Some Three Rivers Arts Festival artists feel temporary location led to lower turnout

CBS News

3 hours ago

Temporary changes made to this year's Three Rivers Arts Festival created challenges for some attendees, which in turn impacted artists.
Due to construction ahead of the NFL Draft Downtown, organizers were forced to find a new home for the festival. It was held on a parking lot in the Strip District between the Veterans Bridge and the 16th Street Bridge. Instead of being held over 10 days, it was held over four days.
"It's affected my sales pretty harshly," said Dawn Lombard, a Milford, Pennsylvania-based artist who was selling her art, made of glass and metal, for the first time at the festival.
Her artist friends raved about the festival, and she was expecting a similar experience. Instead, she said her sales were 75% down from where she had expected them to be by the end of the festival, ultimately meaning she lost money throughout the festival, combined with her travel and lodging costs.
"It's hurtful to the pocketbook," she said.
Chaz Letzkus, who has been selling his hidden-image art at the fair for the past quarter-century, said he believed the location of the festival this year was a major reason he was seeing fewer sales, along with it being a shorter festival and rain, which has become a regular occurrence at the festival.
"I look at it as an outlier; it is not a normal Three Rivers Arts Festival," he said. "From what the vendors I've talked to said, Thursday and Friday were just kind of down, not normal. Yesterday was a great day. Today, not so much."
He believes that after so many years Downtown, some people have trouble finding the festival.
"I think people didn't know where it was or were not sure," Letzkus said.
Brooke Horejsi, the Programming and Engagement Officer for festival organizer Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, said they did their best to educate the public beforehand on the location of the festival this year.
Responding to concerns about the location, she said it was tough to find a site for the festival because of the construction Downtown ahead of the draft.
"It took a couple of tries to find a space that could accommodate us," Horejsi said. "We're super excited to have a place this year."
She explained the location was a factor as to why the festival was four, not 10 days this year. Both artists and attendees told KDKA-TV that they wished the festival were longer.
Another challenge attendees faced in coming to the festival was parking.
"I felt like it was somewhat of a barrier to coming just because we spent so long looking for somewhere to park, driving around the neighborhoods," said Ava Meadows.
They told KDKA-TV that they had to park Downtown, and worried about having to carry any art they bought far distances. Others told KDKA-TV that they tried going to the festival, but after they were unable to find parking, they just went home.
Festival organizers, for their part, ahead of the festival, encouraged people to take public transportation.
"We did our best to get information out about getting down here early or parking in Downtown, in the Cultural District, and then taking public transportation here," Horejsi. "But we understand it's frustrating to come to an area where there's a lot going on and you have to try to find a spot."
Not all artists had less than expected sales during the festival.
"This has been a successful year for me," said Lawrenceville-based artist Sarah Watkins. "I find that a lot of people were in the Strip District making a day of it, going out to lunch and breakfast or dinner, and didn't even realize the festival is here, and kind of just made an afternoon of being here."
She saw her sales increase year-over-year.
Letzkus said he's been chatting with artists like Lombard, who are at the festival for the first year and are unhappy with the turnout.
"Don't take this as the way it is. I think it will be better and better next year," he said.
The reason is that next year's festival will be held at the under-construction Arts Landing, providing the festival with a permanent home.
"In our view, next year is going to be even better than even previous years," Horejsi said.