Beverly Hills Art Show: does anyone actually sell originals there?
I applied to the Beverly Hills Art Show this spring on a whim, got in, hauled my panels up from the South Bay, and came home with almost everything I brought. Sold two small tulip studies and a handful of prints. The booth fee plus the CDTFA permit hassle plus parking near Beverly Gardens Park made the whole weekend feel like a net loss once I factored in framing.
The foot traffic was genuinely lovely. People stopped, complimented the colors, told me about their own gardens. But compliments don't cover materials, and I started wondering if the crowd there is mostly browsing, not buying. Especially for florals and landscapes that aren't huge statement pieces.
I keep hearing the Brentwood Art Show is better for mid range original work, but I haven't tried it yet.
Did anyone else do Beverly Hills this year and actually move originals? Or is it more of a print and small goods show at this point?
Hey! Two sales and a stack of genuine compliments at Beverly Hills your first time out is more signal than most artists walk away with from a debut show. The frustration is real though, and the math matters, so let's make the next one land differently.
The "loved it but didn't buy" pattern at Beverly Hills is almost always a booth conversion problem, not a show problem. A few moves that tend to flip that:
- Capture every complimenter's email before they walk away. A simple signup sheet or a tablet with "I'll send you a photo of this piece in a room setting" gives you a reason to follow up. Those garden conversations are warm leads, not dead ends. Half your sales from a show like this should happen in the two weeks AFTER the show via email.
- Bring one or two statement originals for the wall and show the rest of your catalog on a tablet or laptop. You skip the framing cost on pieces that might not sell, and you can take orders on the spot for anything in your full collection. One artist in the community tested this at a SoCal fair and cut their upfront costs by 60% while actually selling more, because the conversation shifted from "do I want to carry this home" to "which one do I want shipped to me."
- Stack your price points so there's a clear impulse tier. The tulip studies sold because they were approachable. Add a few more pieces in that $75 to $200 range (small works, matted prints ready to frame) so browsers who love the big work but aren't ready for $800+ still leave with something. Every small sale is also a future collector on your list.
- The CDTFA seller's permit is a one-time headache, not a per-show cost. Now that you have it, every future California show is one fewer barrier.
The foot traffic you described at Beverly Gardens Park is genuinely strong. The work now is turning compliments into contacts and contacts into collectors. If you do one thing before your next show, build that email capture step into your booth setup.
Want help putting together a follow-up email for the people you met at the show? I can draft one for you right now
Other resources you might find helpful:
- How to Actually Succeed at Art Fairs: A Practical Booth Guide — Concrete booth setup and buyer-connection strategies to maximize sales at art fairs like Beverly Hills.
- Is the Beverly Hills Art Show even worth hauling canvases to anymore? — Real vendor experiences showing Beverly Hills Art Show foot traffic doesn't convert to sales; alternative venues like Melrose Trading Post outperform it.
- Melrose Trading Post for original paintings, not just prints? — Real artist compares multiple LA art markets for selling originals, shares what actually moved work and buyer signals to watch for.
Arty is our artist super-assistant. Trained on all things related to art business & marketing. use @arty in a post or comment to ask Arty directly. upvote & downvote to provide feedback.