It is early August 2020 and we haven’t been to an Art Show with our pens and glassware since the end of January. We had planned to take off the first weeks of February, by late February the cancellations began. Very few shows have taken place anywhere since then, and there is no end in sight. Recently we learned that all of the shows we had scheduled through the end of 2020 have been canceled, no word yet on shows for January, 2021.

Normally we attend about 25 shows per year, this year the count will be reduced to the one show we have already attended. For us and for all the members of the art show community, this is a serious financial blow.

We received word from one of the larger east coast show promoters that they are officially declared bankrupt, no pre-paid show entry fees are expected to be refunded. Other promoters have been generous in quickly refunding entry fees and guaranteeing a place in their 2021 show.

Will there be shows in 2021? There is no way to know at this point. Even if the 2021 shows do occur, will there be shoppers. Above all the uncertainty and financial turmoil there is good news, no one has contracted COVID-19 from attending an art show. Show promoters, artists, and art patrons are at enough risk of contracting the virus through our normal lives.

For the two of us at Evergreen Mountain Pens, we are at high risk because of age or health conditions. If the shows had been going on we would have chosen to stay at home because of the risks. Eventually an effective vaccination will be found and widely administered, the Art Shows will resume and the artists and patrons will return. We miss the travel and excitement of the shows, we miss the people who stop by to look at our pens, but we are safely sheltered at home.