Artwork in the US
 

Hola all,
I'd love to have a conversation about art/gallery hot spots in the US. I'm a painter who's thinking about exploring the possibility of selling my paintings in the US but I'm not sure where to look. Do you know of a place or places where artwork is being bought? If so, do you see any sort of trends regarding the type of artwork that's being sold? Are you buying art?
I'm told that some places like Canyon Rd, Santa Fe are down in sales. Is this true? I'm also wondering if my timing is right because many foreign tourists say that they will no longer travel to or even through the US. I'm not even sure if foreigners buy much artwork but would wonder if tourism will effect US art sales.

Having earned my living in the arts for much of my life, I think your best bet is almost always a large metropolitan area such as New York or Los Angeles. They're less effected by local downturns and have a largely resident clientele. I'd say avoid the latest hot spot and new galleries without a following in smaller places, and research long-standing art-oriented communities and galleries, even small ones with good local reputations and events such as well-attended openings where, in my experience, most sales happen.

It's a process, to be sure, to sort it all out and depends, of course on the quality of the work. Starting in a good small gallery and moving "up" in a community is, I think, a better option than moving from town to town in search of an audience. It's a fact of life that sales of art are as much word-of-mouth as who you show with. People buy what they see and, it's seemed to me, as much what they see on people's walls than on gallery walls. In any case, it takes time and effort, but I'd do a great deal of homework before making a decision.

I'd add, trends are short-term, a personal style is long-term. I wouldn't be tempted to immitate, though that may not be what you meant by "trends", I realize.

To answer your question, do I buy art, at my age I have so much that I no longer buy much. But I just returned from Oaxaca with a photograph I bought so never say never.

Atlanta definitely has galleries with art to sell, but one of the biggest venue is the Dogwood Festival in April each year -
http://www.dogwood.org/Artists

<i>"The Atlanta Dogwood Festival is one of the largest and most diverse juried arts festivals in the country. More than 250 artists from around the country exhibit in 12 categories, including painting, glass, clay, wood and mixed media. Some of the country’s top painters, photographers, sculptors, leather and metal craftsmen, glass blowers and more participate in the Atlanta Dogwood Festival Artist Market. In 2014, the Artist Market was ranked #30, out of the Top 200 Shows in the Country by Sunshine Artist's Magazine."

I think mmeperdu is right on about large metro areas. Tourist places that may be affected by fewer visitors likely don't have galleries with the kind of art you want to sell. Paintings of local landscapes or something like that. I don't know about Santa Fe, but galleries in, say, a beach town tend to be famine or feast because the area can be kind of depressed off season.

However, I don't think you can generalize about "us art sales". There are likely galleries shuttering in New York while one is going strong for decades in some small Midwest town. There are little pockets of art communities everywhere and so much depends on what each gallery specializes in.

I buy art but I haven't got much wall space. When I do buy it, it's usually from a local artist that has an exhibit at my local coffee shop. It's a whim thing. Maybe some people collect a certain movement or artist, but I think more people buy what they "need" for a space or something that catches their eye.

Great info, so far thank you.
Mme, If not too personal may I ask what you paid for the photograph?
Did the amount spent have anything to do with your decision to buy?
lastly did you buy because of the size of the photo?
Starrs, I forgot about venues such as the one you mentioned. I'll check them out. Do you happen to know if the artists sell much and if they do are they selling originals and/or painting that are a bit costly?
I was just in a juried artist studio tour. I got tons of exposure and did sell a few inexpensive things. Problem is they put new and well known artists in the same tour. They also added to the amount of artists that were showing. There were 26 of us.

"Do you happen to know if the artists sell much and if they do are they selling originals and/or painting that are a bit costly?"

Almost all of them have expensive originals as well as some prints of favorite pieces. Many have note cards, magnets, etc. too. I do know that people in the area wait for the festival to buy art for their homes. The location and that time of year could not be better.

If I were to plan for another trip just to do a show, personally I would choose the fall art show in Jackson WY. It coincides with the Taste of the Tetons, but it an almost two week event with lots of art sold - based on casual input I've received over the last two years.

https://www.jacksonholechamber.com/e...arts-festival/

Yes, you may ask. The size & price had little to do with the purchase, fairly large for a photograph, not a typical tourist-market subject. The artist, Marcel Rius, has his own gallery, also shows other photographers. Tingladography, La Constitución 213. $500MXN, unframed, unmounted.

There are still scores of galleries in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. Not as many as after Hurricane Sandy and the recession of 2008 but many.

Because of rents many have moved to the Lower East side.

The following is a map of the galleries in Chelsea. Many buildings have multiple galleries.

http://chelseagallerymap.com/

Starrs, I took a look at the dogwood link. Looks like there's a lot of quality work.
To me it makes sense for a consumer to buy artwork this way to avoid paying the gallery percentage. In my case I'm not sure i'd buy an original online (which a lot of people do). Having a venue like this seems like a nice alternative.
...On the other hand I also have to wonder if it's a good idea to be in a venue with so many other artists.

I think you've got a better chance of making a sale at place like that because of the other artists. People go to those places to shop for whatever catches their eye. Then they follow specific artists online. Or at least my friends and I do. It's exposure.

That is my understanding as well. I've visited local galleries, mostly in Decatur, and love the artwork but am not sure how much they move. There's a really nice artist co-op that I like a lot.

But I think for both of these, there are signficant purchases of original artwork. A friend is on the board and another friend was involved with the art side of it. It is one of the largest (if not the largest) visited festival in the Atlanta area (therefore Southeast US) and is known for the art. I've purchased smaller pieces (less than $150 side) at local festivals, but they do have artwork selling in the thousands...and Atlantans wait for the Dogwood to buy art for their new homes.

My town hosts a Western Art Week every March. The big event is the Russell Auction, where they typically sell $5 to $6 million in art over two nights.

Galleries and artists from all over the Western U.S. set up galleries for the week. Western art isn't necessarily my favorite, but over the last 10 years, we've purchased four original paintings. We have favorite artists and galleries. We can't afford to spend thousands, but we know people who do.

I'm listening with great interest.
kurieff, Wow, that's a lot of artwork.
It's all Western style art?

cybor, yes. There are several events that week. The Russell is a two day art auction to benefit the CM Russell Museum.

https://cmrussell.org/the-russell-event/

But there are several other shows and exhibits that week.

http://www.westernartweek.com/shows

Tourism is down due to Trump, but I do not know what type of tourists bought or how much in the past.

Where have you submitted your work?

The CM Russell Museum is one of my favorite places out west.
And if you go, you can visit the Lewis and Clark Intepretive Center, the buffalo jump in nearby Ulm...and a neat Fodorite family. :-)

Big profitable events for artists & craftspeople like those mentioned are often booked by participants year after year with only a few openings for new artists. Those that participate regularly can earn much of their annual income at these events and also make contacts that bring commissions and sales throughout the year. Consequently they can be hard to get into and can be expensive for the travel and show costs. I'd never discourage actively trying to get into these shows but it can be a process and even take years to do and only if the art is of high quality accepted by the jurors.

If these kind of shows appeal to you I'd apply, keeping the expense in mind, but pursue other opportunities as well. Getting into a well-run gallery that promotes your work can be a more long-term situation with less time investment that could be spent doing your art rather than traveling & selling. I suppose the best compromise would be 1 or 2 good shows plus a couple of galleries.

Tx all for the links.
Mme, I can only hope that a few people find my work appealing.
Good point about the long wait to even get into the better shows. Also good point about travel expenses. Many also require elaborate set ups as well.
Seems like you'd have to take a hit for the first show or more to break even. Getting into a quality gallery or two would certainly be less work.
Side note - It's interesting that artwork goes into a gallery on commission while other retail items are bought by retailers.
That and not a week goes by where someone doesn't want some sort of freebee for a charity. I've offered pet portraits and some other things but now only donate a few art cards.
It's pretty easy to not only not make money but to put oneself into a negative by being an artist.

Your experience of being asked for donations is not uncommon and I find it ironic. Having lived in a community with a number of artists, we were constantly asked for donations and I'd think, wait a minute, we're the ones struggling and yet it's us they come to. We should be getting, not giving, donations.

Green dragon shared a lot about selling her work on this board over the years. I'm in hospital right now but wanted to throw that out there for you. Good luck

cyber,

there are lots of festivals, outdoor sales, etc. in the Northeast US in the summer, one that has been going on for 60 years is in Mystic CT and has been quite successful for artists, hence its longevity:

http://www.mysticchamber.org/events/...r-art-festival

There are many others, just a case of looking for them.

Don't forget Florida, particularly during "the season".

like emalloy's comment, the midwest also has art fairs in even medium cities. A friend of mine travels to a number of these, exposing his photography to different audiences. I think that would be the way to go, b/c you get a concentrated crowd.

Art districts seem to be a pretty popular thing. OK City, Topeka, Kansas and KC, MO all have them (I'm sure there are plenty of others). "First Friday" art walks seem to be a pretty popular thing, too. I was visiting KCMO last summer for an event and the Crossroads (the art district) was packed on a first friday! There are probably rules for exhibiting during those events. I've been to a couple art fairs in the OKC art district, which had outdoor exhibits in addition to permanent galleries.

Bitter,
tx. One has to wonder if there's a little less competition in places that one doesn't automatically think of when you think of art.
Perhaps hip med sized cities in the midwest could fit that bill.
I'll do a little research and see if I can get a sense of what's Showing and being sold in those areas.


Getchen, An artist friend of mine used to do very well selling her art in Naples. She's since moved and changed her genre of painting.
I'll ask her if she thinks my work is a good fit there.

emalloy - will check out link Tx

Do most of you prefer originals or prints because of the cost? Do you also like small or large paintings?

I just had lunch with my friend referenced above. He said it was more lucrative to go to the festivals, compared to exhibiting at a first friday gallery. Often the FF are more social, whereas at the festivals people are there to view and buy.

Chicago has many art festivals in the summer, Also look at Santa Fé,NM, Marfa,TX.

So, art festivals all over the country, but considerable expense for travel, display, fees for participation, not to mention time spent on the road instead of in the studio. Or have the time for producing the work, no extra expensive on the road and have representation in galleries and pay their percentage. I suspect after getting established, either way the net return would be similar. It might just depend on how you like to live.

"...no extra expensive..."

Make that "expenses."

You've all got me thinking. Seeing that I'm usually out of the country and only back for short periods of time, I would imagine that it would be a considerable expense to commute from one show to another.

I would think that shows in or near certain hub cities or where I stay would work better and that I wouldn't want to do many. If I did go that route I'd try to find one where I was very well received.
I wish galleries didn't take such a large %. I'm wondering if there are co op situations where one rents space or pays a smaller percentage than the galleries.

In my experience, co-op galleries require a regular schedule of hours working in the gallery, how much depending on the number of members involved and wouldn't work if you didn't live locally. Though I haven't found one, a gallery that rents wall space could work, if it included help with hanging new work when you weren't in town.

All these reasons seem to justify the gallery percentage. If you sold the work outright, the mark-up would be similar so, except for the consignment aspect, the percentage taken by galleries isn't, to my way of thinking, unreasonable. I've been on both ends of that equation so understand it can seem a lot.

I've been thinking about the commission side of the market and most people choose "known" (to them) artists for portraits of children and family members. There's a local artist that does a decent business in commissioned pet portraits. An artist friend has started a series of iconic places in our city and has sold some prints and that lead to some commissioned pieces. I just saw a beautiful original of a distinctive tiny home that has resold and is now on a gorgeous ranch or expanse of property. Tiny home owners probably don't have extra $$ to spend on commissioned art, but what about vacation home or second home owners? Maybe you could create your own niche. Paint some homes in your area and maybe your home stateside as demos. People who own second homes are likely to have extra $ to have a painting of their second home to hang in their main home or their old home to hang in their retirement home. Worth a thought. Think of what you are painting or have painted that would evoke memories in others. You seem to be drawn to detail and that made me think of Wyeth's "window" series. It doesn't have to be an exterior of a home but a detail within the home. Just brainstorming here. I have a giant piece painted by my artist friend that I bought on a Facebook "auction". I got it for a song, but he offered a much smaller piece for sale at a certain price recently. If you can create a following on a Facebook artist page, maybe you could do something similar. I bought several originals from a FB friend who was selling pieces off his website at discounted prices (he's nationally known for something different than his art). I bought several, even when money was tight. Maybe an increased social media presence as an artist. I really think you need to find a niche that works for you and I think the vacation home/ second home angle may work.

"Tiny home owners probably don't have extra $$ to spend on commissioned art,..."

Not wanting to be nitpicky here, but do want to mention that in many cases it's an expression of a lifestyle choice, not of limited means. I speak from personal experience, having lived in a "tiny" house while commissioning art. Of course it can be true but a faulty generalization probably as often as not.

MmePerdu, I've seen photos of your home and it's lovely. I used the term in reference to homes of less than 200 sf, built on a trailer chassis. Not homes on foundations that are small in size.

https://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

Although my example was of one that was moved to ranch or large expanse of property and the new owner did have a painting done of the house in its new setting.

Which prompted this post. ;)

Starrs, Lots of good points. My Mom, who's in Maine, does watercolors of local ocean scenes and home commissions. She gets a lions share of exposure from hanging her paintings in local banks.
I also do animal commissions. That business is mostly by word of month. I really do need to figure out a way to get more exposure. I'm a bit timid about putting up a FB page like the rest of the world is already smart enough to do. I don't want to bother my friends. That and many of my friends are in the US so shipping is very costly. Thus far I mostly mule my paintings to the states when I or a friend travel up to the US.
In any event I finally feel confident in my artwork to put a FB page together. I think it's a great idea.
I do, as you know, put many of my pieces on my reg FB page. I get some exposure that way but not many buyers.

You've got a captive audience here. Consider putting a website link on your profile page to anywhere we can see your work, Facebook or otherwise, with contact information. You certainly won't be the only one here taking advantage of this particular opportunity.