It’s a different world this year (in oh so many ways), and our current economy can present challenges for artists. Art is, after all, a discretionary purchase; my dealers have told me that people will come in, admire a painting, then say “oh, but think of our investment account”… and leave.
So what’s an artist to do?? When the going gets tough, the tough get creative! It’s time to share stories here about ideas we have, what we’ve tried, what works - and help us all stay afloat to rise with the tide when the economy recovers!
Herewith, let me throw some things out to get the conversation going:
- Studio sales: In December, I held a “Studio Archives” sale; I’ve done this about every 5 years or so - invite a lot of people, have a party, have small/old/experimental things available at very low pricepoints. This was the first time in Montana. It’s great fun, too (though prep can be exhausting!)
- Local publications: …can offer possibilities for placing your images. There’s a small newspaper called “Rocky Mountain Rider” that is printed monthly and shows up in tack shops and feed stores around here. A while ago I contacted them about using my art; they did so happily, one of my rodeo pieces was on the Nov 08 cover, and a woman called me about a commission as a result.
- eBay: Susan Fox (as mentioned in a prior comment) has tried selling some small originals on eBay. She has positioned these as ’studies’, to differentiate them from finished gallery pieces.
- Social networking: Susan and others have also mentioned online social networking as a means of creating awareness of your work.
- PoD: I’ve tried the PoD (print on demand) route with RedBubble, and am frankly underwhelmed with that; it’s a cheap and poorly compensated form of self-licensing. However, I’m not putting the time into the social networking that RB encourages, either.
- Go where the money is: economies in other countries are slumping, but not all, and not all as much as the U.S. I’m working on creating a presence in Canada (lots of oil money there). One of my galleries just made a multi-piece sale (including one of mine) to collectors in Indonesia.
OK, this should get us started - let’s hear the ideas! Roll ‘em!
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January 30th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
I just posted Part 3 about marketing in a down economy on my blog.
Overseas sales is intriguing. I’ve followed up one possibility and am waiting to hear back.
My Mongolia travel arranger is Swedish and leads a lot of tours of Swedes. So the thought occurs to me to try to find an outlet there at some point. He’s going to link to my website on the their new website, which will be nice.
So maybe that’s an additional idea- who can you link to that might lead interested eyeballs to your work, locally, nationally, globally?
February 2nd, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Susan - good idea! It’s all about the networking. There’s a saying I saw somewhere about “the size of your net worth is equal to the size of your net-work…” Networking is very, very, very important - especially right now.
And let me add that one of my galleries had a very good December, and the manager said that the super-rich are still buying art.
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:18 am
“the super-rich are still buying art.”
Except former Lehman brothers CEO Richard Fuld, who’s trying to offload his
Then again, maybe Fuld has dropped out of the “Super rich” category (he apparently “sold” his assets to his wife at bargain basement prices)
Of course, someone DID actually buy “Study in agony” by Arshile Gorky (for $2.2 million, if you can suspend disbelief for a moment), which reminds me a lot of what my 4 year old nephew brings home from pre-K art class on a regular basis.
I’ll probably never understand art valuation, especially not for modern art. I think I’m just too analytical — or maybe just too honest.
A note of warning: i’m really not the kind of person you want to invite to a modern art open house, especially one where wine is being served (which may be why i’ve never been invited to any, come to think of it)