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Moving to another country and talking to artists made me realise that they also have lots of “offline” connections to sell and exhibit their art.
Hard to believe? I never paid attention to it either, but consider for a moment the painting you saw in the cafè today while you were drinking your coffee, or that craft workshop your son participated in. Artists cure the majority of aesthetic details and activities in our cities, and we don’t even realise that!
Cool Christmas installations, adorned public gardens and painting exhibitions don’t magically materialise in our environment. Behind them there’s a lot of work, made by sculptors, designers, painters and many other artists.
How to take advantage of these opportunities, then?
It doesn’t matter if you paint, make jewellery, sculpt, tattoo or build installations. All artists have their place in our society.
| Sell Your Pieces or Services to Restaurants and Shops!
As you can notice, while you’re enjoying a meal or a cup of hot tea, you’re often surrounded by little artsy details; sometimes you may find paintings, little sculptures or murals as well. They’re exactly there to embellish the environment around customers and make the place more welcoming!
Businesses like these always pay attention to new artists and artworks to display.. Proposing your works and skills could be a good idea!
I know it can sound almost impossible, but it is not difficult as it seems to talk with the owner or manager of a place. You can leave your contact info to some employer and wait until they contact you back, or maybe you’re lucky enough to find someone interesting right in the place at the moment of your arrival!
Anyways, don’t worry, if they find your art or service interesting, they’ll surely call you back. 😉
Tip: Local is easier!
Reaching the “head” of big chains is usually really difficult: not even their employees talk to them most of the time. Instead, you can try to target small local businesses in the beginning: in new cafes or restaurants, mostly managed by young minds, the mindset is different and they’ll probably be more willing to talk to peers and try something new for their place. 🙂
| Create a Workshop or do Guests
Creating workshops can be a funny and accessible opportunity to be known as an artist and give value to your community.
To start a workshop it’s really important first determining what place works the best.
For example, if you want to teach photography, a wide clear space full of natural light may be the best choice. If you want to teach kids how to paint, you may consider proposing yourself to schools. If you’re aiming to teach adults how to sculpt clay, a rented room is needed (you can also consider your own home if there are few participants and/or they’re close acquaintances!)
Then, the rest it’s all up to you: pricing, materials and the lesson’s topics for example. Don’t stress out and have fun with that!
Tip: Start With Family and Friends!
Starting teaching to people close to you, can help you build your confidence about your skills, or practicing on how to teach to others, before actually going out there. It will of course be some quality time with who you love and who you have around, and it’ll be a fun afternoon of creating and learning together!
Guests are also an amazing opportunity to move away from your comfort zone and get known also abroad! Guests are part of most of tattoo artists’ routines from all over the world.
Many tattoo artists, for example, move for a limited period of time to other cities or countries, to be able to tattoo locals citizens on specific dates. Local tattoo shops are hosting these artists in their place, to allow anyone to be tattooed by their favourite artists, even if they live and work far away.
This can of course be made in any type of profession in the art field.. You just have to get the right contacts and enjoy your travelling!
| Network with Local Artists to Find New Opportunities
Everything is always more difficult if you’re alone.. But, fortunately, the art scene is always happy to welcome new people.
Attending themed events, exhibitions’ openings or visiting modern museums can help you to get in touch with artists from all over the world; why not, you could also take a beer sometime!
The benefits of building these relationships are a lot: possible friendships, job opportunities, collaborations, shared exhibitions.. it will get you generally more involved in your local art scene!
Tip: Use The Internet to Find Social Events Easily!
Many websites like Meetup or even social media platforms like Facebook allow people to upload events, with details and location in order to make people able to join! I personally tried it, and it’s really helpful if someone wants to organise or partecipate in public themed events. There are art related events, tech or music related events.. nothing in common? people also organise dinners and cafe meeting to just take a coffee and talk a bit! 🙂
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| Network with Art Galleries
I know.. In our minds, art galleries are still exclusive expositive places in which only dead or famous artists are allowed to put their piece on the wall.
Well, is not like this anymore; fortunately now they are more accessible places that allow everyone to show their pieces.. There will of course be someone who’s willing to display your art!
Afraid of no’s or losing time going around asking to different galleries? No excuses! Some galleries will allow you to pay to display your artwork for a limited amount of time.. The only thing you need to do is to create, seek opportunities and throw yourself out there!
Tip: Create a Portfolio!
Bringing a small portfolio with you can help galleries and showrooms to decide whether to host your pieces or not! Invest a little on a website and some business cards before going and proposing your art to someone. You’ll be and look more professional, and galleries probably pay a lot of attention to it: they don’t really enjoy working with people who won’t look organised.
At the end, it’s worthy; it will increase your visibility and credibility A LOT!
These are just a few ways you can move your work from online to offline. The reasons may be various: you’re tired of social media or you want to spend more time marketing your art “in the real world”.
What about you? Do you prefer marketing yourself online or offline? Leave a comment down below and read other points of view! ☺️
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