Art Biz Blog

October 25 is International Artist Day

October 25 has been declared International Artist Day by a group of artists who thought wisely that artists needed their own special day. Not coincidentally, it's also Picasso's birthday. Is it on your calendar? How will you celebrate? Here are some suggestions they give you on their Web site.

1. Have the Mayor of your city proclaim this day, October 25th, as International Artist Day every year.

2. For a visual exposure have your local media film an interview and do an article about the Artist(s) in your area.

3. Have businesses sponsor an Artist by purchasing a painting for their lobby, or hosting a show.

4. Treat your favorite Artist to lunch or dinner.

5. With so much up and coming new talent out there, why not help sponsor an emerging artist, through a weekend workshop or fundraiser.

6. Advertise International Artist Day by downloading our logo and using it to print posters or invitations for events.

7. As a gallery owner, host an Open House with as many of your represented Artists in attendance.

8. As an individual art lover, throw a house party featuring your Artist friend(s) and their artwork, of course!

9. Host an “Art Auction” in a restaurant with a guest speaker to talk about art appreciation, art history (briefly) and the importance art plays in our society. Charge per plate. This money can be used to help sponsor new talent in the schools.

10. Send International Artist Day greeting/post cards to all your supporters to show your appreciation and thank them for honoring Artists and supporting the arts. (Alyson notes: I love this one! See my recent post on making your collectors feel special.)

11. If you have any type of website, add the International Artist Day link and feature a different artist of the month, every month with a short biography.

12. Most of us drive so why not have some magnetic decals or bumper stickers made to promote International Artist Day to display on your vehicle. This would help the awareness to develop. Please visit the gift store.

Podcast: Gain insight into art career success

You can get a lot of good ideas by looking at the careers of successful artists--regardless of what area they succeeded in.

[4 min. 23 sec.]

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Keep a Loved file

Now that you know how to appreciate your art collectors, it's time to remind yourself that others appreciate you. Since you're probably working by yourself most of the time, it's easy to forgive that there's a whole world out there waiting to love you and your art. Or maybe they already do love you and you have forgotten about them because you're so busy in the studio.

Some time ago, my coach, Cynthia Morris, suggested I keep a file labeled "Loved." I'm going to suggest you do the same.

In the file, you will keep

• Emails that say nice things about your work
• Comments left on your blog that make you feel good (copy and paste into another document)
• Documentation whenever someone says something nice to you at your opening, in your booth, or on the phone. Write it down before you forget about it.
• Nice notes you receive in the mail.

Whenever you feel down . . . whenever someone isn't too nice to you . . . pull out your Loved file and remember that there are a lot of people who appreciate you and what you do.

Love this artist's signature block

From Hilary Pfeifer, who gave me permission to use her email signature block here.

I expound at http://www.hilarypfeifer.blogspot.com
I make the world pretty at http://www.hilarypfeifer.com
I pay the bills with http://www.bunnywithatoolbelt.com
I devote spare time to http://www.artonalberta.org
need a reminder?  http://www.hilarypfeifer.com/mailing_list.html 

Hilary is going to be the guest artist for the October 23 session of my new INSIGHTS series. Check it out and listen to artists spilling the beans about their success.

8 Ways to appreciate your Gold Star collectors

Some people will buy one piece of art from you and you'll never hear from them again. Others will purchase more frequently and invest more in your career. It's that group that you want to be sure you're not neglecting.

If someone buys a single set of note cards from you, I'd discourage you from making a big fuss over it. But if someone commissions you for a $10,000 sculpture, they get a gold star in your inventory and they need to be appreciated at a higher level than others who buy from you. They're your Gold Star collectors. Take care of them.

1. Send more frequent mailings to your Gold Star group. Not annoying mailings. But something that's interesting. Maybe just an interesting article with a note saying you're thinking about them.

2. Set up a Gold Star Web page on your site. Put your most recent work there and email your Gold Star group to let them have first choice.

3. Instead of #2, send a CD of your new  images to your Gold Star collectors.

4. Send a handwritten note to your Gold Star collectors telling them that you're happy they're fans.

5. Invite your Gold Star collectors to a special preview of your next opening--before anyone else sees it.

6. Instead of #5, ask your Gold Star collectors to a reception at your studio before you deliver the work to your next show.

7. While everyone else on your list gets postcards or email blasts, your Gold Star collectors get special hand-printed invitations and holiday greetings.

8. Remember birthdays and specially occasions for your Gold Star members. Keep this information in a database and add reminders to your calendar.

Art is selling on the Internet

Check out this article in USA Today: Artists Take Painting to the Masses. Mentioning painting-a-day bloggers Duane Keiser and Justin Clayton, the article notes:

Now artists can sell directly to consumers, using blogs or auction sites at prices more affordable to would-be collectors. The result: More people are making a living as artists, more people are buying art, and more art is selling at a wider spectrum of prices.

Once again, it proves that you can make a living selling directly to people. But you have to work hard and be 100% dedicated to your career as an artist. You also have to be among the first to come up with something totally new and different.

(Thanks to Christine DeCamp for the lead.)

Deep Thought Thursday: Gender issues

In a recent issue of his wonderful Twice-Weekly Newsletter, Robert Genn wrote:

I was recently asked to support a group show exclusive to women. While the motives for this sort of thing may be noble and temporarily empowering, I don't buy it. I don't support anything that discriminates by age, race or gender. If someone invited me to support a show for men only, I wouldn't. I want to live blind to all that sort of stuff. In my experience, most jurors bend over backwards to get it right. I just wish the general public (and a few dealers) did the same.

What do you think of women-only exhibits? Or men-only exhibits for that matter?

What about women-only organizations?

What are the pros and cons of gender-specific events and organizations?

Turn off your notifications

My inbox is a much happier place since I stopped getting notifications whenever someone comments on the blog. I still try to catch the comments and reply as required, but instead of responding to them as they come in, I now have "blogging time." The notifications were interruptions.

BTW, I turned off email notifications years ago. An even bigger distraction.

What's distracting you? What are you receiving that makes you lose your rhythm? What can you turn off or let go of?

Donation schmomation

After the newsletter about donating art, I received this shocking email, which I'll share as anonymous because the author didn't respond to my questions nor give me permission to use his name. I've slightly edited it to insure the anonymity. It's shocking not because it's rare (I fear it isn't), but because of the egregious deception of the organization.

I'm a senior citizen, seasoned award winning painter who got bit in the but last year after I donated a large painting as a fund raiser for a charity. The person who manages this charity came to me last year and asked me to donate a large oil painting. . . .  This painting was to be a feature piece that was to be auctioned off at a $250 a plate, black-tie fund raiser.

Two weeks after the banquet, I visited the person's office to find out what my painting brought in dollars for the cause. The person said they had a confession to make. The painting was withheld from the auction and given to the chairman of the charity because he loved the work!

I valued the painting at around $1,000. The bottom line is, I and my wife did not get a ticket to the auction, but my name, other to the chairman who got the painting, was not mentioned in any press release nor did I even get a thank you letter. How would you handle this one ?

My response as to how I would handle it is based on the facts that I don't know how long ago the auction took place or what the author of this email said when he discovered what had happened.

First, as the artist realizes, this is completely unacceptable. He didn't donate it to the chairman! He donated it to raise funds for a charitable organization. If they had changed their mind and wanted to donate to the chairman, they should have gone back to the artist and received permission.

My immediate response to the person who "confessed" would be that I will think about what has taken place and form a response to her. I would then go home and draft a letter saying that since you placed faith in the organization and they violated that trust, you would like to be remunerated. You expect, within 30 days, either (1) the return of the painting or (2) a check for $1000.

You really don't want to do this, but you would also have every right to contact the press or other board members if your request isn't honored. It's not nice to issue threats and they usually don't help your case, but it's something you could do in the future if they get nasty. A charitable organization is a public trust and they have a responsibility to their donors. Any breech of that responsibility puts the prospect of future donations in jeopardy.

In short: They really, really screwed up. They need to be held accountable and they need to make things right for the good of their organization.

This should also serve as a lesson to get everything in writing, regardless of how well you know them. Putting things in writing assures that all parties are on the same page. Don't ever "give" your art to anyone without this. You're in charge of your career. Don't give away your power.

Podcast: Draft a winning exhibit proposal

Unless you're given specific guidelines to write an exhibit proposal, you'll have to make up the format. Let me help.

[4 min. 45 sec.]

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Happy autumn!