This past Saturday was the Penrod Arts Fair. Held on the second Saturday of every September on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Penrod is known as “Indiana’s Nicest Day.” However, the weather this year left a bit to be desired. (I’ve always assumed that the slogan referred to the weather, but perhaps it actually refers to the crowd, because the oppressive humidity and afternoon rain showers didn’t seem to faze the thousands of arts enthusiasts eager to browse, buy, lunch and listen.) While the total numbers aren’t in yet for 2008, on average nearly 30,000 people make it out to the Museum’s property every year for this event. However, only about 10% of those visitors ever make it inside the Museum. Even less actually make it to the collection.
What most people in our community don’t know or understand is that the event is not organized by the IMA. We are merely the setting. The Penrod Society manages the event every year. Often when I mention to folks that I work at the IMA their first response is how much they love Penrod. It’s an extremely well organized and well attended event. For many in our community, the arts fair is the only way that they know the Museum which is both good and possibly bad. Good because they LOVE the fair. Possibly bad? Well a big question for all of us at the Museum (especially in marketing) is what are the implications of the Museum being so tied into another organization’s event.
To answer this question, a group of dedicated staff members from my team came on Saturday morning to survey the Penrod audience. While the results aren’t compiled yet, after browsing through the surveys I can guesstimate that about half of the people we questioned haven’t been to the Museum since it reopened on May 6, 2005. This surprised me since the majority of those surveyed say that they come to Penrod almost every year.
In addition to demographic and visitor-behavior questions, we also asked: “What does ‘It’s My Art!’ mean to you?” Some of my favorite responses were: “You can find anything no matter what your style.” “…a reflection of the community and its people’s interests” and “It’s a somewhat annoying slogan, but at the same time it does make the Museum seem more open and accessible.”
I’ll share the results of the entire survey later this month once I have the information compiled.
Personally, I love Penrod. I’m all for an event that brings together two of my favorite things on earth: art and beer. How could it get any better?I also really love the Penrod Society’s clever advertising for the event. (I think Lodge Design still does their campaign.) The humor and stylishness of their designs is really impressive.
I’m looking forward to taking what we learn from the audience and using it to inform and benefit the Museum for next year’s event. Let me know what you think of Penrod. Did you know that the IMA does not organize the event? Do you visit the Museum when you come to Penrod? Is there a way to convert the Penrod visitor to an IMA visitor?
Only 363 days until next year’s fair…
