Garden Tour: Info and Instructions for Participants
This is an evolving document. Please bookmark and check back as needed!

1. The tour takes place 10am-3pm, Saturday, May 20th, rain or shine.
2. TALK TO YOUR HOSTS IN ADVANCE: A lot of details will be set up garden by garden, by the hosts and the artists in that garden. Emails went out to all artists and hosts May 23-24, with subject line: “Garden #x - keeping in touch” for each garden in turn. These were to allow and encourage artists and hosts in each garden to communicate among themselves and with the hosts, to make arrangements ahead of the tour.
3. ADVERTISE THE TOUR TO YOUR MAILING LIST AND SOCIAL MEDIA: Model emails with attached flyers will be sent the week before the event. Postcards are available in the gallery. If your friends and family wish to be on the tour, they will need tickets!
4. ART DELIVERY: Setup/installation times will be arranged between the artists in each garden and their hosts. Different hosts may be available different times for installation ahead of time. Please be sure to work out time to install larger pieces ahead of tour day, if necessary, and to arrange what time you can arrive to set up smaller work on tour day. Art which is for sale should have a price on it.  
5. ART PLACEMENT: Please make sure your plans for placement of art, including tables or display furniture if needed, are worked out with the hosts and other artists in advance. Please consult with garden hosts before installing anything, and avoid damaging their plants and plant beds.
6. TABLES AND CHAIRS: Discuss your needs for tables and chairs with your whole group, to be sure what you need to bring, and what will fit. Many hosts have tables and chairs available, but it may be useful to bring more.
7. ARRIVAL AND PARKING: Figure out with your host how early you can arrive on tour day. Get a ride if possible, or move your car away after unloading, to avoid adding to the parking load, since spots are limited at some gardens. Plan to stay the entire day.
8. BE PREPARED: Plan to spend most of your time in the area where your work is for sale. Bring lunch! Bring something to do in case there is downtime? I believe all our hosts have said their bathrooms will be available to the artists and volunteers in their gardens, but it’s best to check. (Bathrooms will not, in general, be available to ticket holders.) 
9. WEAR A MASK.
10. BRING: Business cards, sales receipts, special order forms, flyers and further information. Cash to make change. Lunch/snacks. Hand sanitizer. Sun protection. Rain protection if warranted. Signage to go with your art, with your name at least; Name, Title, Medium, Price if you like. This is especially important if you are showing in a garden you will not be present in, or if your work is several places in a garden.
11. HOSTS & VOLUNTEERS: The garden hosts will be there all day, and there will also be two shifts of volunteers, mostly BGC members, to direct people, take tickets, etc., so you will probably only need to bother with your own art and customers.
12. SALES: Artists will conduct their own sales and return a 20% commission to ACCI on any sales made through or as a result of the tour. (This is the same as the normal ACCI referral fee.) Bring your POS equipment and supplies! Alameda County Sales tax is 10.25%; get a license if you don’t have one. Make sure you have a means of connecting to the internet for credit card sales. (WiFi may not be available through the hosts, or may not work in the garden.) 
13. SOLD ART PICKUP: Smaller work can be sold and taken away by customers. It is up to your discretion whether to let customers take larger work on the spot or to ask them to come back at the end of the day (or make other arrangements later). It may be worth discussing with your hosts and fellow artists as well.
14. EXHIBITING IN TWO GARDENS: If you are showing in two gardens, either deputize someone to deal with customers in the other garden, or provide a sign with contact information in the event someone wants to talk to you, as well as telling them in which garden you can be found. If you want to arrange for one of the artists in the other garden to handle sales for you, that’s fine. If you have a partner who will be representing you, make sure to let the rest of the garden know in advance.
15. HOSTS: If you have art in your garden, including garden sculptures and birdbaths that might be mistaken for the work of ACCI artists, please place clear NOT FOR SALE signs by them.​

For further questions, please contact Reed Bowman at [email protected].