As artists, we know that promoting our work is important if we want to exhibit and sell it. But with so many options for this out there, it can feel overwhelming to even pick a place to start. So, today, let's think about you, your art and a look at a few ways that you can get your art noticed.
How Do Local Artists Promote?
Regardless of your medium, local artists promote through creating a community. This includes friends, family, your online network, and cheerleaders who love what you do so much that they freely share what you do with their friends. It also includes fellow artists, potential collectors, and people who are a part of the art scene like gallerists and art administrators.
Creating interactions with other people you know in real life is priceless. This results in having a core group of people who are willing to help you reach your goals. Your connection also makes you invested in helping them reach their goals. It becomes a symbiotic relationship where you build each other up through sharing, giving, and showing up to support each other.
When you have this community of supportive people as a foundational element of your art practice, it gives you a springboard to do bigger things locally and beyond.
Some examples of how you can work together with your community to promote each other's work are to…
Co-Exhibit Your Work
Invite fellow artists to exhibit their work in shows that you are curating and vice versa.
This means you find a place where you can install your art such as a gallery, empty store front, or coffee shop. Also consider local community spaces like your library, community center, or studio spaces.
Be mindful of how much foot traffic there is and the accessibility of the space. How will you get people there if it's off the beaten path?
Not sure how to drive traffic? Check out my article Will Anyone Show Up? 10 Ways To Entice People To Your Open Studio or Pop-up Market for inspiration. All of these techniques work well with collaborations.
Design A Studio Tour
Come together with other local artists to create a reason for them to visit your studio.
Open studio tours and events are popular with tourists and locals who want to learn about the creative community that surrounds them.
Consider how many artists or tour stops you include and how they thematically make sense as a whole.
How well do you know the artists you want to partner with? Will they promote the event and are they reliable to show up?
When Should You Hold A Studio Tour?
Choose a season or time when people are looking to purchase gifts. This could be around fall holidays or Mothers Day, etc.
You could decide on a quiet time of year when you would like to drum up sales and you’re not competing with a lot of other events.
If your city or town has a vibrant tourism economy, capitalize on the local tourists and staycationers who are looking for something unique to explore.
How To Promote Your Studio Tour
There are many ways you can get the word out for your tour.
Create a promotional map of studios and rest stops of partners where you install your artwork. Ask them if they may be willing to donate a prize for your open studios passport.
Give tour-goers a reason to visit all the studios on the map. You can create a passport, for example. If the participants make it to all the studios or a certain number of them then they are entered to win something special. This is also a great way to capture email lists to group your marketing mailing list.
If you need more ideas on how to promote your studio tour, check out how the Verge Center For The Arts does theirs.
Collaborate With Fellow Artists
When you pool your resources, time, energy, budgets, and mailing lists, what you create together is always better than what would be made by yourself.
Pro Tip: If you have a feeling it won’t be better together, don’t partner.
Some ideas of how to get your art noticed by collaborating are:
Purchase group ads with fellow artists in your local art or community guide.
Do a live social media conversation on Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook with a group of artists to promote your upcoming events.
Create a joint promotional giveaway to grow your email list.
What’s Next For You?
If you are excited by these ideas on how to get your art noticed, I’m so glad to have inspired you! Let me know which approach you put to work and how it went.
If you need a guiding hand to help you create a promotional plan that really works for you, I can help. Simply book a time and we can work out the details of how I can best support you.
Cheers,
Kate