Tibi Hegyesi asked on my Facebook page: Is it a good idea to post online previews of artwork that will be included in an upcoming show, or is it better to keep the work under wraps until the big reveal?

Tibi Hegyesi's booth at Art Expo New York is full of visitors.

I don’t think you can lose by sharing the work in advance, unless the exhibition organizers prohibit this. (Read the details of your agreement!) People rarely go out of their way to view the unknown. We need a reason to get dressed and make the trip. Seeing artwork that we connect with is the best way to motivate us to come to your exhibit.

But you don’t have to reveal all of the work in a show at once. Nor do you have to reveal it to everyone.

Every little bit you share is a gift of yourself. If you frame it correctly, you can show your fans how much you value them.

Tease + One a Day

In I’d Rather Be in the Studio, I share the story of artist Margret Short, who started blogging to help promote a seminal exhibit. She gave her blog readers a sneak peek at a single detail of her paintings as she completed them: a piece of lace or an object in a still life. It was a tease to get people interested in seeing more.

Margret Short teases readers with a sneak peek of her painting, The Tears of Fernad.

In the two weeks before the opening, Margret posted the full image of each painting that would be included in the exhibit – one day at a time. To my knowledge, the images were never posted as a group on a single page.

Margret Short reveals the completed painting, The Tears of Fernad, on her blog.

You could follow Margret’s example, or you could choose to share only details with blog readers and save the completed works with collectors only.

Collectors’ Perk

As I suggest in the Cultivate Collectors class (beginning next week), you can create a private Web page for your collectors as a reward for their loyalty. Let them know that they are the only ones who have access to the page, and that they alone can view all of the work that will be installed in the exhibit.

Lisa Call has tried this. She said she sold one piece from the preview, which makes it worth the effort to do it again for an upcoming exhibit.

No collectors yet? You could also offer a private Web page for newsletter subscribers only. Announce on social media:

My newsletter subscribers are getting a behind-the-scenes look at the works that will be on view next month at X gallery. Sign up now to get the secret URL.

Go ahead and spoil the surprise! Have fun sharing your art in advance of an exhibit, and remember that it’s a gift of yourself.

Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts about pre-show posting.

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock and haven’t heard, 300 of Damien Hirst’s Spot Paintings are filling up all 11 Gagosian gallery locations around the world: New York (3 locations), Beverly Hills, London (2 locations), Paris, Rome, Geneva, Athens, and Hong Kong.

The Complete Spot Challenge was issued to encourage people to visit all 11 locations. It states:

Visit all eleven Gagosian Gallery locations during the exhibition The Complete Spot Paintings 1986–2011 and receive a signed spot print by Damien Hirst, dedicated personally to you.

One blogger opines it would take $100,000 to visit all of the sites. Another says she could do it with $5,800.

Meanwhile, at least two people completed the Complete Spot Challenge 8 days after the exhibits opened – visiting all 11 locations around the world (US, Asia, and Europe). And you can follow others update their travels on Twitter.

Steal the Idea

Regardless of what you think of Hirst or his art, you can take a marketing lesson from this.

Hirst didn’t really care about giving away a signed print. He didn’t care if anyone actually saw and appreciated all of the work. What he cared about was the buzz that such a challenge would create.

Even the people that thought the challenge ludicrous wrote about it and contributed to its buzz.

Sure, it’s a gimmick, but gimmicks work. They create controversy and they get people talking.

Okay, maybe you don’t have 11 galleries around the word. But you could host multiple exhibits simultaneously in your own town.

How could you make this gimmick work for you?

Guest blogger: Debby L. Williams

Are you responding to Calls for Entry? If you’re having success with them, then good for you! If you would like to know what might be going wrong, read on.

Call for Entry is used here to include any request for artists to submit information to compete for art exhibitions, contests, or commissions (e.g. Request for Qualifications or Request for Proposals). There are differences among those types of competitions, but let’s start at the very basics: how to evaluate a Call and decide if you should respond.

A pile of artist responses to an RFQ needs attention from the guest blogger.

You’ll find an overwhelming number of Calls for artists on the Internet. You can’t possibly respond to all the ones you come across – nor would you want to. So how do you decide?

Remember that as an artist your assets are your creativity and investment in time and money. This is always your first consideration. Ask yourself: “Is responding to this Call and ultimately this project worth my creative capital, time, and resources? Does it help me get to where I want to go professionally?”

To help you decide, consider these additional questions.

• Is the work produced for the exhibition/competition relevant to your present body of work? Curators, gallery representative and buyers will most likely remember your name and associate it with a medium, subject and/or style. The work you create in response to a Call should be reasonably within those parameters so it will make sense to the public and the work will fit into your portfolio.
• If you were chosen to participate, does being in that exhibition/creating that work of art fit with your career plan (you know, that plan that is there to keep you on track to get you where you want to go)? You must have those art and business plans in place as your map for your art career journey and the project you are considering needs to keep you on that road. Don’t be distracted by shiny things in the distance.
• Is the scale (physical size) of the requested work appropriate for the work you are creating at this time? If you typically create miniatures, this may not be the best time to respond to a project for designing enhancements for a bridge over six lanes of traffic! It is harder to estimate your expenses and time for a project of such a different scale and the jurors may quickly dismiss your submission because of your lack of experience with such projects.
• Does the timeline fit reasonably within the time parameters you have to work in and allow you to maintain the quality of your work? Sometimes it is easy to convince yourself that a project is doable even while knowing the delivery date is during a month that you have five other deadlines and several important personal commitments. It is important to view the time element realistically.
• Does the amount of the commission or prize/award make it financially feasible? Have you considered all of your expenses? This is imperative! It can be very seductive to see a large prize or commission and want to immediately respond to the Call, but you have to stop and really consider the cost of the project. Think twice before being willing to sacrifice a proper artist’s fee for the art you create.

These tips for evaluating Calls for Entry are based on my experiences working with artists and writing Calls for Entries for many years. And while there are always exceptions, these are important considerations that can help you make good choices about how to use your talents, time and resources.

After you have decided to respond to that Call for Entries, then what?  Stay tuned. My next post will address that question!

About the Guest Blogger
Debby L. Williams is the Director of Oklahoma Art in Public Places. She’s been a curator, museum director, and arts administrator and loves a good (or bad) martini. Debby is my partner for new live workshops for beginning artists.

Artist Carol McArdle has sold 45 original works of art over the past five or six years – on her own – without participating in art festivals.

Carol’s prices range from $350 to $10000, with an average of about $1800 (it’s a guess, she says). Art sales are her sole source of income.

Carol McArdle, Florida Fantasy. Oil on canvas, 34 x 34 inches. ©The Artist

Here’s how Carol has broken down her sales (all notes are hers):

Friends and friends of friends……………….6
Contacts who found me via my website, 2 private and 3 dealers…………..10
An annual one-night group show at a country club (2 one year and 0 the next but a contact I made there bought 2 almost a year later)……………4
Bartered for dental work………….4
Bartered for stay in customer’s cabin in Colorado………1
Teaching a workshop (only one, I rarely teach but plan on doing more)…..2
Local (free) media coverage……………………………….2
Small holiday bazaar (I was really surprised by this one!)………………2
eBay (but not enough profit)………………………..2
A costly ad in national art magazine but still cost less than the 50% a gallery would take……………….1
Doing a demo for local art leagues…………..1
A website just for bird art (small commission paid for sale)…………………………1
Small art show at a local state park (first 3 shows no originals sold, 4th year a $4,000 painting)…….1
Showing at a local theater………….1
Plein-air paint outs and plein-air festivals………..5
Facebook, reconnected with old friends…………2
Total originals sold by myself………………45

I’ve been with quite a few galleries since starting roughly 6 years ago and pulled out of most due to not enough sales or bad business ethics (like not paying for sales without me threatening legal action – contracts really do help!). I am now down to one gallery that is doing well but I really need another good one or two.
Total sales of originals through galleries: 25.

The lesson is simple: keep shooting buckshot and keep pushing myself to network, meet, contact and show. It can get discouraging at times, but every now and then I look over my shoulder and see that somehow I have been making it on my art alone for a few years!

I hope you’ll learn from Carol’s generous sharing of her sales numbers.

Most artists who want to earn a living from their art can’t rely on a single sales stream. You’ve got to look at multiple streams of income. And, oh yeah, keep track of how the money is coming in! I think you’ll be surprised, as Carol was.

Breaking down income into multiple streams is something we’ve been doing in our income-planning sessions in the Artist Conspiracy this month. If more income is what you seek, why not make a plan for achieving your goal? Join us in the Conspiracy.

Can artists have successful careers without exhibiting live?

How?

Will anything be forfeited?

Holly Wilson, Almost There. Bronze and sterling silver, 10.5 x 6 x 3 inches. ©The Artist

How does an artist end a relationship with a gallery if it is not going well?

How do you keep it civil and friendly while looking for another gallery in that same city?

Is there an appropriate waiting period between leaving one gallery and signing on with another gallery in the same city?

What’s your experience?

There are plenty of people who are willing to help you promote your art, but don’t expect them to know where to begin.

If you’re one of the many artists who are showing in non-art venues like restaurants, coffee shops, and bank lobbies, you might be resigned to the fact that these venues can be challenging for sales.

But if you’re an art ninja, you will never tell yourself such a story. You must believe that any venue is the best venue for you at the moment.

Vow to make the most of your opportunities by going the extra mile to enlist others to promote your work for you – wherever you’re showing your art.

©2011 Howard Cowdrick, Oneness #2. Mixed media, 14 x 11 inches.

Scratch the back of the person in charge. Your contact at a venue may be lower on the totem pole, but be sure you also know the decision-makers as they set the tone for the whole venue. Invite these people to your studio well in advance of your exhibit opening. Send them Thank You notes, say nice things about the venue on their Facebook page, and promote the heck out of their business.

Invite yourself to staff meetings at the venue to educate employees about your art. Give them the language they’ll need to talk with others about your work.

Don’t create a convoluted message that requires a PhD to decipher. Provide memorable sound bites that can be quickly recalled. Put the blurbs on one side of a postcard-sized piece of paper that employees can refer to.

Drop in from time to time to check on your art and to find out how the work is being received. Ask if there have been any questions that you could answer.

Call when you can’t drop in. Email is okay, but it doesn’t relate subtleties that can be detected in someone’s voice. Pick up the phone and ask what you can do to lend a hand.

Say Thank You in a timely and appropriate manner. Did someone on staff help sell a big work for you? Send a handwritten Thank You note or give them a smaller work of art to encourage them to keep doing more of the same (and just because you’re a generous soul).

You will remain your only champion if you so choose.
Or you can nurture a quiet army of fans on your behalf.

How do you enlist others to help promote your art?

This post was inspired by an interview with Shelly Lewis Stanfield, my sister-in-law, about how she has sold hundreds of paintings through nontraditional outlets. The audio and transcript of this interview is available to all Artist Conspiracy members. Check us out.

©2011 Amantha Tsaros, Summer Party. Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 16 inches.

Artist Conspiracy member Amantha Tsaros asked recently in one of our Q&A calls:

The library where I’m showing my work will not allow food and drink in the gallery with the art. They will allow me a reception in a different gallery where there is someone else’s work.

Should I even bother having a reception/opening in a gallery showing another artist’s work?

Answer: Yes! And have fun with it.

Limitations like these help us to think out of the box. They help us expand.

Here are some ideas that we came up with to help Amantha plan a successful reception in spite of the “No Food and Drink” rule. Successful = getting people into your gallery.

• Organize a scavenger hunt. Guests look for things (colors, shapes, objects) in your work and fill out a form. These are often promoted to children, but adults like them equally. Draw a winner from all of the correct answers and give away a print or box of note cards.
• Put images of your art on table tents throughout the reception.
• Make a trail on the floor that leads to  your gallery – using whatever the venue allows (tape, Post-It notes, flower petals).
• Preview the exhibit at your studio before it even goes to the library. Invite your top supporters to a very special unveiling.
• Start the opening in the reception room and announce (ahead of time) that you will be giving an artist talk at a certain time in your gallery.

What other ideas do you have for situations like this?

A lot of my clients have a hard time coming up with titles for their artworks or titles for their exhibits.

What are some tricks you’ve learned for coming up with titles?

Want to make your gallery even happier that they’re doing business with you?

Send them business!

1. Add a link to the gallery on your website “Galleries” page to your website or to your blog sidebar
2. Extend personal invitations to your list – not just for the opening, but for the run of the exhibit. This means postcards, emails, reminders, and phone calls with a personal touch.
3. Participate – with great pleasure – in any other events the gallery wants to host: gallery talks, demonstrations, or VIP parties.
4. Post the exhibit and any related events on Facebook. Tag the gallery’s Facebook page in your post.
5. Tweet about it at least once a day on Twitter. Don’t forget to add the gallery’s @name to your tweet so the gallery sees your post.
6. Make a video at the opening (or get someone else to do this) that you post on YouTube within a couple of days.

Don’t rely on a gallery or other venue to promote the event up to your standards. You have to drive traffic constantly.