Letter from the President: Here we come Rinconada!

I'm assuming everybody knows we are not holding the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival at the Art Center next year. If you didn't know that, well: we are not holding the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival at the Art Center next year! The Art Center will be undergoing some long-planned renovations and will be closed at the time of our show in 2011. We will be holding the 2011 Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival at Rinconada Park, conveniently located right across the street from Palo Alto. If you take a peek at Rinconada on a satellite map, the show will held in and around the tree covered area West of the Fire Station, and in the big tear-drop shaped grass area a bit north.

I am really excited about having our show at Rinconada Park. I walked the grounds last week with our promoter, Mary Lou Atkins, and other members of the PACG sub-committee, planning where and how booths would be arranged. I am happy to report that any fears I had about the park not being big enough or an otherwise inappropriate venue have been laid to rest. Mary Lou easily placed all of the booths, so there is no issue with some artists getting shut out due to space. We will not have an indoor area, but we will be renting a large tent and placing it on the cement splash pad that is tucked away in some trees just South and West of the Rinconada Pool for our artists who are usually in the Studio area. Being under a tent is not exactly the same as being indoors, so for those artists usually inside, please think about the potential problems you may have ahead of time and let us know what we can do to help create a solution.

The biggest problem with changing venues is educating our customers about the location of the new show so we don't lose potential sales. We are working closely with the staff at the Art Center on this issue and they will be helping us with volunteers to direct patrons, and of course we will have plainly visible signage to help people along across the street. Fortunately Rinconada is easily seen from the Art Center and a quick hop across Newell Road, so I think the confusion will be minimal.

The application for 2011 will be coming out soon. Please take the extra time you will need to thoroughly read the application and understand the adjustments everybody will have to make to participate in the show and make it go smoothly for all concerned.

Questions? Ideas? Concerns? Please write to me via email or post a comment under this article on our blog.