by Patricia Frischer
(clockwise: Linda Mariano, Erik Smith, Craig Kausen |
RAVE Art
Fair Exhibitor Series: #2 Selling Art Tomorrow–
second of 4 invitation only sessions produced by Redwood Art Group
Because the SD Art Prize has shown at Art San Diego since its inception, I keep
track of all the progress made by this international art fair company. They
offered a series of discussion about the future of the art market in a set of 4
panel discussion. Here is my summary of the second session but you can view all
the archived session once they are complete. They also come with a valuable
set of tools for artists and gallerist from writing an artist’s
statement to engaging
social media supplied by the Art
Business News.
Linda Mariano, Redwood Art Group managing director of marketing, reminds us that Content is King. You need to be able to talk about your art work. Tell your story and that behind the art. Visually show the artist in his/her studio. Create an experience for the viewer online. It is OK to test out new things and don’t worry about being perfect. Get comfortable being uncomfortable in front of a camera.
Eric Smith, President Redwood Media Group, is exploring new option
since the onsite art fair had to halt.
In the first session many out of the box idea were discussed including such as
small, select home shows with your collectors, 30 pieces in 30 days to create excitement,
getting artists together for a pop up perhaps an outdoor restaurant venue. He
notes that virtual events are starting slow but will build and be ongoing. He
is starting to see super stars involved which will build and attract more
people. People are not going to want to travel right away, but collectors are
still wanting to buy. There are large savings to be had right now since virtual
fairs are much less expensive i.e. a RAVE virtual booth starts at $495. Virtual
includes all sorts of communications including zoom type meetings, but also Instagram
Facebook and utube groups. In this
context virtual means the viewer can stay home and participate.
RAVE (Redwood
Arts Virtual Events) are not just a viewing room, but a real experiential
platform where you can meet and talk to artists and gallerists, attend unique
events, and have an art buying experience from wherever you are virtually. The 2-day
events have lots going on at the same time and is well priced for exhibitors. You
have access to 100,000 on the Redwood mailing list plus all the exhibitors
sending out notices to their mailing list. This is new and planned but it is
still an experiment. Even when the live events are back, then there will be
live streaming. The first RAVE is RAVE Miami Dec 4 and 5th
Next year live events when they come back could be better
than was first thought as the statistics just came out that flying is very safe
as COVID cases are only 1 in 27 million flyers.
Craig Kausen, President & CEO of
Linda Jones Enterprises and Chuck Jones Galleries, also the Chairman of the Board of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, shuttered all 3 galleries and their non-profit took a breath and now has
free programs through the Center for Creativity with Creative side chats. Jones
Family Gatherings is a weekend event that is usually a way to connect with
collection Very intimate studio tours with artists capable of exciting people
about their work. This year they went virtual and he shared some advice about
how to do this.
Not many in the arts used digital zoom, or created virtual art galleries, but since
the pandemic closed everything down, we need to be prepared, educate ourselves and
move forward with all things digital. Visuals,
text messages, video, online sales, shipping learn it all. Get out there and
try something new as the old gallery viewing is not available. He suggests about
30 minutes - 1-hour total for an event with a presentation or two and time for
questions and answers. Choose what is appropriate for the people that you can
attract. Make sure there is interaction between panelists and the viewers.
Record it all and archive it. If you include a pre-recorded video it should be
no longer than 5-6 minutes. Then break it down to 30 seconds to a minute for Instagram
and other social media as a teaser. Remember hatch tag #s.
A virtual event can be in any size space and with only one smart
phone, but multiple cameras are better and some basic editing is important. Ear
pods mean the artist can hear the questions. They did no rehearsal, but had a
plan of how the event would be presented. He believes the key is you are doing
this yourself is to try to have someone else running the tech. The big question
is how you are going to connect with the collector. What is the story about the
artist? You can’t sit back and wait for
the sale; you have to present a greeting and an emotional bond of some kind.
The collector needs a story to tell people when they see the work in their own
home once they acquire it. It has to be interesting and attractive and
engaging.
Brick and Mortar is on the way down or at the best staying
level. People are clamoring for something to do. How do you create the
emotional bond between artist and collector online? Maybe this starts with a simple
outreach to find out about them and how they are doing. The more dialogue
between you and people with a real interest the better. Get good at telling
your story. A virtual art fair brings lots of collectors
into one place just like the real thing so get involved with RAVE.
You can view the first session and there are 2 more session:
You
must RSVP to access the Series. All confirmed participants will be sent
calendar invitations prior to each event. Please RSVP by November 2 to participate.
Session #3: Next Level Strategies for a
Successful Art Fair on Thursday, November 5 | 1:00 pm
Eastern
Session #4: Creating a Business Plan for Today and the Future on
Thursday, November 12 | 1:00 pm Eastern with Crista Cloutier dearcrista@theworkingartist.com
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