My experience showing at the Reno Tahoe International Art Show for the first time: 2025.
Hello friends and fellow artists. This year I showed work for the first time at RTIA and I would like to share my experience being there for artists who haven’t shown there yet. First, thank you to everyone who came by my booth. There were many of you who stopped, took the time to chat and really view my artwork. Having this oppertunity to connect with art lovers and collectors in person vs online was so refreshing. It means so much to me to not only answer question about my work and to explain more about it in depth, I also enjoy learning about the people who are interested in my work and learning about you guys. Carving out space and time to do that at something like an art fair is why I’ve always pictured myself investing in that art avenue. I’m happy that I finally took that step foward. It was so rewarding, that I can’t wait to start applying to more arts fairs in the near future.
A little bit about the show itself….this show was in its 4th year and from what I’ve been told, the show has been in development, changing slightly each year. The show itself was well built. The booth spaces were nicely constructed, offering well lit overhead lighting, with the option to purchase more lighting if needed. I purchased an end cap, which meant I had 1 large wall to show work on. This left very little room for decorating my space or adding seating. I was allowed a 4’ space from the wall to bring anything at sat on the floor if I wanted to, such as chairs or more display items. At first I dreamed up an eleborately decorated booth space, but I actually appreciated the simplicity of my booth space once the show was up and running. I think the decor could have easily distracted from the artwork itself, and simple was the way to go. I brought 1 comfortle chair for myself. A small lockable end table, which had just enough storage for a few things that I would need throughout the day, including drinks and snacks (they are long days). I brought a small stand that held business cards and stickers. Other than that, everything else hung on the wall space.
The whole process, from signing up to arriving and setting up the actual day of the fair was very easy. Set up when I arrived on site, back of house storage for extra art and tear down felt like a much easier process than I anticipated. This was my first art fair and I had no idea what to expect. Everything went so well that I’ve already signed up to show at RTIA 2026!
My approach to this show was to really focusing on introducing myself as an artist to patrons coming in from the Reno/Tahoe area. Many of these patrons do not know me or my work yet. I wanted to focus on introducing myself in person. The best approach for me was to make genuine connections with people and tell them about my work. What I brought was a wide range of art from my Mojave Collection had art to of variety of sizes; 24” x 36” being the biggest and 5” x 5” being the smallest. My wall space for my booth was limited. I could only show so many pieces at a time, so I printed a catelog of all of the work I had with me, where people could ask to see other pieces not on display that day if they were interested. I also printed out stickers which were free to take. Mainly I brought my larges. These stand out the most and show my skills the best. People can see them from farther away in case the show was crowded. I decided to leave prints at home. This show was about seeing fine art in person. Prints can always be ordered online later. My focus wasn’t about making as much money as possible. It was about introducing myself to the public. If people are interested in my work, the sales will come either at the show or later.
