Written By Geoffrey Gorman - Art Career Advisor

“The art trade is a discreet, unregulated, and highly fragmented industry. Auction specialists and dealers who have been in the business for decades cannot pin down how many art dealers exist or the breadth of worldwide annual sales.”

--ARTnews January 2000

The art world is bursting apart. It has literally fragmented into pieces—and turned on its head until it is unrecognizable. All signs predict it will continue its headlong course, exploding well into the next decades.

What does it mean for the artist? It means a lot--more than most are prepared for. It means that artists are being forced to take on new roles and change the way they think about themselves and the way they conduct the business of art. The phenomenon fueling the change is quite simply the current proliferation of artists, most of whom dream of one day exhibiting in a gallery. But the dream is increasingly difficult to realize. Already, the world is seeing successful artists serve as their own gallery dealers, their own museum curators, their own publicity firms and all-round promoters. Artists have to wade through the choices offered by Internet galleries and artist-run web sites. It means they have to learn to be their own business managers. And it means they have to move far beyond the traditional gallery-artist relationship because they will have to market their work directly to their clients, while developing a working association with museums and galleries.

First, develop a positive attitude. This means you must go beyond some of the myths that are still perpetuated in the art world. These myths prevent you from reaching your goals. Here are three of these myths. Myth No. 1: I have “sold out” if I take over the marketing and promotion of my art career. Truly successful artists no longer think this way. They can’t afford to if they want to succeed. Myth No. 2: I will be discovered. Gone are the days of artists being discovered while hidden away in their studios. Artists now have to have a more visible, consistent presence in the art world. Myth No. 3: Society owes me a living. People in the art world are not interested in artists who think they don’t have to do anything but create art.

But a positive attitude alone is not enough. You need to develop a game plan or road map. Consider these three steps:

1. Define your goals. Give serious thought to what you want to achieve with your artwork, such as lifestyle, income, and level of recognition. Where do you want to be in six months, one year, five years, 10 years? Be honest about your goals because if you are to reach them, they must be realistic.

2. Develop a strategy. You must formulate a marketing plan that ensures that collectors, museums, gallery dealers, and arts writers will see your work. The plan should look at both short- and long-term strategies.

3. Implement the plan! Once you have designed a strategy to achieve your goals, break it down into day-to-day activities. Set aside at least one day a week to work on your plan. Also look at what it will take to continue to implement the plan.

Rebecca Bluestone, a Santa Fe-based fiber artist, followed this very kind of planning, and it has contributed to her success, she says. She exhibits her work both locally and throughout the country. Her show at a local gallery this summer was acclaimed--and profitable--and she has just completed a large commission for the new courthouse in Albuquerque.

“It took me several years to figure how important a well-defined strategy is for my art career,” Bluestone said recently. “I am interested in long-term success. I work with both the public and private sectors of the art world. I have to be organized and look at my schedule years in advance. If I didn’t have my game plan, I don’t think I could have gotten this far.”

In addition to planning a strategy, you need to take your creativity out of your studio and use it to plan novel ways to market your work.

Since writing that article several months ago, I have come up with a plan that I believe artists should follow. I call it the 'twenty percent' solution and it is very simple.

With the art world literally fragmenting, there are brand new markets for your art and new ways to get to them... Galleries are just a part of a successful equation. (Don't fall for the myth that you can only make it with a gallery handling your career!)

My firm belief is that every active artist can profit from the different opportunities out there. But it has to be done methodically. I recommend your developing at least five different approaches for securing exposure for your artwork. Each one of the five will be 20 percent of your marketing strategy, right? If one or two of them don't work out ( a gallery closes or an art consultant retires) you won't be devastated. You'll have other strategies in place to fall back on.

Consider at least five of the following marketing strategies:

* Put on exhibitions in your own studio
* Have a show in a coffee house, restaurant, bank, office
* Work with art consultants
* Exhibit your work with a gallery or two
* Participate in juried exhibitions
* Research and contact appropriate art consultants
* Get your slides into five slide banks a year
* Apply for public commissions

I'm only listing the most obvious ideas here. This list goes on and on. But what I want you to do is to pick at least five strategies for marketing your work and integrate them into your yearly goals. Each one becomes 20 percent of your marketing plan, adding up to 100 percent, right?

What other unique marketing strategies have you tried to get exposure and sales for your art?

I really appreciate your advice, it has given me new motivation. Could you tell me more about slide banks and also applying for public commissions. Thank you.

There are a variety of slide banks all around the world, from local arts agencies to art in Embassies programs. Check a resourse book from www.artmarketing.com to find one.

Public commissions are also available on a local and national level. Use the same resource book to track them down.

Geoffrey

>What does it mean for the
>artist? It means a lot--more
>than most are prepared for.
>It means that artists are
>being forced to take on
>new roles and change the
>way they think about themselves
>and the way they conduct
>the business of art.

I agree with Mr. Gorman completely. I have found over the last few years I am more confident and sucessful at selling my own work rather than relying on other representatives, though I still find benefits in participating in shows. People want a more personal relationship with the artist, and the Internet has proven to be a successful medium for building relationships with potential buyers, and simply just to assimilate the message of the work to the world in general.

I am often asked by other artists how to go about marketing and booking shows. Keeping a mailing list is vitally important, having work available in a wide price range helps, too. Often collectors become collectors by starting out with a small purchase. Most of all, don't lose faith in yourself. You're not always going to succeed, but if you don't try you will never know... In other words, paint the world with a wide brush.
>
>... go beyond
>some of the myths
>...
>Myth No. 3:
>Society owes me a living.
>People in the art world
>are not interested in artists
>who think they don’t have
>to do anything but create
>art.

That's a good one. Welcome to the TrueFresco forum, Mr.
Gorman.

Sincerely,
Lynn Marie Greaves
online gallery | http://www.fortyponies.com

I know you must be extremely busy. But I wanted to send you a tremendously thankyou for all of your posts in reguards to art management. And will say that i will continue to read on further after posting this gratitude note.
I have been searching for what seems like an endless eternity for answers. And seemed to just get caught up in the whirlwind of online art ads and the circle of an overly saturated online artists agents nightmare. But seem to have finally found some concrete substantial helpful information..
About a year ago I had this crazy idea to try to facilitate a Public Broadcating Station Art Gallery. Well I had no idea where to begin. Once you begin to research the dream you realize just how enormous the details of growing the dream can become. Costs of abtaining video footage of artists art work, alone was well in the $thousands of dollars range, and exceeding way over my budget. And where ever in the world would I find artists that had an accomplished signiture style that could hold lasting value? There seemed to be just way to many obstacles. Well with all that in mind I became discouraged.

I could in no way afford to pursue such a highly expensive and rapidly becomming what seem to be more unrealistic endeavor. So...sad to say my vision pretty much deminished. But now I have finally found some answers and will continue to research and explore the possibilities. I'm determined!
Thankyou so very much!

I really appreciate your advice, it has given me new motivation.

__________
http://letswatchmovies.org