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Do This! |
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| Current Issue: November 8, 2004 | ||
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IN
THIS ISSUE
What's Going On:
Announcements /Classes |
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WHAT'S GOING ON : : NEW!
FREE E-CLASS
: : : : ONLINE
CLASS:
CHOOSING THE RIGHT CAREER PATH : : |
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| DO THIS: CREATE HOLIDAY CHEER | ||
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He lives on eighteen acres
near Jefferson, about 80 miles northwest of Des Moines and 40 miles west
of Ames, Iowa. It's an agricultural community in the rolling, tree-lined
hills. "Not what you picture as Iowa," he says. It's also not
where one usually goes to find art.
Almost 20 years ago Joe Murray began his holiday light display, which he considers a gift to the community. The only problem is getting people to make the pilgrimage. The closest neighbor is a quarter-mile away, so it must be a destination. Joe has found out, as have many others, the people will drive quite a distance to garner some holiday cheer.
The holiday presentation takes Joe about three weeks to set up, working six to seven hours per day. He started this year's display last week. A few years ago, Joe added an open house to the light display during the first weekend in December. His painting hobby had become his passion in retirement and this special time of year was perfect for sharing his work with others. Drive-by visitors are rare, but they're bowled over by the one-hundred-yard-long driveway covered by a canopy of maple trees filled with white lights. Signs invite drivers into the house for apple cider and cookies. An impressive entryway! Music sets the mood inside and, of course, the artist's paintings are all around. It's a true, old-fashioned Christmas. Joe says his favorite part is hearing guests tell their stories. What is so wonderful about this is that people love to talk about themselves, hear about themselves, and relate their personal stories. By giving them a venue to do this, he has made friends for life! It's not all about him and his work; it's about his guests. In addition to his time and effort, Joe spends about $300 to advertise in small local papers and send out invitations. He has more than made up that cost in the sales of his work. More importantly, he has created a community of well-wishers and enthusiasts who will tell their friends and return the following year. [ This story and others about creative marketing will be featured in an upcoming issue of Sculptural Pursuit magazine. Find this publication online at http://www.sculpturalpursuit.com ] |
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| KNOW THIS | The holidays are a terrific excuse for a studio party and a way to connect or reconnect with audiences. | |
| THINK ABOUT THIS | You don't have to be named Martha to create holiday cheer. | |
| DO THIS |
Create holiday cheer in any number of ways.
Pick and choose the ones that work for you and your goals:
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TIP / FIND OF THE WEEK: Search Engine Optimization More than you'll ever want to know about directing traffic to your Web site: Warning! You can drive yourself crazy with this stuff.
Oregon artists Cecilia Henle and Hilary Pfeifer each wrote to inform all the lucky artists in their state of the following: "It is Oregon State law that galleries must provide the names and addresses of collectors to the artists, whenever the artist asks for them." I ask: Do you know of a similar law in your state? If so, please let me know. You can see Cecilia's work at http://www.ebsqart.com/Artists/cmd_3136_profile.htm and Hilary's work at http://www.hilarypfeifer.com Harriete Estel Berman of San Mateo, CA, wrote: "You are absolutely right! Artists need to be better advocates for themselves in their professional development and in turn, act more professionally, by not circumventing their galleries. A relationship of mutual trust does not happen by accident. "With so many galleries going out of business these days, it is the utmost importance that artist keep good records for the location of their own work. In the future, curators or museums working on exhibitions or retrospectives may want to borrow work from a collector. These exhibitions become part of the work's provenance and may increase the value of the artwork. "This issue is also important if artists are donating work to an auction. They should write into the auction agreement that the auction sponsor will furnish the names and address of the winning bidder to the artist. Thus, auction sponsors can assist artists (or galleries) by providing accurate records for the location of the work. "The more important the work donated to the auction, the more important it is to make sure that the artist is informed about the new owner of the work. A professional courtesy such as this may encourage the donation of higher quality work from artists, galleries or collectors. More about auctions soon." Find Harriete online at http://www.harriete-estel-berman.info Angela Treat Lyon of Kailua, HI, wrote: "Something you forgot to mention is that an artist can do a lot to help a gallery promote his or her work - by sending out announcements about new work and shows, the gallery benefits as well. I ONLY send people to my galleries since I want to paint and carve, not stand and yack with customers. We all win." See Angela's work at http://www.lyon-art.com Note: See the menu in the upper left of this page to view popular topics from past issues. |
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Copyright © 2004 Alyson B. Stanfield, Stanfield Art Associates. All rights reserved. I encourage you to forward all or part of this
newsletter as long as you include the above copyright information and
this link: http://www.artbizcoach.com
Please forward this to your artist-friends. The Do This! newsletter is sent only to subscribers. You can subscribe using the instructions in the column at left. Instructions for unsubscribing and changing your email address are at the bottom of each issue delivered to your inbox. |
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ALYSON
B. STANFIELD STANFIELD ART ASSOCIATES,
INC. |