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Artists and Marketing: The Truth Is Out There
by Stephen Bracco
For a visual artist, confidence in one’s unique talent is vital, yet
without an equally strong marketing and promotion strategy,
an artist’s chances of drawing attention to her work are slim. The
challenge lies in the incredible amount of work involved. There’s
the problem of finding the right gallery or alternative space, keeping
business files and mailing lists up to date, and increasing one’s
media presence. Contests, juried exhibitions, and even small galleries
are overwhelmed with slides and applications from artists
all over the world hungry to have their work recognized. The
competition is fierce, and an informed artist with the most comprehensive
strategy, and the most professional attitude, stands the
best chance of having her work seen. Yet if you are an artist resistant
to empowering yourself as a businessperson, then you’re
allowing your fears to dictate the limitations of your success.
Fear, lack of self-confidence, avoidance, and endless excuses
can bog down one’s creativity and abilities both in and out of
the studio. Many artists need to dismantle old modes of thinking
(whether grandiose or self-deprecating) and there are an increasing
number of books available which address the issues creative
professionals of all levels face when trying to market their artwork.
In lieu of a table of contents, I’d Rather Be in the Studio starts
with a “Table of Excuses” that artists commonly give for remaining
on the sidelines in their marketing life: “My art speaks for
itself,” “I’m an introvert,” “I don’t live in an art town.” Alyson
dismantles these (gently) and more importantly, offers alternative,
proactive ways of thinking about such topics as making your
work newsworthy, polishing your media kit, and generating buzz
on a shoestring budget. There’s detailed help on portfolios, how
to hone your teaching and lecturing skills, and step-by-step outlines
on creating a killer newsletter.
Yet before you can start on the road to artistic fulfillment, you
must determine what specifically you want from your creativity.
“Create your vision for success,” Alyson says, and suggests
free-associating in a journal with such words as money, fame,
recognition, publicity, and galleries. What an artist comes up with
through such writing can yield liberating results.
Remaining open to the new possibilities such work generates
(even if that means rethinking your ideas of success and how you
are going to get there) is key to Alyson Stanfield’s work with artists.
And while she focuses much on increasing one’s online presence
(an artist should have a website, blog, newsletter, Google
alerts, and more), she also says it’s important for artists to find
support right in their own communities. Her website provides an
outline for artists to create their own Art Marketing Salons, and
offers free downloadable materials including press release and
pitch letter templates. Alyson’s structure for the salon is forwardlooking:
at the end of the nine-session program each participant
will have completed an art marketing plan. This proactive philosophy
pervades Alyson’s work as a consultant.
Before you can become skilled at marketing and promotion, however,
be sure your creative muscles are toned up for the rough and
tumble of putting your art out in the market. Alyson Stanfield
cites choreographer Twyla Tharp’s book, The Creative Habit:
Learn It and Use It for Life for deepening your creative wellsprings,
as well as increasing personal confidence.
Alyson Stanfield is an artist, a former museum curator, and has
been an artist consultant for fifteen years. She conducts Art Marketing
Action Workshops all over the country, and through her
popular website/blog, she examines a wide range of issues that
artists face getting their work out into the world. In her new book,
I’d Rather Be in the Studio - The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to
Self-Promotion, Alyson discusses her own experience and that
of other artists with the obstacles that artists face when setting
out to promote their artwork. The book also pinpoints the many
marketing opportunities that are out there, and how to use them
to your advantage.
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Such a holistic approach to one’s artistic career is essential to
Tharp’s message. She says the essence of the creative life is
keeping raw passion and learned skills in mutual balance, and although
she approaches the issue like a choreographer viewing her
work from different angles, Tharp links each part to the whole.
She gains inspiration from ancient texts as well as popular culture,
from writing exercises, rituals, and honest self-appraisal of
her own mistakes.
Tharp’s all about the journey, and for the artist, there’s no richer
source material than one’s own memories and associations. Get
a cardboard box, she suggests, write the name of your current
project on it, and throw everything in there you associate with the
project: clippings, pictures, sketches, writing, music, books, and
other assorted tchotchkes, all of which Tharp says act as a raw
index of your preparation, and a repository for creative potential.
She calls it her soil. An evolving creative life depends on this