Sometimes, it's nice to know that we're not alone. In my own case, I always felt like existing in that world between the arts and entrepreneurship made me something of an anomaly, and it was often a little bit lonely. Happily, over the past two years since opening Chicago Art Leasing, I've found that I am anything but alone in this space and surrounded by brilliant, creative and innovative art entrepreneurs – so many so that I've decided to start featuring some of these truly remarkable individuals and their businesses. I couldn't think of a better person to start with than Fear No ART Chicago's Elysabeth Alfano, and I am indebted to her for her time and insight.
Elysabeth is a true art/business hybrid, with an MBA and experience working at Fortune 500 companies, and a background in the arts having run her own art gallery as well as her clothing design (textiles) company. At a time when virtually every television station, newspaper and magazine is cutting coverage of the arts, she is building a successful show on WTTW called Fear No ART Chicago, which goes behind the scenes to explore and share with the public a wide range of local creativity.
She chose the expression “Fear No ART” from a button she donned in high school and a phrase that always stuck with her. The show casts its art net far and wide, ie. don't be afraid of any type or form of art, even if it's tango dancing, performance or the culinary arts, and don’t be afraid of not being an insider in the art world.” The show aims to be inclusive, opening up the arts to a wide audience.
When I asked her about how she arrived at the idea for the show, she explained that it grew out of a common need and desire she found while working in both the art and fashion worlds. “Not everyone can collect art or wears haute couture, but everyone wants to hear the story about how the artist, or designer, or dancer came to be who they are and how they create. Everyone wants to go into the artist studio, behind the scenes. ”
So, without any previous experience in television, she began to develop the idea of an interview show and began pitching it to different stations. She was shocked to find that not only were the stations receptive, but several of them began to make offers. She decided to go with WTTW based on their strong distribution.
“I wanted it to become sort of a public 'Art 101' for people who don't get regular exposure to the fabulous arts in Chicago” She explains that this not only helps fulfill a real need in people's worlds, but it also helps to cultivate the next generation of people who will appreciate and collect art, thereby helping to keep local creativity alive at a time when support for the arts is facing massive budget cuts and funding shortages. Her experience owning a gallery helped her essentially become a bridge between the world of the artists and the world of both private and corporate collectors – a skill that she continues to hone and develop as the host of her show.
“I really never expected it to get picked up,” she says, “but I took the risk and with essentially no contacts and only a shoestring budget, it began to take shape.”
Her own exposure to the arts began at a young age, with her parents going to local secondhand shops and fairs. “They weren't what we would think of as fine art collectors,” she smiles, “they were looking for the diamonds in the rough – those creative gems in the back of consignment shops.” It was this sense of adventure, treasure hunting, and passion that stayed with her and continues to inform her choice of artists to feature in the show.
The first episode reached roughly 50,000 people and the second full show, which just aired for the first time, is expected to reach even more. The learning curve has been sharp, she says, but having the right team of people has been a major factor in the success of the show. “Dan Soles and everyone at WTTW have been amazing. Also Scott Silverstein and the HMS Media team have been tremendous! Tim Baron who helps create the webisodes for the website has been fantastic.” Currently the show airs quarterly on WTTW and bi-weekly webisodes are available on the website. The next airing on WTTW is October 18 @10:30pm, October 24 @ 5:30 pm and October 31 @ 12:30 pm.
What does the future hold for Elysabeth and Fear No ART Chicago? Her focus is twofold – on one hand it's developing relationships with core sponsors who can provide the ongoing funding and who want to reach an educated market and show their support of local arts. On the other hand, it's continuing to seek out innovative and unique local creativity.
“The biggest challenges are making sure that we have the support in place to begin having more regular episodes, and finding enough hours in the day.” Unquestionably, Elysabeth is one of the most dedicated artrepreneurs in town, and I was thankful to have her share her insights.
If you want to learn more about Elysabeth and Fear No ART Chicago, visit the website at: www.fearnoartchicago.com.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Exposure Exposed: Debunking the Myth that Artists Should Work for Free Part II
A Typical Conversation
“Oh, you mean you expect me to pay for the artwork?”
Up until that point in the conversation, I though things had been going pretty well. It was my 52nd call of the day and I got right through to the business owner – in this case we'll say it was was the owner of a dental office. I had walked past their location the week before and noticed that they had nothing on their waiting room walls, so I took a photo of their business on my phone and made a note to call them.
After some chat and agreement on the importance of working with the local art community, we moved to the next stage. Together we looked on the website and selected a few artworks that might be a fit for their office. When I indicated the monthly lease price, which was a total of somewhere in the vicinity of $50 a month, even though it would be tax deductible as a leasing expense, they were suddenly shocked and appalled.
I tried not to show any frustration, so I took a deep breath, swallowed my ire, and waited.
“I thought artists do this for free,” the business owner continued, “for the great exposure of being up in our office.”
There it was, as if on cue, a word that I've come to mistrust after hearing 10,000 times since I started jumped into the art business just over a year and a half ago. Exposure. But not Exposure as in, “we will make a demonstrable and concerted effort to generate revenue for the artist by promoting their work or selling it to our clients.” That would be more palatable. What they mean is Exposure as in, “oh, that's very nice and sure we care about local artists, but just not enough to pay a penny for their artwork.”
Since I had encountered the argument previously, I was a bit better prepared this time.
“Mr/Mrs. Dentist, can I ask you a question? If Sandra Bullock walked into your office and needed dental work, would you do it?”
“Of course.”
“Would you do it for free? For the great exposure?”
“Well, no. I would bill them like I bill any client.”
“And why is that? Wouldn't it be great to be able to say that you were responsible for those pearly whites every time she smiled? Isn't that great exposure for you and your business?”
“Well, uh, yes, but, uh... Well, you see, I'm a trained professional and I deserve to be paid according to my skills.”
“Exactly,” I smiled. “So, maybe you could tell me why you feel that artists as professionals should be any different?”
It takes a bit of guts to say that – the first time I did it, I didn't even recognize my own voice. But I know now that if I don't say it to a prospect, no one else is going to. It's my job to defend the value of my artist's work and sometimes I have to push my comfort level in doing so. Why is it so hard to push back, even when we believe in the value of the product? Maybe it would help to explore the question posed above, why are the artists different than the dentists? Both are professionals and both have spent the time, energy and schooling to become what they are. The most significant, and perhaps the only reason that I can come up with as far as why the dentists would bill Sandra and the artists wouldn't is because the artists allow themselves to work for free!!!
“What artists could really use is a script, or a means of overcoming some of the common objections,” artist and art-business guru Lynn Basa suggested. I've taken her comment to heart and attempted in the following section to create some actionable, real-life responses that artists can use to protect the value of their work and skills.
A Brief Artist's Script
After reviewing a few of the different methods of generating exposure above, you should hopefully have an easier time in separating those real opportunities from excuses not to pay artists for their work. The following is a short list of tactics and scripts I've developed to help you stand up for the value of your work when someone asks to provide artwork, but doesn't plan on compensating you.
1)Turn it around version one. When someone asks you if you would put your artwork up for the exposure, ask them if they would do the same. If they're a doctor, would they perform surgery for the recognition? Would an accounting firm do your taxes for the exposure, even if you send emails to your distribution list of 500 people?
2)Turn it around version two. You probably know how many people on average you reach with your newsletter, facebook, twitter, etc... (and if you don't, you should). If a business owner tries to convince you that they're giving you great exposure, call them on it. Ask how many people they will call, email or reach through social media. Go further and ask about demographics – what sort of people are they reaching? Odds are, you may be giving them significantly and measurably more exposure than they are giving you.
3)You get what you pay for. This is a line that a lot of business use when they are confronted with a competitor who can do the same thing for less (or for free). It may not always be the case – maybe there is a gifted artist down the street willing to provide their work for free, but most artists who believe in the value of their work will defend that value.
4)Kill em with laughter. If you have the kind of relationship where you can be a bit comedic, let them know that sadly, your landlord said that you can no longer pay your rent based on exposure and that the grocery store said the same thing. Yes, it's meant to be funny, but it also illustrates the point that you can't survive off of exposure.
5)Re-examine the needs and realign interests. This is a big one and it takes a little explaining. I'll use charitable organizations as an example. Most of us have been contacted at least once (and more likely once a week) by a local organization that wants you to donate an artwork for their auction. I am a very strong believer in supporting local charitable causes, but at the same time, if I gave an artwork to every group that asked, I would be a charitable cause myself. So I decided to do something different – I stepped back and looked at the bigger picture. The goal of the charity is to generate real, tangible cash for their cause. And my goal as an artist is to sell or lease my artwork. So rather than asking the charity to pay for my work (in which case I win and they lose) or donating my work for free (in which case I lose and they win), why not offer them a certain percent of the revenue from some of my artwork. Now, both the charity and I win by selling or leasing the artwork – their needs and my own have been aligned in a new way.
6)Gently take a hard line. That sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, but it's not. You can be friendly and sweet and smile the whole time that you tell someone that you want to help them, but you need some sort of compensation. Explain that if you do work for free, you are saying that there is no value to your artwork. And then be willing to negotiate. You can say, “look Mr/Mrs. Business owner, maybe you can't pay me the full sales value for my work, and I can't work for nothing... is there something in between that makes it worthwhile for both of us?” One of the keys to negotiating of course, is starting off with more than you expect to get. It was very subtle, but notice how I stated, “maybe you can't pay me the full sales value for my work,” - I wouldn't really expect to get the full value of the work if this is a temporary or consignment deal, but I set the price high to start because I know we will negotiate and reach a happy middle ground. Negotiation tactics are challenging, even for brilliant businesspeople, but if you believe in the value of your work, than you have the basis you need to begin. The hardest part of negotiating can also be reaching the point beyond which it's probably not worth your time. You have to be prepared to walk away from an opportunity, because if you are not, the odds are that the other party will call your bluff. Nothing hurts more than walking away from an opportunity, I know this first hand, but ultimately defending the value of your work may sometimes mean not providing your work at all.
I hope that this list of responses is a good start but it is by no means complete, so I would like encourage and challenge you to add to it, customize it and most of all use it. After using the responses above for over just over a year, I have found that when local business like the works from my artists, I have no compunction about borrowing from the Jerry MaGuire play-book and asking them to show me the money (or in this case the value) of the exposure they claim to provide. Taking that stand, though tough at first, is almost guaranteed to help you find the real value in exposure. I'll leave you with one final quote from artist Shane Swank who might have put it best in a recent conversation. To paraphrase his comment, “In the Midwest, exposure is more often a cause of death than a means of selling artwork.”
“Oh, you mean you expect me to pay for the artwork?”
Up until that point in the conversation, I though things had been going pretty well. It was my 52nd call of the day and I got right through to the business owner – in this case we'll say it was was the owner of a dental office. I had walked past their location the week before and noticed that they had nothing on their waiting room walls, so I took a photo of their business on my phone and made a note to call them.
After some chat and agreement on the importance of working with the local art community, we moved to the next stage. Together we looked on the website and selected a few artworks that might be a fit for their office. When I indicated the monthly lease price, which was a total of somewhere in the vicinity of $50 a month, even though it would be tax deductible as a leasing expense, they were suddenly shocked and appalled.
I tried not to show any frustration, so I took a deep breath, swallowed my ire, and waited.
“I thought artists do this for free,” the business owner continued, “for the great exposure of being up in our office.”
There it was, as if on cue, a word that I've come to mistrust after hearing 10,000 times since I started jumped into the art business just over a year and a half ago. Exposure. But not Exposure as in, “we will make a demonstrable and concerted effort to generate revenue for the artist by promoting their work or selling it to our clients.” That would be more palatable. What they mean is Exposure as in, “oh, that's very nice and sure we care about local artists, but just not enough to pay a penny for their artwork.”
Since I had encountered the argument previously, I was a bit better prepared this time.
“Mr/Mrs. Dentist, can I ask you a question? If Sandra Bullock walked into your office and needed dental work, would you do it?”
“Of course.”
“Would you do it for free? For the great exposure?”
“Well, no. I would bill them like I bill any client.”
“And why is that? Wouldn't it be great to be able to say that you were responsible for those pearly whites every time she smiled? Isn't that great exposure for you and your business?”
“Well, uh, yes, but, uh... Well, you see, I'm a trained professional and I deserve to be paid according to my skills.”
“Exactly,” I smiled. “So, maybe you could tell me why you feel that artists as professionals should be any different?”
It takes a bit of guts to say that – the first time I did it, I didn't even recognize my own voice. But I know now that if I don't say it to a prospect, no one else is going to. It's my job to defend the value of my artist's work and sometimes I have to push my comfort level in doing so. Why is it so hard to push back, even when we believe in the value of the product? Maybe it would help to explore the question posed above, why are the artists different than the dentists? Both are professionals and both have spent the time, energy and schooling to become what they are. The most significant, and perhaps the only reason that I can come up with as far as why the dentists would bill Sandra and the artists wouldn't is because the artists allow themselves to work for free!!!
“What artists could really use is a script, or a means of overcoming some of the common objections,” artist and art-business guru Lynn Basa suggested. I've taken her comment to heart and attempted in the following section to create some actionable, real-life responses that artists can use to protect the value of their work and skills.
A Brief Artist's Script
After reviewing a few of the different methods of generating exposure above, you should hopefully have an easier time in separating those real opportunities from excuses not to pay artists for their work. The following is a short list of tactics and scripts I've developed to help you stand up for the value of your work when someone asks to provide artwork, but doesn't plan on compensating you.
1)Turn it around version one. When someone asks you if you would put your artwork up for the exposure, ask them if they would do the same. If they're a doctor, would they perform surgery for the recognition? Would an accounting firm do your taxes for the exposure, even if you send emails to your distribution list of 500 people?
2)Turn it around version two. You probably know how many people on average you reach with your newsletter, facebook, twitter, etc... (and if you don't, you should). If a business owner tries to convince you that they're giving you great exposure, call them on it. Ask how many people they will call, email or reach through social media. Go further and ask about demographics – what sort of people are they reaching? Odds are, you may be giving them significantly and measurably more exposure than they are giving you.
3)You get what you pay for. This is a line that a lot of business use when they are confronted with a competitor who can do the same thing for less (or for free). It may not always be the case – maybe there is a gifted artist down the street willing to provide their work for free, but most artists who believe in the value of their work will defend that value.
4)Kill em with laughter. If you have the kind of relationship where you can be a bit comedic, let them know that sadly, your landlord said that you can no longer pay your rent based on exposure and that the grocery store said the same thing. Yes, it's meant to be funny, but it also illustrates the point that you can't survive off of exposure.
5)Re-examine the needs and realign interests. This is a big one and it takes a little explaining. I'll use charitable organizations as an example. Most of us have been contacted at least once (and more likely once a week) by a local organization that wants you to donate an artwork for their auction. I am a very strong believer in supporting local charitable causes, but at the same time, if I gave an artwork to every group that asked, I would be a charitable cause myself. So I decided to do something different – I stepped back and looked at the bigger picture. The goal of the charity is to generate real, tangible cash for their cause. And my goal as an artist is to sell or lease my artwork. So rather than asking the charity to pay for my work (in which case I win and they lose) or donating my work for free (in which case I lose and they win), why not offer them a certain percent of the revenue from some of my artwork. Now, both the charity and I win by selling or leasing the artwork – their needs and my own have been aligned in a new way.
6)Gently take a hard line. That sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, but it's not. You can be friendly and sweet and smile the whole time that you tell someone that you want to help them, but you need some sort of compensation. Explain that if you do work for free, you are saying that there is no value to your artwork. And then be willing to negotiate. You can say, “look Mr/Mrs. Business owner, maybe you can't pay me the full sales value for my work, and I can't work for nothing... is there something in between that makes it worthwhile for both of us?” One of the keys to negotiating of course, is starting off with more than you expect to get. It was very subtle, but notice how I stated, “maybe you can't pay me the full sales value for my work,” - I wouldn't really expect to get the full value of the work if this is a temporary or consignment deal, but I set the price high to start because I know we will negotiate and reach a happy middle ground. Negotiation tactics are challenging, even for brilliant businesspeople, but if you believe in the value of your work, than you have the basis you need to begin. The hardest part of negotiating can also be reaching the point beyond which it's probably not worth your time. You have to be prepared to walk away from an opportunity, because if you are not, the odds are that the other party will call your bluff. Nothing hurts more than walking away from an opportunity, I know this first hand, but ultimately defending the value of your work may sometimes mean not providing your work at all.
I hope that this list of responses is a good start but it is by no means complete, so I would like encourage and challenge you to add to it, customize it and most of all use it. After using the responses above for over just over a year, I have found that when local business like the works from my artists, I have no compunction about borrowing from the Jerry MaGuire play-book and asking them to show me the money (or in this case the value) of the exposure they claim to provide. Taking that stand, though tough at first, is almost guaranteed to help you find the real value in exposure. I'll leave you with one final quote from artist Shane Swank who might have put it best in a recent conversation. To paraphrase his comment, “In the Midwest, exposure is more often a cause of death than a means of selling artwork.”
Exposure Exposed: Debunking the Myth that Artists Should Work for Free Part I
A Typical Situation
“But just think of the great exposure you will get by having your artwork in here,” the cafe owner smiled and spread his arms, to indicate the poorly lit and somewhat dingy walls around us.
To what I'm sure was his dismay, I did actually stop and consider the exposure. What exactly was the value of the exposure I was getting? Was it to the two teenagers in the corner who had been sitting there drinking free refills of coffee all morning? Was it to the cars that had been whizzing past on the street? Even if the drivers could see the artwork from outside, which was doubtful, it wouldn't even register at the speeds they were traveling.
Then I thought about how I reach people... thousands of them. Through social media (facebook, linkedin, twitter, etc...) as well as through attending networking groups, advertising in more traditional media, newsletter, fliers, etc... All told, I would probably go home and get the word out to somewhere between 5,000-10,000 people with just a few strategically placed posts and emails. Was this guy going to do the same? I decided to ask.
“Just out of curiosity, how are you going to promote the work?”
“What do you mean?” He seemed confused. “I promote it by having it here, on the walls.”
“But you'll post something about it on your facebook page, right?”
“Oh, we don't have one of those yet.”
“Well, you'll put up something on your website, right?”
“Well, if we did that, we would have to pay the designer to make the changes and at $15 dollars an hour every month, it adds up...”
“What about newspaper, newsletter, anything? Will you train your staff to sell the work? Will you reimburse for installation and transportation? Will you be responsible for theft, loss, arson or other damages to the work? …” After a rapid-fire barrage of questions, he raised his hands to indicate that he was done listening.
He pointed to the far wall. “It'll be there and all I can say is that lots of folks will see it. Like I said before, even if no one buys it, you'll be getting the exposure. Take it or leave it.”
So I left it.
Now, the above example is a composite based on several different actual experiences, but I think most artists can relate. Maybe you've even had the same epiphany that I did – that in a situation like that depicted above, the artist ends up providing an order of magnitude more exposure for the business than the business provides for the artist. Yet even when this is blatantly obvious, why are so few artists willing to expose this type of exposure for the myth it is?
Exposure Exposed: How to Identify the Real Value
There are countless different means of getting exposure, and it's not always easy to tell which opportunities present real benefits and which don't. It may take some research and asking questions you wouldn't typically ask. You might have to find a way to gag the little voice in your head saying, “any opportunity is a good opportunity.” If you persist, however, I think you will find your efforts rewarded. The way I see it though, the value of exposure is more than just the number of eyeballs (it didn't work when we tried to create valuations for Internet startup companies a decade ago and it sure as heck doesn't work any better for art). Exposure may not always be a direct payment, but if it is real and valuable, than it has to have a measurable impact on revenue. Maybe it's a consignment opportunity, a trade of service or barter scenario, an art fair or competition, or even creating the album cover for a friend's band. Regardless of what the specific project is, the key is to get something of value in return for your work. The conversation example at the beginning of this article would most likely not generate any real or valuable exposure based on the outlook of the owner. Then again, there might be ways to make it valuable for both the artist and the business. If the owner was willing to have an event featuring the artist and actively marketed and advertised the event, than maybe that would be a real value depending on who is invited and who shows up.
Determining the value of exposure may mean taking a hard line as far as the minimum compensation that is acceptable to you and it will almost without question require you to stand up for the value of your work. You alone know the amount of effort, energy, and actual monetary costs that went into making your art, so you are in the best position to defend that cost, time and effort. And if you don't defend it, you can't expect that anyone else will. So don't be afraid to say that your work has value and that you need compensation commensurate with your skill and expenses. You will seldom be offered what you fail to ask for.
Below are a few different scenarios that provide exposure for artists and some questions you can ask to help determine the value.
Consignment
In my business, I tend stay away from consignment projects, meaning situations where the artwork will hang on a wall and we will get paid only if someone purchases the artwork. My experience has been that in most of these situations, the artwork will sit there until it either disintegrates or the business closes, collecting dust and doing the artist little good. Think about it from the business owner's perspective: you are providing them with artwork for their interiors for nothing, and if they sell it, they have to replace that odd looking space on the wall – so it is critical to make sure that they are motivated to do so. That said, I have also been involved in some very successful consignment opportunities where work has sold within days of being placed in the location. A Better Tan on Bryn Mawr Ave is one example of this, where the business owners were motivated and committed to helping sell the artwork of Judi Hechtman.
I use the following as a few questions in assessing consignment situations:
1)What is the demographic of the people that come into the store/cafe/office. - This will help me determine if I am being exposed to the right people. I would rather have an artwork on consignment in a wealth management firm or a cosmetic surgeon's office, where most of the people who see it will be able to buy it than having an artwork on display at the unemployment office. I am sure that the number of people who would see it at the unemployment office is higher, but exposure as I see it is more about quality than quantity. If I get one qualified buyer calling in, that's better than 1,000 non-qualified buyers just seeing it.
2)How will they market the artwork? - Do they have a facebook page? Are they on twitter or linked in? Do they have a newsletter? If it's a model home or staging project will they let you leave some information about the artwork along with the relator's business card? If so, will they include a link to this artist along with purchase information?
3)Will they allow you to create a case study promoting the artwork? - I do this for every project that I am able to. I use these case studies as marketing on our website as well as enticement pieces that I can send to other, similar businesses.
4)Will they allow you to have an event or show for the artist? Will they help cover the cost of an event and/or transportation and installation? - This can be a unique opportunity for the business to promote itself as “different” from all the other shoe store / gym / accounting firms, etc... and there is no better salesperson for the artwork than the artist him or herself.
5)Will the business ask for a portion of the revenue if anything sells? - You might be surprised, but I am usually far more interested when the answer to this question is yes. If the business does not want any portion of the revenue, it's probably because they don't plan on lifting a finger to try and sell it. If they do want a portion – typically I offer 10% - than they are motivated toward the same goal as the artist – to make a sale. In my specific case, this 10% comes out of my split with the artist. Since one of my roles is to help market the artwork, I consider this a marketing cost and I have no issues with paying it.
6)If they have done consignment projects before, how successful were they? How much art, if any, was sold and over how long of a period of time?
Trade of Service
As a business owner, things like accounting and legal expenses are real costs. Sometimes I have entered into agreements where in return for providing artwork, I receive an equal amount towards some of these costs. We have a deal like this set up with the law firm that represents us. Even though we may not be getting paid directly, we are still getting a tangible, measurable benefit from this relationship. Some things to consider for these situations include:
1)Is the value of the deal equal and fair? - Essentially, is what I am getting in return for the artwork a similar value?
2)Will the business allow you to create a case study? - Even if it's a trade of service, it's still a place where the artwork is being show and as such it's something I can market to potential clients.
3)Are there opportunities for cross promotion? If you send out a case study pointing people to this particular business as a place to see the artwork (thereby giving the business some marketing value), will they in return send out a note or email to their clients letting them know about the artwork?
4)What is the duration of this agreement – Weekly? Monthly? Annually? Indefinite?
5)Will the business track and provide a list of people who express interest in the work? - This will require some footwork on your part, but it goes a long way if the business will allow you to follow up directly.
Shows, Fairs and Competitions
While I have considerably less experience with this aspect, I think it is worth covering and sharing with you some of the questions I ask:
1)Where and how is this opportunity being marketed? Even if you are not being paid, you can see if the sponsor / creator of the event is putting forth some real marketing muscle to make it a success.
2)Is this an event that has gone on before? If so, what year is this for the event? - You can also look for people who have exhibited and participated before and get an idea of what their experience was.
3)Is there as cost to enter / participate?
4)Is this opportunity juried and if so, by whom?
5)What is the duration of the event / how long will the artwork be displayed?
6)Is there an award or prize for top entries?
7)Will the event be blogged about and/or covered by local media? - You can go further here and ask about what specific news/radio stations and papers will cover the event.
8)Is setup and transportation included or will you need to arrange and pay for labor/rental?
9)Will you be able to select your booth/tent location?
10)Over the past few years, which artists were the most successful (and how is “successful” defined)? - This is a great question to ask. Once you have this information, take a look at the booths these artists were in and look for patterns – were all of the highest grossing artists at the entrances? Were they by the food vendors? Discerning this pattern will help you determine where you want to be.
The Real Deal
I've spent most of this article cracking down on so-called exposure, so I think it's time to look at a couple of examples of where exposure does live up to its implied value. One was the Gethsmane Art Fair this Summer. As a first time art show, it was a risk for both artists and the sponsor, but they made it a great success. Despite the miserable humidity, virtually every artist I talked to was happy with the turn out and with the exposure. By all accounts, the Gethsmane Garden Center crew did a great job of promoting the event, advertising and organizing the event. It was blogged about, written about and talked about before, during and after the show. Some artists made several sales and some made fewer, but based on the experience, effort and demonstrable investment made by the organizers, I believe that this was a great example of exposure that really works. A second example that I believe will provide real exposure is the upcoming Art Loop Open being put together by the CAC. They have spent the time, effort and marketing muscle to make this a success and the locations they have chosen to promote artists are targeted towards reaching the kind of qualified potential buyers that a professional artist wants. I am very excited to see this event come to life.
I hope that this has been helpful and I hope further that you will take that brief moment to consider the type of exposure you will get when it's offered. Who really benefits from the exposure? Is it a real opportunity that will get your artwork out to the right people or is it just an excuse to avoid providing any real value or effort?
“But just think of the great exposure you will get by having your artwork in here,” the cafe owner smiled and spread his arms, to indicate the poorly lit and somewhat dingy walls around us.
To what I'm sure was his dismay, I did actually stop and consider the exposure. What exactly was the value of the exposure I was getting? Was it to the two teenagers in the corner who had been sitting there drinking free refills of coffee all morning? Was it to the cars that had been whizzing past on the street? Even if the drivers could see the artwork from outside, which was doubtful, it wouldn't even register at the speeds they were traveling.
Then I thought about how I reach people... thousands of them. Through social media (facebook, linkedin, twitter, etc...) as well as through attending networking groups, advertising in more traditional media, newsletter, fliers, etc... All told, I would probably go home and get the word out to somewhere between 5,000-10,000 people with just a few strategically placed posts and emails. Was this guy going to do the same? I decided to ask.
“Just out of curiosity, how are you going to promote the work?”
“What do you mean?” He seemed confused. “I promote it by having it here, on the walls.”
“But you'll post something about it on your facebook page, right?”
“Oh, we don't have one of those yet.”
“Well, you'll put up something on your website, right?”
“Well, if we did that, we would have to pay the designer to make the changes and at $15 dollars an hour every month, it adds up...”
“What about newspaper, newsletter, anything? Will you train your staff to sell the work? Will you reimburse for installation and transportation? Will you be responsible for theft, loss, arson or other damages to the work? …” After a rapid-fire barrage of questions, he raised his hands to indicate that he was done listening.
He pointed to the far wall. “It'll be there and all I can say is that lots of folks will see it. Like I said before, even if no one buys it, you'll be getting the exposure. Take it or leave it.”
So I left it.
Now, the above example is a composite based on several different actual experiences, but I think most artists can relate. Maybe you've even had the same epiphany that I did – that in a situation like that depicted above, the artist ends up providing an order of magnitude more exposure for the business than the business provides for the artist. Yet even when this is blatantly obvious, why are so few artists willing to expose this type of exposure for the myth it is?
Exposure Exposed: How to Identify the Real Value
There are countless different means of getting exposure, and it's not always easy to tell which opportunities present real benefits and which don't. It may take some research and asking questions you wouldn't typically ask. You might have to find a way to gag the little voice in your head saying, “any opportunity is a good opportunity.” If you persist, however, I think you will find your efforts rewarded. The way I see it though, the value of exposure is more than just the number of eyeballs (it didn't work when we tried to create valuations for Internet startup companies a decade ago and it sure as heck doesn't work any better for art). Exposure may not always be a direct payment, but if it is real and valuable, than it has to have a measurable impact on revenue. Maybe it's a consignment opportunity, a trade of service or barter scenario, an art fair or competition, or even creating the album cover for a friend's band. Regardless of what the specific project is, the key is to get something of value in return for your work. The conversation example at the beginning of this article would most likely not generate any real or valuable exposure based on the outlook of the owner. Then again, there might be ways to make it valuable for both the artist and the business. If the owner was willing to have an event featuring the artist and actively marketed and advertised the event, than maybe that would be a real value depending on who is invited and who shows up.
Determining the value of exposure may mean taking a hard line as far as the minimum compensation that is acceptable to you and it will almost without question require you to stand up for the value of your work. You alone know the amount of effort, energy, and actual monetary costs that went into making your art, so you are in the best position to defend that cost, time and effort. And if you don't defend it, you can't expect that anyone else will. So don't be afraid to say that your work has value and that you need compensation commensurate with your skill and expenses. You will seldom be offered what you fail to ask for.
Below are a few different scenarios that provide exposure for artists and some questions you can ask to help determine the value.
Consignment
In my business, I tend stay away from consignment projects, meaning situations where the artwork will hang on a wall and we will get paid only if someone purchases the artwork. My experience has been that in most of these situations, the artwork will sit there until it either disintegrates or the business closes, collecting dust and doing the artist little good. Think about it from the business owner's perspective: you are providing them with artwork for their interiors for nothing, and if they sell it, they have to replace that odd looking space on the wall – so it is critical to make sure that they are motivated to do so. That said, I have also been involved in some very successful consignment opportunities where work has sold within days of being placed in the location. A Better Tan on Bryn Mawr Ave is one example of this, where the business owners were motivated and committed to helping sell the artwork of Judi Hechtman.
I use the following as a few questions in assessing consignment situations:
1)What is the demographic of the people that come into the store/cafe/office. - This will help me determine if I am being exposed to the right people. I would rather have an artwork on consignment in a wealth management firm or a cosmetic surgeon's office, where most of the people who see it will be able to buy it than having an artwork on display at the unemployment office. I am sure that the number of people who would see it at the unemployment office is higher, but exposure as I see it is more about quality than quantity. If I get one qualified buyer calling in, that's better than 1,000 non-qualified buyers just seeing it.
2)How will they market the artwork? - Do they have a facebook page? Are they on twitter or linked in? Do they have a newsletter? If it's a model home or staging project will they let you leave some information about the artwork along with the relator's business card? If so, will they include a link to this artist along with purchase information?
3)Will they allow you to create a case study promoting the artwork? - I do this for every project that I am able to. I use these case studies as marketing on our website as well as enticement pieces that I can send to other, similar businesses.
4)Will they allow you to have an event or show for the artist? Will they help cover the cost of an event and/or transportation and installation? - This can be a unique opportunity for the business to promote itself as “different” from all the other shoe store / gym / accounting firms, etc... and there is no better salesperson for the artwork than the artist him or herself.
5)Will the business ask for a portion of the revenue if anything sells? - You might be surprised, but I am usually far more interested when the answer to this question is yes. If the business does not want any portion of the revenue, it's probably because they don't plan on lifting a finger to try and sell it. If they do want a portion – typically I offer 10% - than they are motivated toward the same goal as the artist – to make a sale. In my specific case, this 10% comes out of my split with the artist. Since one of my roles is to help market the artwork, I consider this a marketing cost and I have no issues with paying it.
6)If they have done consignment projects before, how successful were they? How much art, if any, was sold and over how long of a period of time?
Trade of Service
As a business owner, things like accounting and legal expenses are real costs. Sometimes I have entered into agreements where in return for providing artwork, I receive an equal amount towards some of these costs. We have a deal like this set up with the law firm that represents us. Even though we may not be getting paid directly, we are still getting a tangible, measurable benefit from this relationship. Some things to consider for these situations include:
1)Is the value of the deal equal and fair? - Essentially, is what I am getting in return for the artwork a similar value?
2)Will the business allow you to create a case study? - Even if it's a trade of service, it's still a place where the artwork is being show and as such it's something I can market to potential clients.
3)Are there opportunities for cross promotion? If you send out a case study pointing people to this particular business as a place to see the artwork (thereby giving the business some marketing value), will they in return send out a note or email to their clients letting them know about the artwork?
4)What is the duration of this agreement – Weekly? Monthly? Annually? Indefinite?
5)Will the business track and provide a list of people who express interest in the work? - This will require some footwork on your part, but it goes a long way if the business will allow you to follow up directly.
Shows, Fairs and Competitions
While I have considerably less experience with this aspect, I think it is worth covering and sharing with you some of the questions I ask:
1)Where and how is this opportunity being marketed? Even if you are not being paid, you can see if the sponsor / creator of the event is putting forth some real marketing muscle to make it a success.
2)Is this an event that has gone on before? If so, what year is this for the event? - You can also look for people who have exhibited and participated before and get an idea of what their experience was.
3)Is there as cost to enter / participate?
4)Is this opportunity juried and if so, by whom?
5)What is the duration of the event / how long will the artwork be displayed?
6)Is there an award or prize for top entries?
7)Will the event be blogged about and/or covered by local media? - You can go further here and ask about what specific news/radio stations and papers will cover the event.
8)Is setup and transportation included or will you need to arrange and pay for labor/rental?
9)Will you be able to select your booth/tent location?
10)Over the past few years, which artists were the most successful (and how is “successful” defined)? - This is a great question to ask. Once you have this information, take a look at the booths these artists were in and look for patterns – were all of the highest grossing artists at the entrances? Were they by the food vendors? Discerning this pattern will help you determine where you want to be.
The Real Deal
I've spent most of this article cracking down on so-called exposure, so I think it's time to look at a couple of examples of where exposure does live up to its implied value. One was the Gethsmane Art Fair this Summer. As a first time art show, it was a risk for both artists and the sponsor, but they made it a great success. Despite the miserable humidity, virtually every artist I talked to was happy with the turn out and with the exposure. By all accounts, the Gethsmane Garden Center crew did a great job of promoting the event, advertising and organizing the event. It was blogged about, written about and talked about before, during and after the show. Some artists made several sales and some made fewer, but based on the experience, effort and demonstrable investment made by the organizers, I believe that this was a great example of exposure that really works. A second example that I believe will provide real exposure is the upcoming Art Loop Open being put together by the CAC. They have spent the time, effort and marketing muscle to make this a success and the locations they have chosen to promote artists are targeted towards reaching the kind of qualified potential buyers that a professional artist wants. I am very excited to see this event come to life.
I hope that this has been helpful and I hope further that you will take that brief moment to consider the type of exposure you will get when it's offered. Who really benefits from the exposure? Is it a real opportunity that will get your artwork out to the right people or is it just an excuse to avoid providing any real value or effort?
Some Thoughts on What Makes an Innovator
An associate of mine asked me an interesting question – what led me to become an innovator? I was pretty flattered by this, since I’m not sure I’ve really earned the right to that title and if I have, it almost certainly has more to do with luck than with special powers or knowledge on my part – luck to have had some very broad and unusual experiences coupled with just enough knowledge and experience to have put that experience together in a new shape. Regardless of the validity of any such claim, it got me thinking and .
For those who are familiar with my work experience, they know that I started out as a contractor for Microsoft in 1998 and then left a year later as one of the early account executives in the HotJobs.com sales office in Chicago. Since I think we seem to have a strong natural link in our minds between technology and innovation, people might assume that it was this technology background that made me an innovator. It certainly helped refine my thinking and showed me what a successful, innovative businesses can look like, but I don’t think it was a primary factor. Further, I think it can actually be detrimental to lump technology and innovation together the way we do – innovation doesn’t have to be a new green fuel technology or a new mobile application. A change to a law that’s been on the books for centuries could be a legitimate, radical innovation, or a change to a tax code or a zoning rule... It doesn't have to be sexy. Technology is by nature innovative, but innovation is not necessarily restricted to technology; rather it’s a bigger concept which I’ll just call, “seeing the world differently.”
The next assumption that I want to correct is that my experience after HotJobs, reviewing business plans and potential investment opportunities for Vcapital.com made me an innovator. Clearly, I learned a great deal about entrepreneurship there, in terms of both things to strive for and pitfalls to avoid in starting a business. It was mentors like Larry Hayward (Founder of VentureLab) who introduced me to the idea that “the best innovations tend to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary.” It was an important part of my entrepreneurial education, but I don’t think it’s accurate to say that it made me any more or less innovative. Just better prepared to face entrepreneurship.
My answers to the question, “how did you become an innovator,” or, the variation of the question that I prefer: “what makes you see things differently from the next guy,” seems to surprise a lot of people. So below are just some of the factors that I believe have been and continue to be most significant in changing the way I view the world:
1)My dad was left-handed. (Knowing how to find the problem)
Ok, now that probably sounds absurd, right? I’m not even saying that I’m left-handed, but rather, my father is. So how could that possibly affect my point of view? The simple answer is that I’ve been luckier than I could have any right to hope for in having a father who is not only a good man, but also a close friend and a very good teacher. As far back as I can remember, he would point out very simple everyday things and situations that pose no problem for a right-handed person like me, but that cause considerable difficulty for a southpaw. Things I wouldn’t even have paused to consider, like shifting gears in a car, opening doors, the layout of cutlery on a table, etc… By pointing these out to me, he opened my mind to the idea that there are some very basic, simple things in everyday life that I take for granted which pose real problems for some portion of the population. Things that can be improved upon or made easier; and this to me is the very heart of innovation. It’s not necessarily knowing how to find the solution to a problem so much as it’s knowing how to look at a solution you already have and then finding the right problem to apply it to.
2)I played chess. (Developing flexible strategies)
The relevance of chess to innovation may or may not be more obvious with my dad being left-handed. Chess was one of many geek hobbies as a kid (and mind you, when I was a kid the term “geek” didn’t have any of the positivie connotations that it does today). It was also an amazingly powerful way to learn about risk vs. reward, strategic sacrifice and above all creating strategies flexible enough to get me to my goal while knowing that unanticipated challenges would try to derail my plans. I can think of several specific examples but I’ll begin with strategic sacrifice. It’s nice to win a game of chess without losing many of your pieces, but it seldom happens in the games that I’ve played. At some point there almost invariably comes a rapid trade off of a pawn for a knight, a knight for a bishop, a bishop for a rook, etc… where each player is trying to come up with the best strategic position after the tradeoffs. So the question becomes, what do you have to give up in order to achieve your objective – can you win a game with just a queen and a rook? (The answer is yes) What about with just a queen and a pawn? (Still yes – but it’s a hell of a lot harder) And then there is the idea of flexible strategies – you have a pretty straight forward objective, which is to put your opponent’s king in checkmate before he does so to your king. So you come up with a way to move the right pieces into the right position… except that any half decent player will usually see what you are attempting to do, so they throw up roadblocks (you could think of them as objections if you’ve got a sales-focus). You’re not always sure what the challenge will be, but your plan has to have contingencies so that when the unexpected occurs, you have a way around it. And this type of strategic thinking is the other half of knowing how to find the right problem – knowing how to create a flexible strategy for solving it.
3)I was between different worlds (Finding ways to unify internal conflict and contradiction)
It’s probably safe to say that most of us feel like outsiders sometimes – when groups settle into two factions, we’re the one standing halfway in between. It’s probably part of the nature of just being human. It’s often an unpleasant place to be and most of us probably try to avoid it. But sometime we have to learn to live with it. In retrospect, it was the story of my childhood. And adolescence. And young adulthood. My mother was a very talented, frustrated amateur artist. My dad was a doctor who became a successful pharmaceutical entrepreneur. It’s hard for me to think of two people and two sets of inclinations that seem more fundamentally opposite to one another than the two that influenced me the most. So as I grew up, I would seek out an artsy crowd, but eventually find that it didn’t satisfy me. Like a human pendulum, I would swing to the opposite side and time with a more entrepreneurial crowd, only to find that while it fulfilled other parts of me, it still fell short of a perfect fit. I always felt like I was too business oriented for the artists and too artsy for the MBAs. This pattern repeated itself after college, when I went from creative jobs (such as writing and advertising) to much more structured business jobs (sales, business development). Each position I held had some elements that were both structured and creative, but I just couldn’t find the right fit. It seemed like I’d never be able to resolve my internal conflict and that I’d never be able to find happiness for any length of time in whatever work I chose. While having a seemingly contradictory skill set seemed to be detrimental in almost every position I encountered, once I finally decided to create my own position, suddenly all of the seemingly disparate skills and experience I had accumulated were no longer barriers. Suddenly that unlikely combination that was my experience was the exact combination that would fit the job I was creating for myself. For the first time, in my mid 30’s, I felt like the conflicting sides of myself were working in unison and towards a common goal. Not buying into the illusion of having to be one way or the other was critical to allowing me to have my big idea and to pursue it. In a great many ways, the whole concept for my business sprang as much from trying to solve a problem in the world as from trying to resolve my internal contradictory interests.
As strange as it may seem, I believe that the three factors listed above have shaped my thinking towards both innovation and entrepreneurship. There is an extensive list of additional factors that I could have included, such as having lost some personally important personal battles early on and being, in some ways, perpetually discontent (which is not at all the same as saying “perpetually unhappy” – I think that I’m actually quite happily discontent). But the three factors: having grown up with a lefty, having played chess and having been caught between seemingly conflicting poles, are those that stood out as being most significant – take them away and my perception not only of innovation but of the world at large, would be radically different than it is today. My thinking on issues of entrepreneurship and innovation continues to shift and evolve as Chicago Art Leasing grows and I look forward to continuing to share my thoughts and insights with you as much as hearing your own.
For those who are familiar with my work experience, they know that I started out as a contractor for Microsoft in 1998 and then left a year later as one of the early account executives in the HotJobs.com sales office in Chicago. Since I think we seem to have a strong natural link in our minds between technology and innovation, people might assume that it was this technology background that made me an innovator. It certainly helped refine my thinking and showed me what a successful, innovative businesses can look like, but I don’t think it was a primary factor. Further, I think it can actually be detrimental to lump technology and innovation together the way we do – innovation doesn’t have to be a new green fuel technology or a new mobile application. A change to a law that’s been on the books for centuries could be a legitimate, radical innovation, or a change to a tax code or a zoning rule... It doesn't have to be sexy. Technology is by nature innovative, but innovation is not necessarily restricted to technology; rather it’s a bigger concept which I’ll just call, “seeing the world differently.”
The next assumption that I want to correct is that my experience after HotJobs, reviewing business plans and potential investment opportunities for Vcapital.com made me an innovator. Clearly, I learned a great deal about entrepreneurship there, in terms of both things to strive for and pitfalls to avoid in starting a business. It was mentors like Larry Hayward (Founder of VentureLab) who introduced me to the idea that “the best innovations tend to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary.” It was an important part of my entrepreneurial education, but I don’t think it’s accurate to say that it made me any more or less innovative. Just better prepared to face entrepreneurship.
My answers to the question, “how did you become an innovator,” or, the variation of the question that I prefer: “what makes you see things differently from the next guy,” seems to surprise a lot of people. So below are just some of the factors that I believe have been and continue to be most significant in changing the way I view the world:
1)My dad was left-handed. (Knowing how to find the problem)
Ok, now that probably sounds absurd, right? I’m not even saying that I’m left-handed, but rather, my father is. So how could that possibly affect my point of view? The simple answer is that I’ve been luckier than I could have any right to hope for in having a father who is not only a good man, but also a close friend and a very good teacher. As far back as I can remember, he would point out very simple everyday things and situations that pose no problem for a right-handed person like me, but that cause considerable difficulty for a southpaw. Things I wouldn’t even have paused to consider, like shifting gears in a car, opening doors, the layout of cutlery on a table, etc… By pointing these out to me, he opened my mind to the idea that there are some very basic, simple things in everyday life that I take for granted which pose real problems for some portion of the population. Things that can be improved upon or made easier; and this to me is the very heart of innovation. It’s not necessarily knowing how to find the solution to a problem so much as it’s knowing how to look at a solution you already have and then finding the right problem to apply it to.
2)I played chess. (Developing flexible strategies)
The relevance of chess to innovation may or may not be more obvious with my dad being left-handed. Chess was one of many geek hobbies as a kid (and mind you, when I was a kid the term “geek” didn’t have any of the positivie connotations that it does today). It was also an amazingly powerful way to learn about risk vs. reward, strategic sacrifice and above all creating strategies flexible enough to get me to my goal while knowing that unanticipated challenges would try to derail my plans. I can think of several specific examples but I’ll begin with strategic sacrifice. It’s nice to win a game of chess without losing many of your pieces, but it seldom happens in the games that I’ve played. At some point there almost invariably comes a rapid trade off of a pawn for a knight, a knight for a bishop, a bishop for a rook, etc… where each player is trying to come up with the best strategic position after the tradeoffs. So the question becomes, what do you have to give up in order to achieve your objective – can you win a game with just a queen and a rook? (The answer is yes) What about with just a queen and a pawn? (Still yes – but it’s a hell of a lot harder) And then there is the idea of flexible strategies – you have a pretty straight forward objective, which is to put your opponent’s king in checkmate before he does so to your king. So you come up with a way to move the right pieces into the right position… except that any half decent player will usually see what you are attempting to do, so they throw up roadblocks (you could think of them as objections if you’ve got a sales-focus). You’re not always sure what the challenge will be, but your plan has to have contingencies so that when the unexpected occurs, you have a way around it. And this type of strategic thinking is the other half of knowing how to find the right problem – knowing how to create a flexible strategy for solving it.
3)I was between different worlds (Finding ways to unify internal conflict and contradiction)
It’s probably safe to say that most of us feel like outsiders sometimes – when groups settle into two factions, we’re the one standing halfway in between. It’s probably part of the nature of just being human. It’s often an unpleasant place to be and most of us probably try to avoid it. But sometime we have to learn to live with it. In retrospect, it was the story of my childhood. And adolescence. And young adulthood. My mother was a very talented, frustrated amateur artist. My dad was a doctor who became a successful pharmaceutical entrepreneur. It’s hard for me to think of two people and two sets of inclinations that seem more fundamentally opposite to one another than the two that influenced me the most. So as I grew up, I would seek out an artsy crowd, but eventually find that it didn’t satisfy me. Like a human pendulum, I would swing to the opposite side and time with a more entrepreneurial crowd, only to find that while it fulfilled other parts of me, it still fell short of a perfect fit. I always felt like I was too business oriented for the artists and too artsy for the MBAs. This pattern repeated itself after college, when I went from creative jobs (such as writing and advertising) to much more structured business jobs (sales, business development). Each position I held had some elements that were both structured and creative, but I just couldn’t find the right fit. It seemed like I’d never be able to resolve my internal conflict and that I’d never be able to find happiness for any length of time in whatever work I chose. While having a seemingly contradictory skill set seemed to be detrimental in almost every position I encountered, once I finally decided to create my own position, suddenly all of the seemingly disparate skills and experience I had accumulated were no longer barriers. Suddenly that unlikely combination that was my experience was the exact combination that would fit the job I was creating for myself. For the first time, in my mid 30’s, I felt like the conflicting sides of myself were working in unison and towards a common goal. Not buying into the illusion of having to be one way or the other was critical to allowing me to have my big idea and to pursue it. In a great many ways, the whole concept for my business sprang as much from trying to solve a problem in the world as from trying to resolve my internal contradictory interests.
As strange as it may seem, I believe that the three factors listed above have shaped my thinking towards both innovation and entrepreneurship. There is an extensive list of additional factors that I could have included, such as having lost some personally important personal battles early on and being, in some ways, perpetually discontent (which is not at all the same as saying “perpetually unhappy” – I think that I’m actually quite happily discontent). But the three factors: having grown up with a lefty, having played chess and having been caught between seemingly conflicting poles, are those that stood out as being most significant – take them away and my perception not only of innovation but of the world at large, would be radically different than it is today. My thinking on issues of entrepreneurship and innovation continues to shift and evolve as Chicago Art Leasing grows and I look forward to continuing to share my thoughts and insights with you as much as hearing your own.
Artwork Considerations for Home Staging
(Note: this is an older post that has been updated and revised)
At the request of several clients, I've worked to compile a quick list for consideration when selecting the artwork for a staging project. I'll continue to revise this and possibly develop a more comprehensive document, but so far this is what I have come up with. I am deeply indebted to the insight of the Nora Flaherty of the IAHSP, the talented ladies at Chicago Home Staging and interior designer Laurel Feldman for sharing their thoughts and insights with me.
1)Mass Appeal – Kim Baker of Chicago Home Staging reminded me just the other day of the number one essential consideration for staging – creating an environment that has the greatest appeal to the greatest number of potential buyers. When considering artwork, which is highly subjective, this should remain the guiding principle. Personally, I love Caravaggio's work – intense lights and darks and often violent scenes with heavy religious connotations. That works very well... for the walls of an Italian church. For staging, however, it's probably just about as far from what you would want to use as possible. Religious artwork, nudes, violence – while these sometimes make for great artworks, they are going to appeal only to a small portion of home buyers and run the risk of offending or turning off other. While this might seem like common sense to many of us, we're not always conditioned to be aware of what is or is not offensive. Some stagers suggest staying away from figures entirely and using only landscapes and abstracts. I believe figurative artwork like those by Jim Parenti or something like Movement by Doug Birkenheuer can be incorporated in some cases, but it should always be subject to careful consideration.
2)Artwork vs Space - from conversations with stagers as well as projects we've worked on, this seems to be one of the single most important factors. When people walk into a staged home, what should come forward is the space rather than the artwork. It's typically about creating an environment where the artwork forms the right background - essentially the exact opposite of an art gallery space which is designed to showcase the artwork and make it the focus of your attention (if part of the appeal of the home is as a creative loft space in an art district, however, creating more of a gallery feel might make sense – it all depends on who the audience is). Something we've been doing lately is taking pictures from several different angels and then reviewing them at least a few hours after we have left the site. This gives us a chance to readjust our thinking and we can look a bit more objectively at the photos and ask ourselves, is the space or the artwork what draws our attention the most? If the answer is "the space," than we are on the right track.
3)Style - this goes without saying but what type of home or room are you working with? Is it a traditional home where landscapes done in oils or black and white photography would work best? Is it a contemporary home where high-end abstract works and textile or installation works like those by Jessica Joy would be most appropriate? Are the potential buyers going to be sophisticated collectors? Does the living room couch beg for a more impressionistic Renee Nemir piece above it - the furniture has a significant impact on the dynamic of the room as well. All of these questions come into play and how you answer them can make a real impact on what artwork you select.
4)Colors - as above this may seem fairly obvious, but it can be easy to miss. Modern homes in the city may have a lot of glass and steel surfaces, which can create an unintentionally cold atmosphere. Some organic greens and still life of fruit can warm it up nicely without commanding too much attention. Some of Judi Hechtman's floral prints or the watercolors of Dorothy Mason can do the trick very well. Flesh tones compliment many lighter woods nicely and vic-a-versa (something to consider when selecting the framing), while blue and white can really pop against a dark accent wall. I have to confess that I actually keep a copy of the good old color wheel on hand and I am never too proud to consult it when I'm thinking about color suggestions. Also, even though it's not always color-true, I always snap a picture or two of an artwork, even if it's just on my phone, so that I can hold it up against a space to make sure the colors will work as I intended. Technology is a major friend in this regard - thanks iPhone!
5)Themes and Motifs - many artists use these to convey messages - sometimes through subtle repetition of particular images. This same concept can carry over into selecting the art for a staging project. For example, is the view of the city skyline from the third floor balcony something you want to highlight? Why not do it with some skyline photography or artwork in the study on the second floor? Is the backyard garden a key selling point for the home? Why not utilize some garden imagery very sparingly in other places throughout the house? With “Green” being the current zeitgeist, we often incorporate artwork by one of our “Green Artists,” like Dennis Downes, who carves his own frames and often pulps his own paper and creates his own dyes from natural sources. It's an interesting talking point that is also thematically relevant. Thoughtful use of artwork create the difference between a feature or amenity that's "just nice" as opposed to being a real jaw-dropper. Conversely, however, it's also easy to overdo a theme. It's a technique that calls for discretion and we always try to keep in mind the old phrase, "less is more."
6)Placement - we've been doing a lot of work with artwork across multiple panels, which is nice for several reasons: 1) you can space them out to fill a very wide wall-space so that it doesn't seem so empty or that the artwork gets lost on the wall, 2) you can stagger them in interesting shapes and designs which can contribute to the "flow" of a room (i.e. a few photos going up a stairwell) and 3) you can use as many or as few as you like (and in more than one place) - just because a particular piece was created as 7 panels doesn't mean that all of them necessarily need to be used - breaking them up into two sets may have a better impact on the space. While there is no hard rule for using artwork in a series, there are some other considerations for placement that should always be followed. If your potential buyers are serious collectors, then hanging a beautiful watercolor or other photo-sensitive artworks in a shaft of direct sunlight might make them cringe, no matter how perfectly it seems to occupy the space. It would be like putting a glass frame over an oil painting - a major no-no that causes the paint to eventually crack as the oil tries to breath in a vacuum. While that may seem obvious to many of us, I have on occasion witnessed these and other unintentional abuse of artwork.
7)Details - maybe that picture of a wide open Arizona landscape by Predrag Djordjevic really fits the room perfectly... but you're staging a home in Minnesota (which is not to say that it won't work, just something to be cognizant of). Likewise, maybe that seascape really seems to pop in the study, but the home is in the middle of New Mexico where artwork of adobe buildings or a desertscape at night might make more sense. This isn't a hard rule, and sometimes creating a juxtaposition is what's called for, if done with care. Kim Baker mentioned that she sometimes like to use an unusual piece that stands out a bit to keep a staged home from swinging so far toward mass-appeal that it becomes bland. A sculpture by Bouba, stained-glass artwork by Larry Zgoda or ceramic wall pieces by Lou Pierozzi can be perfect for adding an eccentric twist to a room while remaining within the framework of mass appeal. The frames are another consideration – they may look gorgeous when you pick them up from the fame shop, but how will those ornate, silver frames look in a room where the molding on the floor and ceiling is a totally different style? The devil is in the details, as they say, and everything even down to the matting around a framed print can enhance or detract from an atmosphere. Laurel Feldman's foyer at the 2009 Dream Home is a great example of what attention to these sorts of details can achieve.
These are just some initial thoughts and I will try to explore other areas where design and art intersect.
At the request of several clients, I've worked to compile a quick list for consideration when selecting the artwork for a staging project. I'll continue to revise this and possibly develop a more comprehensive document, but so far this is what I have come up with. I am deeply indebted to the insight of the Nora Flaherty of the IAHSP, the talented ladies at Chicago Home Staging and interior designer Laurel Feldman for sharing their thoughts and insights with me.
1)Mass Appeal – Kim Baker of Chicago Home Staging reminded me just the other day of the number one essential consideration for staging – creating an environment that has the greatest appeal to the greatest number of potential buyers. When considering artwork, which is highly subjective, this should remain the guiding principle. Personally, I love Caravaggio's work – intense lights and darks and often violent scenes with heavy religious connotations. That works very well... for the walls of an Italian church. For staging, however, it's probably just about as far from what you would want to use as possible. Religious artwork, nudes, violence – while these sometimes make for great artworks, they are going to appeal only to a small portion of home buyers and run the risk of offending or turning off other. While this might seem like common sense to many of us, we're not always conditioned to be aware of what is or is not offensive. Some stagers suggest staying away from figures entirely and using only landscapes and abstracts. I believe figurative artwork like those by Jim Parenti or something like Movement by Doug Birkenheuer can be incorporated in some cases, but it should always be subject to careful consideration.
2)Artwork vs Space - from conversations with stagers as well as projects we've worked on, this seems to be one of the single most important factors. When people walk into a staged home, what should come forward is the space rather than the artwork. It's typically about creating an environment where the artwork forms the right background - essentially the exact opposite of an art gallery space which is designed to showcase the artwork and make it the focus of your attention (if part of the appeal of the home is as a creative loft space in an art district, however, creating more of a gallery feel might make sense – it all depends on who the audience is). Something we've been doing lately is taking pictures from several different angels and then reviewing them at least a few hours after we have left the site. This gives us a chance to readjust our thinking and we can look a bit more objectively at the photos and ask ourselves, is the space or the artwork what draws our attention the most? If the answer is "the space," than we are on the right track.
3)Style - this goes without saying but what type of home or room are you working with? Is it a traditional home where landscapes done in oils or black and white photography would work best? Is it a contemporary home where high-end abstract works and textile or installation works like those by Jessica Joy would be most appropriate? Are the potential buyers going to be sophisticated collectors? Does the living room couch beg for a more impressionistic Renee Nemir piece above it - the furniture has a significant impact on the dynamic of the room as well. All of these questions come into play and how you answer them can make a real impact on what artwork you select.
4)Colors - as above this may seem fairly obvious, but it can be easy to miss. Modern homes in the city may have a lot of glass and steel surfaces, which can create an unintentionally cold atmosphere. Some organic greens and still life of fruit can warm it up nicely without commanding too much attention. Some of Judi Hechtman's floral prints or the watercolors of Dorothy Mason can do the trick very well. Flesh tones compliment many lighter woods nicely and vic-a-versa (something to consider when selecting the framing), while blue and white can really pop against a dark accent wall. I have to confess that I actually keep a copy of the good old color wheel on hand and I am never too proud to consult it when I'm thinking about color suggestions. Also, even though it's not always color-true, I always snap a picture or two of an artwork, even if it's just on my phone, so that I can hold it up against a space to make sure the colors will work as I intended. Technology is a major friend in this regard - thanks iPhone!
5)Themes and Motifs - many artists use these to convey messages - sometimes through subtle repetition of particular images. This same concept can carry over into selecting the art for a staging project. For example, is the view of the city skyline from the third floor balcony something you want to highlight? Why not do it with some skyline photography or artwork in the study on the second floor? Is the backyard garden a key selling point for the home? Why not utilize some garden imagery very sparingly in other places throughout the house? With “Green” being the current zeitgeist, we often incorporate artwork by one of our “Green Artists,” like Dennis Downes, who carves his own frames and often pulps his own paper and creates his own dyes from natural sources. It's an interesting talking point that is also thematically relevant. Thoughtful use of artwork create the difference between a feature or amenity that's "just nice" as opposed to being a real jaw-dropper. Conversely, however, it's also easy to overdo a theme. It's a technique that calls for discretion and we always try to keep in mind the old phrase, "less is more."
6)Placement - we've been doing a lot of work with artwork across multiple panels, which is nice for several reasons: 1) you can space them out to fill a very wide wall-space so that it doesn't seem so empty or that the artwork gets lost on the wall, 2) you can stagger them in interesting shapes and designs which can contribute to the "flow" of a room (i.e. a few photos going up a stairwell) and 3) you can use as many or as few as you like (and in more than one place) - just because a particular piece was created as 7 panels doesn't mean that all of them necessarily need to be used - breaking them up into two sets may have a better impact on the space. While there is no hard rule for using artwork in a series, there are some other considerations for placement that should always be followed. If your potential buyers are serious collectors, then hanging a beautiful watercolor or other photo-sensitive artworks in a shaft of direct sunlight might make them cringe, no matter how perfectly it seems to occupy the space. It would be like putting a glass frame over an oil painting - a major no-no that causes the paint to eventually crack as the oil tries to breath in a vacuum. While that may seem obvious to many of us, I have on occasion witnessed these and other unintentional abuse of artwork.
7)Details - maybe that picture of a wide open Arizona landscape by Predrag Djordjevic really fits the room perfectly... but you're staging a home in Minnesota (which is not to say that it won't work, just something to be cognizant of). Likewise, maybe that seascape really seems to pop in the study, but the home is in the middle of New Mexico where artwork of adobe buildings or a desertscape at night might make more sense. This isn't a hard rule, and sometimes creating a juxtaposition is what's called for, if done with care. Kim Baker mentioned that she sometimes like to use an unusual piece that stands out a bit to keep a staged home from swinging so far toward mass-appeal that it becomes bland. A sculpture by Bouba, stained-glass artwork by Larry Zgoda or ceramic wall pieces by Lou Pierozzi can be perfect for adding an eccentric twist to a room while remaining within the framework of mass appeal. The frames are another consideration – they may look gorgeous when you pick them up from the fame shop, but how will those ornate, silver frames look in a room where the molding on the floor and ceiling is a totally different style? The devil is in the details, as they say, and everything even down to the matting around a framed print can enhance or detract from an atmosphere. Laurel Feldman's foyer at the 2009 Dream Home is a great example of what attention to these sorts of details can achieve.
These are just some initial thoughts and I will try to explore other areas where design and art intersect.
What is Artrepreneurship?
After some debating, copious amounts of writing and even more editing and re-writing (followed by a final round of debating) I've decided to begin a blog. I struggled with a name for it though - something that would capture both the art related and entrepreneurial education that has been the past year and a half of my life since starting Chicago Art Leasing. I wanted to provide a source that would have equal appeal for folks like me who are on the path of starting a business in turbulent economic times as well as those involved in the art world (not only practicing artists but also collectors, gallery owners and anyone with an appreciation for creativity).
At long last I have arrived at what I felt was an appropriate title: Artrepreneurship, thereby combining the same two elements that led to the creation of my company. I hope that you will find the content here interesting, thoughtful and engaging. And of course, I welcome all thoughts and feedback. Like my business itself, this is very much a living, constantly evolving venture and adventure. I'd very much like to hear your thoughts on the topics that are most relevant and interesting to you and I hope that this will be more of a dialog than just me talking to myself (which I do far more often than I would like to admit). While I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences in launching an art leasing startup with you, I'm even more excited about learning from you and hearing your own thoughts and insights. So without further ado... it's time for me to delve into the wonderful world of blogging.
Thank you for reading my mind.
Joshua Ginsberg
Founder / Art-Guy
Chicago Art Leasing LLC
At long last I have arrived at what I felt was an appropriate title: Artrepreneurship, thereby combining the same two elements that led to the creation of my company. I hope that you will find the content here interesting, thoughtful and engaging. And of course, I welcome all thoughts and feedback. Like my business itself, this is very much a living, constantly evolving venture and adventure. I'd very much like to hear your thoughts on the topics that are most relevant and interesting to you and I hope that this will be more of a dialog than just me talking to myself (which I do far more often than I would like to admit). While I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences in launching an art leasing startup with you, I'm even more excited about learning from you and hearing your own thoughts and insights. So without further ado... it's time for me to delve into the wonderful world of blogging.
Thank you for reading my mind.
Joshua Ginsberg
Founder / Art-Guy
Chicago Art Leasing LLC
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