Creative Marketing

Having several artist friends and colleagues, I am always impressed with ways to market one's artistic creations.

Marion Pollmann, a local Olympian ceramic artist, has created a lovely, short video capturing her spirit and art.

I would like to introduce my friend, Marion...

Art Symposium Day Two

Last weekend was the fifth annual Arts Symposium put on by the Tacoma Arts Commission at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. It was a two day event dedicated to providing local artist and arts organizations with nuts and bolts information in order to become and remain successful in the arts.

I took advantage of this FREE opportunity to take classes from local professionals and educators.

The second day I attended two classes by Miriam Works, Works Consulting, an artist and consultant; Things You Wish You Learned In Art School: The Art Of Marketing and The Creative Maker: Time Management for Artist. Miriam emphasized the "art" of marketing with crucial tips as well as creating a marketing plan. In the second class, we learned more effective ways to manage our time. I found sharing our "time wasters" and "excuses" similar and it felt as if we were confessing in a support group. Needless to say, I left both classes with great insights and information to uplift and motivate me to create.

November 2010 marks the 9th Anniversary of Art At Work: Tacoma Arts Month. It has become a fall tradition providing a diversity of offerings illustrating the richness of the Tacoma community. Many of the activities are free and most are family friendly.

If you live locally and missed out this year,
mark your calenders for next year.

Luxury Art Marketing

Even as the economy is going through a recession, a market for luxury goods and services still exists. While American consumers are cutting back on extravagant spending, they are not willing to give up on indulgences altogether. It is entirely possible to sell your art in this marketplace even in this current climate, as long as you understand luxe buyers and their behavioral patterns, and can then develop and implement a marketing plan geared toward this audience.

I came across this five-part series on Luxury Art Marketing by Ligaya Figueras and Stan Fine, Ph. D. in Art Calendar, the business magazine for visual artists. I found it fascinating to read. It talks about the business of luxury and how to identify and research your target audience; how to posit yourself as a luxury brand; and how to tap into buyer sentiments, as well as some creative ways to increase your market position.

I especially liked the part about how buyers think and the elements of luxury.

Art Marketing Guide

I have been reading Jason Horejs' blogs and newsletters about art marketing.

Impressed with the information I have been receiving, I decided to purchase his new book, "Starving" to Successful.

This book is the culmination of his work over the last 18 months as he has endeavored to give artists an inside understanding of what it takes to make it in the art business as a gallery-represented artist. This book is based on his seventeen years in the art gallery business, the last eight as owner of Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona. He also drawns from his interviews and surveys of career artists who have been successfully navigating the artist-gallery relationship for decades.

"Starving" to Successful was written to give an artist a comprehensive understanding of the gallery business, and a systematic way to approach galleries.

The book will advise you how to focus your efforts to create a body of marketable, gallery-ready work, how to organize your art, how to make a powerful portfolio, how to choose the best art markets to approach, and, most importantly, what the best approach is to get into galleries. The book will also give you myriad insights into the business to help you fine-tune every aspect of your art career.

The book includes samples of successful artist statements, artist biographies, and resumes, analyzes websites to help you fine-tune yours, and gives you actionable, concrete steps to take to grow your art career.

Purchase your copy.