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- I started a mastermind group of miniature artist friends with whom I am traveling, collaborating, and organizing exhibitions.
- I approached several venues where I had miniature works in shows, and offered to do painting demonstrations. Even now, there is no substitute for live conversation, so I did several Facebook Live videos during those demos.
- I organized and participated in several ZOOM virtual receptions for miniature art exhibitions.
- I seek out ways to be the different artist in venues. At a local art center, I attended the exhibit and was sure to enter three of my miniature paintings in a show where all the other art was larger. In this way, my work stood out when the curator produced a recorded commentary of the show. So far, one of my paintings sold to a first time visitor at the center.
- On a recent visit to see my daughter in MN, I happened on an art center where I was given a tour by the director. They have a small gallery I was invited to apply to show at. While investigating, I saw they also are launching "the smallest museum in Minnesota" in the form of a 2 foot tall box with shelves that sits in their courtyard. I will definitely use this opportunity to display my miniatures.
Part of leveraging my genre is researching ways to grab the attention of art lovers and pointing them to rabbit holes like my website, my other area exhibits, and in this case the center's gift shop where I will have small studies for sale. I could have just stopped at the gallery application. To fully leverage, I had to dig deeper.
These are just the things I thought of. Imagine what YOU can think to do in your genre.
You may find it useful to start with this outline and examples for implementing your strategy.
1. Identify your genre. How are you different? What do your followers like most about what you create? Where would you find those followers? What do they do in their leisure time?
2. What solutions are you providing collectors? These are all opportunities for targeting your audience. Here are some examples.
Size - are you filling large or small spaces? Let people know whether your art goes in the bathroom or the foyer. It may not be obvious at first.
Venue - is your art for a residence, outdoor, commercial or other space? Hashtag those places. Identifying solutions your art offers can be as simple as saying you create landscape paintings that people find beautiful. Then brainstorm the places you would find your collectors, like travel clubs, hiking associations, outdoor yoga classes, RV dealerships.
Time of year - Is your work specific to a season like graduation, the school year, gift giving, vacation times, house buying or gardening times of the year? Be sure to let everyone know about it a little in advance of those sales months.
Theme - Do you create themed work? For example, inspirational, sports, vehicle or portrait art all can be brought to theme specific groups on social media. Better yet, join those groups and start your own word of mouth campaigns.
Method - Is there something special about how your work is produced? People want to know. Do an internet search for online art magazine submissions and pitch an article about how you create your art. Folks always want to hear about how I use a magnifying glass when I paint in miniature.
Who - Which segments of the population benefit most from your art? Think outside the box. If you paint cowboys, did you know that they love western art in Japan? If you sculpt wildlife, can you display your pieces at nature centers? If you do mixed media sculpture using recycled materials, which businesses use eco-friendly in their marketing? Can you pitch them to display your work?
3. Whether in person or virtually, participate fully in the places where your audience gathers. Attend networking meetings, or organize your own. The Small Business Administration and chamber of commerce events can be a great way to meet people in specific businesses. Some have moved their events online during the pandemic. If you draw houses, offer to give an art talk at events where realtors gather. If you paint plein air, get permission to set up at a local winery on one of their busier sales days. If sporting art is your specialty, see if you can do demos at golf clubs or upscale gyms.
4. Rinse and Repeat. Be prepared to review your strategy regularly for what is working and what is not. Changes to the best approaches happen overnight. It's tempting to do the work figuring this all out, and then rest. Unless you have one patron who wants one thing done the same way forever, this strategy may fail you. We should always be looking for new ways to use our genre successes to open doors. If all I created was miniature art, I would have missed out on the highest priced sales from one of my galleries. The commissioned pieces were four FEET tall, but my gallery represented me as their "5 INCHES and under" painter. The collector was drawn to my style and detail, but they needed larger pieces for their accent wall.
How are you leveraging your art today? Has this article inspired you to consider new strategies? I'd love to know, and others will, too!
If you enjoyed this article, let me or my editor know! If you'd like to join me in my little corner of the art world, visit DebKArt.com and connect with me via email or social media. If you would like to be assimilated into the miniature fine art world of shows and private artist groups, email me with questions. You know I'll welcome and answer you!
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