Article: Marketing Your Art #1

From time-to-time Brevard Art News will feature supplements on specific topics. The first series, thanks to our guest author, is great advice on marketing your art. This is the first in the series. I'll publish the articles weekly... Enjoy. This week's issue of Brevard Art News follows this article...

Don’t Be Shy by SKC

I believe we have all heard the stereotype for artists defined as brooding dreamers who are disorganized, scattered and unreliable. This “definition” is hardly fair. Artists are all essentially entrepreneurs, whether they have a knack for business or not. Task anyone with the job of envisioning a product (in this case your artwork), then tell them they not only have to create the inventory, but they also must expose it to the public, prepare it for sale, seek out and secure agents and venues to assist in the sale of said product, while providing a succinct yet precise manner in which to describe the product. That’s over simplified, as there are many other steps to owning a business and marketing, but, you should get the idea – artists are taking on a tremendous duty.

As with life, learning to promote your artwork requires that you take it one small step at a time. Any other way and you risk overwhelming yourself and giving in to frustration. These journal posts aim to assist in taking the process one small step at a time and this week we will go over a simple exercise to help overcome stage fright when it comes to discussing and defining your artwork.

Overcoming Stage Fright: Asking Questions Up Front
I know it can be difficult to define why you are compelled to create your artwork. Add to that the challenge of displaying the purpose of your art neatly in an artist’s statement, and further pulling it all together into conversation for use at openings, interviews, etc.

For some, talking about their artwork, themes, and purpose in life, is as easy as breathing, but, for the vast majority of us, we must learn to overcome our anxiety. One way to get the ball rolling is to present your artwork to close friends and family, whomever you’re comfortable with.

Review, Q&A Group:

1. Give your close friends and family a private viewing at your home or studio, or send them crisp images online.

2. Ask them to write down a list of questions for you about your work. For example, they can inquire about your themes, common imagery, who influences your work, how you create the work that you do, and so on.

3. Take each written list of questions and put it into one master “Q&A list”.

4. Now, go through the “Q&A list” question by question and begin to answer each as best you can. You may find a few are tricky to answer, but with some patience and careful thought, you should be able to respond to each and every one.

Once this first list has been answered, consider getting in touch with a group of close friends who are also artistically inclined. (If you don’t have a close friend who is an artist, consider joining an online or local artist’s community.) Do the above Q&A activity again. This time you will likely get a slightly different list of questions that may be more challenging. Pushing yourself just a little harder will help build your confidence even more. Again, answer each question thoughtfully.

Creating these lists will give you an idea as to what questions you may expect to experience at art openings, lectures, or interviews with the press. Additionally, your thoughtful responses to the “Q&A list”, makes for great source material when developing your artist’s statement.

Keep your Q&A lists handy and refer to them prior to attending interviews or events where you will likely be asked about your artwork. This way you will always have that extra boost of confidence to speak about your work conversationally.

It is a good idea when you develop a new body of work, where your style or subject matter has change notably, that you complete this exercise again.
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