry to the annual ArtSmart conference, this year entitled "Art Springs in Springfield". Cindy Lerick, Executive Director of Cultural Festivals which produces the award-winning Saint Louis Art Fair, will give a keynote address dealing with how independent artists have been affected by the recession and strategies that artists can use to help their careers.

The Saint Louis Art Fair, consistently ranked in the Top Ten of the Art Fair SourceBook's Top Fine Art Events, is a nationally juried fine art and fine craft show. Over 100,000 people attend the free event each September and total sales for the event typical exceed 1.5 million dollars. Lerick has been executive director for two years. Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of the Uptown Art Fair in Minneapolis and co-directed the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival.

Although Lerick has primarily been involved with art fairs throughout her career, she also keeps close tabs on artists who do not regularly do art fairs and market instead through galleries and other means. She is known for her personal touch, putting herself in the artists' shoes to help insure their success while keeping an eye on the bottom line.

The ArtSmart Conference is an annual event for The Best of Missouri Hands which is an artisan group devoted to the promotion and education of Missouri artists. Education, inspiration, networking, and workshops will be offered along with Friday Night Frolics and a silent auction. The Artisan Showcase will be open to the public and offer participating artists a chance to exhibit and sell their work. Additional breakout sessions are planned on topics ranging from developing a portfolio, utilizing social media to promote your work, how to sell wholesale, getting juried into gallery exhibits and more.

Registration includes Friday evening reception, Saturday lunch and the Saturday evening banquet. The University Plaza Hotel in downtown Springfield provides breakfast on Saturday and Sunday for guests who stay at the hotel. Registrants are invited to bring guests to the Friday evening reception. Additional activities require that guests purchase and present tickets to participate. For full details and pricing, please visit www.bestofmissourihands.org

We hope that you will join us for a very creative, fun-filled weekend as Art Springs in Springfield.

For further information:

www.bestofmissourihands.org

Phone: (636) 293-6864

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