Not Necessarily Art Notes, but...
Artists and art groups are interesting things. Art groups are typically made up of a variety of people from all walks of life. Some of the members have been artists since forever, perhaps retired, possibly some are still in school, or there's a family member that wants to get out of the house and brush elbows with eclectic people, someone wants to learn more about art, and maybe there are those that periodically only dabble in the arts.
Hobbyist to art educated, art groups are made of people that love being creative in some form. Artists are every age and they are green, blue, and purple-haired to gray-haired, with every strand in between. A palette of colors and blends make up an art group, and so it should be.
The Good, the Bad and the Artiquette
People are people are people. Nothing more, nothing less - we all have our quirks, our greatness, our talents, our fine points and our not so fine points. Wouldn't the world be so boring if we were all created exactly the same? Golly, I don't think we would have ever gotten past cave paintings!
This blog post is aimed at a few of the not so fine points of occasionally being a part of any art group anywhere - perhaps behavioral points or concerns that might affect other group members. We all are learning, and I'm sure we've all run into a few of these things at some point.
Email Etiquette
Not
every artist is computer savvy. That's fine. We may not be creating our
own websites necessarily, but there are some things we do need to know
about computers.
I recently ran into someone that did not know the difference between Reply and Reply All. In this day and age of spamozoid emails, many people don't want their mailboxes filled with superfluousness emails that really don't need to be there. They want LESS email NOT more.
One item that is brought up in talking with fellow artists is the use of Reply All. If someone sends an email with the gallery stats of how many visitors and sales were made at the gallery - good email. Inquiring minds want to know. If one or several members hit Reply All and send back "congratulations!" or "way to go!", well that is not an important email for the entire membership to get - bad email.
Optional Reply: You could congratulate the individual artist(s) if you like. If you need to ask the sender which of your art pieces sold, simply hit Reply, not Reply All. The point here is Reply All sends to EVERY person on your group's email list, where Reply only sends it to whomever sent it.
If
I send an email to the membership for blog ideas, "What's on your
Easel?", etc, if you hit Reply All and send me your feedback, there is
no need for me to build a blog post as you have already shared yours.
Absolutely, we've ALL done hit Reply All when we probably didn't need to - just TRY to check it before you hit send.
I'm going to add this little nugget here too. If you send me something to post here on the blog - awesome! I love to have pictures or news to add to this blog. But if I didn't attend the event, or its "news to me" (I don't know what it is), give me the background of the who, what, when, where, how, why - details of what you want posted. I never did develop that mind reading trick.
Social Media Clicking
Again, with the computers...Are you on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube or some other platform? Many say you should be. Why sell artwork to only those in your neighborhood when you can sell to the world? Or at least anywhere in the USA! What if someone sees your art somewhere and wants to learn more about you? Maybe contact you? An online presence of some sort does help in that regard these days.
These platforms and this blog work by clicking. A lot of point and clicking. The more clicks the better. Which means, you help the artist, the blog, the group, the thing you are clicking on to be noticed and seen MORE... by clicking on Like, making a comment, sharing, tweeting, DOING something! Google et al LOVES clicking! I've always seen it that it is everyone in the art group's duty - if you use a computer, to SHARE your artist member's posts, your art groups posts. Click AWAY!! The reach of the things posted go much further the more attention it gets on the internet.
You don't have to be on everything, but you probably should be on at least a few things and manage your time with them so that you are comfortably posting and reposting consistently - whether for your own art work and/or your art group, gallery info, art shows, events, etc. That is how word spreads more than if only one person is doing it.
Showing Artwork
What an exciting time - getting to show your artwork at an art exhibit. Part of getting your art up on the wall is knowing how its supposed to hang on the wall for that particular place. Not all art galleries use the same kind of hanging system and most have definite RULES on how they want things displayed. That goes for paintings, drawings, watercolors, whatever it is you do. It is up to you to read the directions to know the best presentation for your style of work.
I've posted it before but at Open Space Arts, we have had newbie artists bring their artwork in without a wire to hang it. AND it is not up to the gallery to have the tools there for you to do it. So the basic theme here is to learn the basics!
Another good read, but not about artwork display is Artists Rights 101 on copyrights, rights of publicity and more.
Volunteering Etiquette
Greeting the gallery visitors and telling them about the art show is the best part of being at the gallery. Sure, its wonderful to have your art up, but its the visitors coming in and enjoying their experience browsing all of the artwork (and yours) that might become a purchaser of the art being shown that is the total cat's meow.
Signup Genius, which we use to volunteer at the gallery is a fantastic organizational tool for everyone in the art group to sign up for gallery shifts (or other functions). The application sends out an email reminder for the shift you volunteered for a couple of days in advance. Be sure and load your smart phones with your gallery shifts each month too, and set it up with notifications alerts as well.
The bad part of volunteering comes when someone doesn't show up for a shift. Our preference is to have at least 2 persons per shift. A few notes about what to do when someone doesn't show up...
- Contact the person that should be with you on that shift. See the contact list in the artist inventory book and contact the missing volunteer. Text, call, send smoke signals - whatever works. I'm not posting the Signup Genius link here for security reasons, but it is a GREAT idea to know who you are working with that day. Use the View List view instead of Calendar View to see the details for each day.
- Contact the appropriate art group member that manages the Signup Genius app. The manager of the volunteers tracks if this is an ongoing characteristic of this person. Continuous no shows may run the risk of having their artwork removed. A part of being able to show art in the gallery is to also volunteer AT the gallery. No show up, no art up. Standard procedure.
Visitors at the art gallery love to watch artists doing their art at the gallery too. Not only does it help the artist do "double duty" while volunteering, but the visitors enjoy it. But DO remember that main reason you are volunteering there is to greet and tell them about the art show, answer questions they might have, and thank them for visiting. The desire here is for visitors to have an enjoyable experience and see the artwork - at each show - each month.
Another good point on volunteering at a gallery or being at any art show is you meeting and interacting with the visitors admiring your art as well as the entire art group's art. Building relationships with people goes a long way in the decision of whether that artwork gets purchased.
Art Show Etiquette
I don't know about you but I have attended art shows where I am speaking to a potential customer that is interested in MY art and I've had another artist butt into my conversation when they heard a keyword that triggered an art piece that THEY wanted to sell, then proceeded to pull the person over to see his/her art. Where's a bucket of paint when you need one? I'm kidding about the bucket of paint of course, but the thought crosses your mind...
Art group art shows means that everyone shares in the costs, equipment, setup, managing, sales, breakdown, loading of an art show in some degree or another. Keywords here are SHARES the work. There is the loading of the tents, art wall stands, tables, getting artwork hung and tons of other things to do on the front end and back end of an art show. Ever been to a show where someone shows up at the last second, sets up their work and leaves as soon as its over? 'Nuff said?
And again, if there are flyers, brochures, online or in print - EVERYONE in the show, or in the group should try to spread the word about the art event, as best they can.
Art Gallery Etiquette
The list of art gallery etiquette do's and don'ts can be pretty extensive. Do a search and you will find a ton of them. I'm just going to highlight a few things in this section.
While visiting an art gallery or other art exhibit, it is very proper for visitors to ask before taking pictures. Often, there is a no photo policy.
Being in an art gallery is not a competition. You don't have to compare your art to anyone else's, you be you, and be the best you.
One of our artist members loves to learn something about every artist on display, so that when visitors arrive and they want to chat, he can offer a bit of detail about the artist and his or her artwork that they may find interesting.
Art Group Rewards
Being in an art group and meeting, getting to know the artist members has been rewarding - honestly, more than rewarding. I've made good friends. I hope I've been a good friend to them too. I've learned a TON about being an artist, being a better artist, and how other people do their thing too. I've learned really cool tips, inspirational ideas, fabulous tools and fascinating techniques. I've had more opportunities than I probably would have ever discovered on my own.
I hope you have enjoyed the Not Necessarily Art Notes, but... that I noted here. How has being in your art group, wherever you are, benefited you? Do you have any interesting stories to share?
Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5
The Prince William Art Society is a 50-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.
Want to know how to get involved at OSA? If you are an artist (18 or older) living in Prince William County, or a are a member of a PWC art group, you are welcome to get on our next art show's emailing list. Send it to us, OR come by the gallery to find out more.
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
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