| Where do I find people who will truly appreciate what I am creating?
Hands down, for the last ten years, the thing that has attracted the most collectors, followers, friends, and people who engage with me on social media is my involvement in the miniature fine art genre.
There are hundreds of miniature fine art shows around the world, and several very successful ones in America where I live. Sales at the shows are typically 10 to 30%, which in truth is why I looked into them at first. What I discovered was a little (pun intended) corner of the art world where artists and collectors focus on palm sized 2D and 3D fine art created under magnification. I now have a robust group of art lovers and creators around the world in my friend, peer and client circles.
It is these associations that have led to my first experiences with gallery representation, publications, Best of Show awards, solo shows, repeat collectors, signature memberships, and so many other marked resume builders.
Identify your genre. What do you do that sets you apart from other artists? How is your art providing solutions to a set of issues others do not address?
Do you create very large art for people who live in lofts, or for designers who need decorative art in tall commercial buildings? Do you produce one of a kind functional art like clothing, jewelry or pottery? Maybe you sell sculptural art for interactive outdoor public spaces.Whatever your genre is, take a hard look at whether you are leveraging it fully to attract quality viewers.
I started by targeting my efforts toward people who would probably be living in small spaces. I gave presentations at assisted living facilities. I advertised on apartment lobby bulletin boards. I did miniature art shows at local colleges and churches. I approached galleries with very large pieces on the walls, pointing out how I could be their new niche artist. I participated in art events held in urban locations where space is limited. And of course, I entered every miniature art exhibition I found out about. I reasoned that people in these places would be more interested in small art.
Once I had a few wins and sales in the miniature genre, I emailed my collectors of larger works and I posted on social media, to let everyone who already knew me weigh in on this new adventure. People routinely collect or engage with me for work in all of my size ranges. But the miniature genre opened doors with an interesting story for us to converse about.
Every year, I brainstorm new ways to leverage the things about my art that folks find interesting. This list changes, depending on what is going on in the world. Here are some ways I am leveraging my miniature fine art during the 2020 pandemic to bring me new audience members, even as some of the exhibits have been delayed or canceled.
- I started a mastermind group of miniature artist friends with whom I am traveling, collaborating, and organizing exhibitions.
- I am promoting my July - Sept solo show of palm sized art at Customs House Museum online and in private emails to collectors of my miniature paintings. Even if nobody comes to the socially distanced physical reception, there is value in the promotion work I am doing, because people are looking and listening.
- 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. TheSmall 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.
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