Posted by jennieden 19th 2007 December
Categories: Uncategorized
Just completed a gruelling few days in Manchester.
There was a tremendous amount of variety and talent at the show but not enough visitors to make it!
I had some fantastic interactions with a variety of people, students in particular, for which I am most greatful as it helped pass the time. I was lucky enough to sell a couple of pieces too which helped me break even. Hopefully next year will attract a bigger crowd.
January 7th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
It was great that you had some meaningful interactions with students and broke even. It is a hard thing to put together an art event. It is much harder to draw a crowd. What works? Normally Ive found you get sparingly few friends and family and most of the rest stumble upon you. It is hard for a weekend event. You either have to put out hundreds of invites per artist - individual and hope for loyalty or (as they say in real estate) Position, position position - be where the crowd will be. We recently had an art show at our Black stump festival - our position was terrible as we were a venue right up the back - except we shared a building with the venue that housed alternative performing arts events - There were often very small houses for concrete poetry readings etc - but once the comedians were scheduled it was full houses and we got a lot of overflow. The the trick was having something to do in the gallery that inspired the people to stay. We had some interactive community art making and that held people in the gallery and made it look an exciting place to be - more than the quiet cathedral atmosphere of a typical gallery.
January 8th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Thought that I would just had a bit from my experience… I totally agree with Russell’s suggestions about being interactive. Our experience here at the studio is that people are genuinely curious and excited about making and creating on so many levels. We have offered free or donation only type activities alongside exhibitions which have held people here much longer. We particularly aim to use recycled materials - one outcome is that they are usually familiar items to start with - perhaps being put together in unfamiliar ways. Children and families will linger and it appears to have an encouraging affect on the confidence that others express on their arrival - and it does seem to positively affect sales as you get a good buzz going.