On the Left Brain Artist podcast, I will bring you weekly interviews with artists who are actively creating art and actively selling their art. Of course, I’ve chosen these artists because of the quality of their artwork. But I’ve also chosen them because they have experience showing their work in galleries, stores, festivals, and they have stories to share that can help other artists who want to sell their work. Each week I will bring you an interview with one of these artists. Later in the week, I’ll take one thing we discussed that I think it’s important to expand upon – one thing that they’ve done to increase their business. They’ve had success doing this one thing, and I want to share that success with you.
In my interview with watercolor artist Bobbin Salisbury, she talked about two arts organizations that she has joined and participates in actively. One is the Palm Beach Watercolor Society, and the other is the Wellington Art Society. Both of these are located in Palm Beach County, Florida, but you should be able to find one near you. We have at least a dozen more here. Some are open to all visual artists, some include performance artists, like dancers and actors, or writers, like writers of poetry or essays. Other groups are for specific genres of art, like watercolor or jewelry.
Listen here or download from any podcast app.
Here are the takeaways from this episode:
1. The yearly fee for being a member will be far outweighed by its benefits, such as access to shows and demonstrations by other artists.
2. Pick the brains of your fellow members to find out where they find other shows, galleries, or shops for their art; how they photograph their art; how to set up a display at an outdoor booth.
3. Go to the monthly meetings to develop relationships with other artists.
4. Attend all the demonstrations, even if the artwork is not your genre. You’ll still learn valuable business tips from the demonstrating artist.
5. Find out about artist receptions and attend them regularly.
6. Join a committee. That’s the best way to learn how to put out a Call to Artists and how to hang art and run a show.
7. Helping run a show will also teach you what NOT to do when you are an exhibiting artist.
8. Use search engines to find an artist group near you.
9. Visit a few of them to discover which is the best fit for you.
Thanks for listening! I hope you learned something good today.
