Hang Your Art In A Used Furniture Store?

Hi, Jane,

Yes -- I've built my real-world, local, art business by showing in 'alternative venues' -- with only a handful of legitimate gallery shows along the way.

I've shown my work in coffee shops, restaurants, a day spa, hair salon, doctor's office, church vestibule, community center, homeowners' association meetings, a wine bar, and ice cream & yogurt place, company office parties, and a few even more obscure places!

I always do my homework first:

- How much will it cost to get involved?

- Venue popularity and customer satisfaction rating?

- Expected amount of event traffic or size of usual crowd?

- Has the venue sold art, craft, etc., successfully before?

- Does the venue have high-profile, wealthy, famous, or celebrity members who might see/buy my work?
(Definitely a factor at Homeowners' Associations meetings and Open House gatherings.)

- Will the venue's demographic be interested in my work? (I once had a very successful weekend show at a place that drew mostly high school and college-aged customers. Great for watching mid-sized abstract and kaleidoscope prints fly out the door!)

If you've done your research, and still think it's a good idea for you and your work, I always recommend that artists go for it! :-)

Strangest exhibition? I once got a call for a last-minute show (2 days notice) at a local University campus. I had no tent or tables handy, so went house-to-house on my block, borrowing a few stepladders (some were serious 'work ladders' splashed with paint and/or plaster). I used wire to lash framed prints to the rungs and backs of the ladders, and took a few baskets along to hold clear-bagged, unframed, prints and cards.

Voila! Instant, crowd-drawing exhibit! :-)

In the early 2000s to 2005 I use to go to starbucks in the best locations in Chicago gold coast area, with a nice finished and framed image to show the manager and ask if I can hang it with a small bio next to it. I would only hang one large finished piece where the line forms waiting for coffee. I had to sign a contract with corporate and agree not to list it for sale. But I could put a small bio with my number next to it and cards. I had 3 calls per week about that image to purchase. After the economy crash, everything changed and people havent bought like that anymore. Also Starbucks started adding there own art. I havent done this in about 4 years but just decided to try it again this morning. Good thread.

I wouldn't in a USED furniture store. That kind of place caters to people looking for a bargain. Low end. You want to hang in places with a higher level of clientele. New furniture store, nice restaurant, nice cafe etc. Not in some greasy spoon or McDs.

Most important question....will they be insuring your work. My homeowner's policy has a rider for my art, but not when it's not in my home.
I don't do any exhibiting without proof of full insurance coverage.

I have been in very high end furniture stores and restaurants...never had any luck but was doing favors for the parties involved, so they got their walls covered with high end art and I felt good about helping out.

I think Jane said this was a rather 'up scale' used furniture place, not one at the other end of town or a thrift store. I would hang my art/photographs - wherever it would sell. Beware that many folks with money are that way because they are thrifty - not because the only buy at art galleries and high end establishments.

I put about a dozen pieces in a real estate office a few years back, along with a binder of PDF sales sheets. I don't think it produced any sales. I've been offered to display some in a nice local restaurant, but have yet to follow through.

I have been in very high end furniture stores and restaurants...never had any luck but was doing favors for the parties involved, so they got their walls covered with high end art and I felt good about helping out.

What Marlene said here matters to me. I had a chance to be in a so so restaurant that I was working in last year. I declined. Glad I did.

What Kevin is saying has me thinking. I am sitting in the busiest Starbucks in greater Hartford. Dollar for dollar square foot for square foot the busiest. I know the entire staff, manager etc.....maybe....

You only miss 100% of the shots you do not take.

Kevin thanks for the idea of only one image. That really simplifies things and brings down the costs. There are two sides to the fireplace wide open.

Kevin, I will PM you. I want a suggestion as to which work of mine you'd think would do the trick.

Dave

A few year back my local coffee shop ( across from a major art museum) asked me to show my paintings there fee of charge and I can do whatever I wanted,. Every few months i change the display and I done it for a few years but not one sale! since then I had stop showing my paintings in galleries and art fairs all together and show my works online only, just last month sold six originals in a two weeks span to buyers from all over the world..
I think many art buyers had moved to shop online

Dave, you need to think of only one piece that will do the trick. Make sure someting in the art is related to Hartford. Make sure they can contact you by phone or email.

Best of luck

'Used' furniture doesn't necessarily mean 'cheap' furniture. We have a couple of 2nd-hand furniture places in town that sell designer and one-of-a-kind goods -- four figures and above. All part of that homework I mentioned.

I've done well in alternative local venues -- much better than my FAA sales -- but it pays to choose carefully. My most consistently viable locations were a 5-star-rated coffeeshop (where I showed and sold for 5 years), a day spa (they also cycled my videos through their building-wide, flatscreen, entertainment system), and a run of homeowners' association meetings, where I also gave short talks about my art and offered assistance in choosing, framing, etc.

In restaurants, I found I sold more when I was on-site, to be introduced as 'the artist'. Buyers love that! It was never a hardship to show up once a week, or so.

I actually prefer showing and selling my work face-to-face, so really enjoy this kind of real-world marketing. (Though I do much less of it, these days.)

Well now, I got the starbucks store manager's card, and I emailed her just now. She is off till Sunday. She needs to present something to HQ, so emailing her helps her make her case. She can forward my email.

I have it all sussed out. Just waiting to hear.

Dave....never let them see you sweat.....actually I feel very good about putting in the effort.....

"'Used' furniture doesn't necessarily mean 'cheap' furniture. "

Agree. And it does not necessarily mean that no one with money shops there even if they do handle lower end furniture. The thing about used furniture, it has to start out with some quality to even survive at a high enough standard to end up in a used furniture.

Sure, I would hang in a used furniture store. Why not?

But there would have to be some parameters. Go back up and read what Wendy posted.

I sell on FB by posting in garage sales. I have sold pieces well into the thousands in FB garage sales.

Some used furniture attracts high-end shoppers. The location has a lot to do with it. Take San Luis Obispo for example, or Ilse Vista (Home of University of California, Santa Barbara). Both are college towns where millionaires send their kids. They shop for used furniture to furnish their kid's apartments, dorms, and rental houses. People that own rentals also shop in used furniture stores. I know this for a fact because I had a rental property in San Luis Obispo for years. I rented to college kids. I have seen this first hand.

One of my galleries was next door to a used furniture store and they sold new art. The did not sell a lot, but they sold several pieces every month.

Every venue needs to be evaluated for potential.

Just like restaurants. I am getting ready to hang two more restaurants. I am just coming out of a two-month show in a restaurant where I sold 5 pieces. I still have a little over two weeks left and hope to get at least one more. Knock on wood.

The venue only needs one major criterion, traffic. After that, it is the cost. Hanging for free in a place that has very little traffic is not near as valuable as one where there is a huge traffic flow and charges a commission. It is about the numbers.

I will hang anywhere there is traffic flow. You have to give it a reasonable amount of time to see if it works or not. You can alway pull out if the results are dismal. But you will know until you try.

I am also getting ready to hang a bank. And I am hanging in an airport.

"Every venue needs to be evaluated for potential."

"I will hang anywhere there is traffic flow. You have to give it a reasonable amount of time to see if it works or not. You can alway pull out if the results are dismal. But you will know until you try."


Exactly! :-)

Smart brand managers know that the venue reflects on their products. Choose wisely.

i guess any place is better than no place, but a gallery is best.

a used furniture store implies your things are used and rejected and is now being sold there. a restaurant is art for that location, its not a place to sell the art off the wall. i can't imagine anyone that went to eat was there to buy art, or even think to ask if its for sale, even if there was a price on it.

people going to a gallery are there to buy art.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Thanks for all of your suggestions and advice. One thing I have learned is that your art isn't going to sell hanging on the walls of your home. I think my mobile U-Haul art "gallery" won for weirdest place to sell your art. I also sold very small photos out of a re-configured cigarette vending machine through Art-o-Mat for $5 each. The Art-o-Mat was located in the downstairs level of the Whitney Museum in NYC? Do you think I can list the Whitney on my resume? Technically, I DID have work in there. lol.

The obvious is not always the best choice. A galley is not always best.

I am in five galleries. I am in a restaurant right across the street from the best, highest class gallery in the area. I sell two to one out of the restaurant. They simply get a lot more people in. They rotate artist in and out for two months at a time. I am just finishing up in there in the fist week in May and it will be a year before I can get back in. I have already reserved my spot. They take a 35% commission. Worth every dime of it. I would gladly pay 50%.

That brings up the point of being willing to pay and having a pricing structure that allows it. I sell in places where there is no commission all the way up to 35% commission. My prices are the same in all venues. You have to price your work so you can do that and not compromise your own art by jacking up the prices in different venues to cover the commissions.

My second best venue is a winery. Again, they simply get a lot more people in. That puts galleries third on the list of selling art for me.

One of the art associations I belong to has a gallery and they have an ongoing traveling show that has been hanging in the local airport for years. It outsells their gallery.

Talk to people that actually have real experience in doing this in YOUR area. They will know where the best venues are.

Join your local art association(s) and talk to selling artist. See what they are doing. Learn from people that are actually getting it done.

I have formed a partnership with an artist that paints mostly abstracts. Of course, I do only photography. We are sharing venues.

I have only been at this now for about 6 months. I have more venues than I can produce art for. I have actually had to turn venues down. The ones that make it the slightest bit difficult, I say no to.

So far I have only been skunked in two of venues I am hanging in but it has not been 30 days yet so I am hoping that will turn around. I will give them both 60 more days out of respect for the people that have given me the opportunity. Then I will move on, unless I have the extra pieces sitting around. Being anywhere is better than hanging on my walls at home.

The key is to get out and talk to people.

" I think my mobile U-Haul art "gallery" won for weirdest place to sell your art."

This brilliant! Good on you for getting outside the box!

"Do you think I can list the Whitney on my resume? Technically, I DID have work in there. lol."

Yes, it may be a stretch if not worded properly, but be creative and it would be just fine.

You know, I think it's probably a good idea for you.

It would work for me too. Since I work prolifically, the last thing I relate with is being picky about where, who, when, what I sell

The point is this, keep working, get thy work out there.

An apartment dumpster was the best sale I ever had. The person wouldn't take my hard work for free and shoved 200.00 into my hand telling me I was completely crazy.

Just an update on my restaurant show. I went there for lunch today and found out I sold another piece and they want me to replace it with three others for the last 11 days of the show.

Do not underestimate the selling potential in a high traffic eatery. They can be dynamite!

Congratulations, Floyd!

I agree.

In the coffee shop where I was 'artist in residence' for five years, not only did I sell there (not a flood of sales, but an acceptable number), but it was a great place to schedule interviews and meetings with prospective buyers and clients. Having my work there (usually 20 pieces, between two rooms) also led to community recognition of my name and work (increased branding), and boosted my online visits and sales.

I was also invited to do a couple of speaking gigs, and invited into some great local shows because of my exposure there. (I booked my first gallery show by being spotted in that coffee shop.) Also, it was almost a sure thing to make a sale when I stopped by to replace a sold item or to swap out work. I'm naturally outgoing, which serves me well when showing in person.

One of the first emails I received via FAA contact, was someone saying how they'd seen and enjoyed my work in that shop, and reminding me of the framed piece they'd bought on one of the days I was 'in residence'. :-) This piece (original photo taken at the San Antonio Museum of Art) --

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/neon-skywalker-wendy-j-st-christopher.html#comment27134826

Interested parties do pay attention while enjoying their Americanos and pasta salad! The idea that someone won't buy just because they're not in a gallery is a bit shortsighted, imo.

Exhibiting your work in public, in a pleasant venue with good traffic, can lead to a lot more than just an immediate sale. It's all part of The Big Picture!

Don Knotts was once asked what roles he had turned down in his life? He laughed and said none. Get the work out there take risk and show. You can never tell who might see it and what might happen. Over the years I have only had four works damaged. Two slashed, one burned and one just left in strong sunlight over time. Ironically all four were in galleries.

I've been following the thread as I can, and haven't noticed if price point has been mentioned.
I think that has a lot to do with whether art is going to sell and in what venue.

Another important factor in putting art in a coffeehouse or anywhere. I came back to the US after some years of shooting abroad and went to some of the largest and best locations to ask if I could add some work. The both said yes, out up as much as you want. I did just that, but the work I put in those places were leftover framed images from shows I did not sell. They were from China and Antarctica. Dumbest thing I have done in a long while. One place was across the street from Millennium Park in Chicago. I should have put Chicago images there. The other was in a very upscale burb outside Chicago. Again I should have put Chicago stuff there as well. I did not get one call from either place for 6 months.

Maybe it also had a lot to do with the economy, because this was in 2008 just as the economy collapsed, but I'm sure I would have had at least a little interest if I targeted better. Also internet has a lot to do with not selling as much either now.

Bottom line is, don't just put stuff up that is leftover, sitting in your room.

Marlene, the piece I had up in Starbucks was $1,600 for a 20x30 framed.

The early 2000's were a Camelot time for selling for me as well Kevin...I seriously couldn't paint fast enough.
Ahhhhh, the good old days! ;)

Here is some of my thinking and practices on pricing.

I never change prices in different venues.

Being a photographer it is much easier to set prices. Like it or not or admit it or not photogs have a distinct advantage over painters.

Once I have the photograph and the post is done, I look at the piece as I would any other retail product that I would buy for retailing.

If I pay $50 for a stretched canvas, museum wrapped, I sell it for $200 no matter where it hangs. If I pay $200, I sell it for $800.

I will pay up to 50% commission and I can still double my money. This is just basic retailing at this point. I DON NOT adjust prices according to the commission (or the venue). I feel that is disingenuous. Why should a buyer in gallery one have to pay more than a buyer in gallery two and how P'ed off is he or she going to be when they see that is what happened to them?

But again, painters have to make adjustments accordingly. Time varies for each original. But if they are selling Giclees it does not.

If an artist has a painting they took three weeks on and it sells for $1000 and another of the same size that they only took a few hours on, the price has to be different. But the reproductions do not.

Anything you can replace with a telephone call is not really fine art, it is more of a consumer product and should be priced accordingly.

Just for the record, most of the stuff I am selling right now is in the $200-$300 price range. A few higher and some much higher, $1200 is the highest so far. These are 48 inch framed canvases.

Your pricing has to start with sourcing a good supplier at wholesale prices. You can not buy at retail, mark it up and resell it. I see people here doing that and again I think that is disingenuous.

Anyway, those are my guidelines and my thoughts on price points.

Marlene, I price everything within practical range of my FAA prices.

Sure, prints are probably an easier 'over lunch' sale than a four- or five-figure painting. I doubt I'd hang something that valuable in an eatery, anyway. That goes back to matching your offered product to the demographic of the venue. Still, you never know who might drop by.

There was the guy, a few years ago, who bought one of my 'After Deco' pieces off the day spa wall, then called and asked if I had any similar work. (For a corporate hallway leading to a conference room.) Luckily, that piece was from a series of 17 -- he needed 12. I was happy to make his wish a reality! ;-)

That could never have happened had that print been languishing at home, behind closed doors.


@ Ronald -- I've read that about Don Knotts. Smart guy who knew he wasn't the 'Hollywood leading man' type, and was clever enough to ride that knowledge all the way to the bank!

As a painter, I cannot agree with the line of thought that a painting that takes less time should cost less.
The amount of time I spend on a canvas is one small consideration in my pricing.

Galleries determined my pricing for years and never once asked how long it took to paint.


My most expensive canvases right now were painted in about an hour...others I agonized over for weeks...I'm not tellin' which.


Wendy, I totally agree...one must keep planting seeds...you just never know what will pop up. If you don't put yourself out there, no one will see it...no different than looking for anything else in life....

Your never know what contacts you could make. Any show is good for exposure. Carpe diem

Ron,

Saw a pic of a very young Don Knotts on Pinterest yesterday. He was holding a revolver in one hand and a bullet in the other hand. His eyes were crossed. LOL

He must have still been in his twenties. Barnie Fife.

Dave

/

I was talking in broad generalities Marlene making a comparison in pricing reproductions vs originals and what the process may or may not be to the individual.

Personally, I think all original art should be priced at $1,000.000 and it should sell for that price. lol

Now somewhere between my "general' statement above, your statement above, the current $1,000,000 statement and what a realistic pricing policy is, is for every individual to figure out for themselves.

I would never let a galley price my work. How can they possibly be better at it than me? They may want to jack the prices up way high and maybe get it occasionally. But can they sell enough of your work to where you don't have to sell in other venues that can't get the inflated prices? What about all those people that pay the inflated price and yet others are paying significantly less in other venues? Where is the integrity in that? I would be interested in what a galley would say, but I am not going to let them price my work unless they guarantee me they can sell everything I produce.

But that is just me. My experience tells me I know more about my work and (combined with) the markets I am selling in than any gallery owner. If anyone is comfortable with consigning their pricing strategies to someone else, more power to them. I am sure that works for a lot of people that do not have the experience that I have.

I met an artist just today. He has a show going in (yet another) restaurant. High volume coffee shop actually. He has all small original oils, lot of 8x10s. He has some at $1200 and some at $450 and some at prices in between. The best piece he had, IMHO, was one priced at $450. I told him I thought it was the best piece on the wall. He said it should be, I have been painting a variation of that for years. I asked how he came up with pricing. He told me by the time it takes to complete the piece was his first consideration. The piece I liked he said he can do 6 a day if he wanted to. Others he spent a considerable amount of time on. Then he pointed to a sandpiper on a beach full of pebbles and white water breakers rolling in. That one he said took him several weeks to get it where he was happy with it.

So, everyone has their own way of pricing things and they have to do what they are comfortable with in trying to find the best methods and the best prices that work for them.

Floyd,

" But can they sell enough of your work to where you don't have to sell in other venues ."
Absolutely.
Back in the day, I granted exclusives. I stayed home and painted and they sold it as fast as I could produce it.

I was more than happy to have them set my prices..and they were spot on for what they could market and sell them.
That's' what a great gallery does for a worthy artist. We have one artist on faa, that I know, who averages a sold painting a day...and not for a few hundred dollars.

Once again, Marlene, I am talking in general. The larger percentage of the people here are not going to find that to be the case.

No one can make a business plan and expect any kind of high rate of success looking for the exceptions to standard or sound business practices. Maybe at some point in their plan that becomes possible. But most people looking for help here have not reached that point yet.

Floyd,

Kind of a small quibble. Sorry.

Fine art can be found on the side of a can of coke or a baseball cap.

I think you mean collectible high end art when you say our prints are not fine art.

I do fully agree FAA prints are a product, not an original substrate.

I think people here at times have very different art and to that degree are original in those concepts.

Possibly the best goal for anyone using digital means, camera or editor, is to sell signed limited editions prints.....a collectible.

If you asked me 8 months ago, I would have had no clue about this. Live and learn, the forum has been very useful to me.

Dave

I stayed away from the net and sites like this for a long time, maybe too long because of this exact thing. Floyd, maybe your right, I'm still not sure at this point. I will say one thing for sure, once you commit to this type of selling and sell your work for peanuts, its now a RAT RACE to get up as much as you can and everywhere you can. It becomes less about the art and more about everything else involved. On the other hand, things change and if your not open to change, things pass you by and so does opportunity.

The larger percentage of the people here have had no gallery experience, Floyd.

"The larger percentage of the people here have had no gallery experience, Floyd. "

Yes, you are 100% correct there.

The discussion is pretty much aimed at those that are looking to get into galleries and what to expect as the most likely possibilities as well as the exceptions to the norm.

All examples of personal experiences are good, even those that may fall into the "exceptions" or "unusual" or less than normal. That way people can see what others have experienced and may keep an eye out for those possibilities.

"once you commit to this type of selling and sell your work for peanuts, its now a RAT RACE to get up as much as you can and everywhere you can. It becomes less about the art and more about everything else involved. On the other hand, things change and if your not open to change, things pass you by and so does opportunity."

This all so true and warrants repeating!

It also explains my intensity seeing I entered the business from the rat race side and not the art side. lol

"Kind of a small quibble. Sorry.

Fine art can be found on the side of a can of coke or a baseball cap. "

Yup.

Everyone seems to have their own measuring stick.

Mine is very simple. The first time the artist does it, it is fine art. Everything after that rather it be an exact hand made copy or printed on a baseball cap it is a reproduction of fine art, but not fine art itself. To me to be considered Fine Art, there has to be a creative process involved. Just redoing or printing the same image is not creative to any great degree.

Floyd,

I actually agree with you, but see my linked article in my latest thread "when are originals no longer originals" or some such title.

We are not supposed to bring one thread into the next, so I wont discuss it here.

Dave

I just experienced a group of artists putting their first show together. Of all the no nos I saw, the most glaring was under valuing their work. Moving up from selling for peanuts is a huge hurdle to jump. One woman I spoke with told me she had already upped her prices for the show.....and they were still way too low. I could see the hesitation and lack of confidence in her eyes, but most of all, she really didn't believe her work was worth more ( and that included substantial wooden frames !)
Her work was lovely...paper folding in intricate designs....but the bottom line is that she has to understand their value and act accordingly.

Art and value is where the market places it. That of course varies buyer to buyer.

Art and the value of the artist is far more subjective for some artists.

Art can be very healing, but valuing art based on self respect is not easy for artists early on. Just my take.

There is nothing factually in what I am saying, It is not a stat. Or an average. People balk at all sorts of things in the art world. So do the artists.

Much of it becomes how comfortable the artist is with risk taking. I am finally at a stage where risks do not seem like risks in many ways. Just seems like putting myself out there.

Which brings us back to the topic of showing.....I like one piece of Floyd's advice in particular......traffic matters first.

Dave

I have an art show up in a used / refurbished furniture store right now.

I also have art on display in a gallery, and at the local prison/courthouse complex. I usually my art on display in three or four different places. No big deal.

This is our sticky post for today :). Well done, Jane.

One of the reasons I stay clear of group shows is what Marlene mentions. Unless there is some price point, it always seems that most sell there work for peanuts, which doesn't help them or anyone else. Seeing a great painting in a frame selling for 45 dollars is insulting and not a smart move at all. Being known to sell yourself and your work cheap usually sticks.

I had some of my b/w prints framed (various sizes) and displayed at a local shop that handles estate sales (antique furniture, china, and the assorted knick-knacks). Lots of foot traffic as it is one of the anchor stores at our small mall, and across from a chain restaurant, and the movie theater. The prints were in a well lit, locked display case, and I had nicely printed signage displayed with my contact info. We set the prices, and the store rec'd 5% of any sale.

The store employees told me there were plenty of inquiries, but I had no sales. I was there 3 months and finally packed it in. I had just retired from my regular job and was on a tight budget, and I got tired of paying them roughly $56 a month, with no return on my investment, which besides the monthly fee, also included the mounting, framing, etc. prepping for the display.

I am following this thread with great interest. I have never shown my work in a public space. I'm shy! :(

The village I live in is small but super wealthy with frame shops, cafe's, galleries etc. I wouldn't know where to start!

"I just experienced a group of artists putting their first show together. Of all the no nos I saw, the most glaring was under valuing their work. Moving up from selling for peanuts is a huge hurdle to jump. One woman I spoke with told me she had already upped her prices for the show.....and they were still way too low. I could see the hesitation and lack of confidence in her eyes, but most of all, she really didn't believe her work was worth more ( and that included substantial wooden frames !)"

This is so good that it needs repeating!

You have to have you prices at a decent level on your originals! Not only that, but you have to have the ability or develop it if you don't, to stand up there and never be bashful about being the highest price person in the show. But it you are, then people are going to expect you to be much more professional and they are going what to feel a sense of confidence.

At the same time I agree with Kevin. It is much more difficult for a great artist to justify their higher prices in a show full of people selling for peanuts. If your pricing is way above every single thing in the show, it just may be the wrong show for you.

Funny that this thread is about Furniture Stores.

The birthplace of the Vulture Culture Enterprise was at a furniture store


Way back in the mid 70's i was living in the smallest house on Marblehead Neck, MA.

I was creating vulture sculptures at a furious pace...It was not just a hobby it became an obsession, in essence, therapy

All those at the town pub thought my "Art" was great

But that didn't satisfy me....I had to hear it from anonymous sources.

So I friend allowed me to place a few in his furniture store...A "Danish Modern" store, not a used furniture store.

Without any thought of selling, I would stand behind a potted plant and listen to customer comments.

THEY STARTED BUYING THE DAMNED THINGS!!

And here I am now, 40 years later, about to go to the basement and work on my recently scavenged matter, to keep that enterprise functioning


So, you never know

One thing is certain, you've got to get your work OUT THERE...and a little bit of HUSTLING doesn't hurt

Thanks Floyd...I still can't get it out of my mind.
These first timers are too anxious to make a few pennies here and there ( to cover their costs) that they really cannot see the forest for the trees.

I am doing a one woman show in the same venue next year. I will not share the show with other artists for the very reason you mentioned. I will be investing in lower priced art reproductions, but my originals are my originals and there's no lowering prices to make a sale in order to recoup my expenses.
It takes money to make money.
If you place little value on your own work, why should anyone else think it is worth anything?

Great story Roger!

Sorry that that happen to you Greg, but it does happen.

I am just curious if you rotated different pieces, sizes and prices in and out over that three months? I find that that sometimes works.

The problem I am seeing more and more, especially with painters, is inventory. Some simply do not have the inventory to be able to rotate or to get in enough venues in a short enough period time to find out which ones work and which ones do not.

Photographers have a distinct advantage with that. On the other hand, there is no reason why painters can not hang giclees. A lot of venues allow it.

I currently have over about 100 pieces rotating in and out of six venues with five others I have committed to. I am going to give each venue a one year test and stay with the top produces and drop the others.

It's not about prices for me, its about approaching venues and not having the money to invest in buying my artwork. I never have purchased any of my work!

Here is the interesting thing that I found.

This all started with me wanting to give back to my local art community. I merely wanted to join and pay my dues, make a contribution or two a year and basically support them. I really had no intention of getting up to my neck in showing artwork.

Once I joined I was asked if I was going to show and I said I have not intended to. I was encouraged to do so because the monthly intake fees was one of the ways they support the entire operation include a rather extensive program that include art classes for kids. I really wanted to support that program so that was a perfect situation for me. I could hang some art, maybe sell it, maybe not, no bit deal, but my money was going exactly to one of the things I am really interested in supporting.

Once I did that and my art was hanging.... people started approaching me!

Other artists were telling me of different opportunities, other place to hang and to show. All of these places have a person in charge of these shows or venues. I let it be know that I was interested and people approached me.

I am not suggesting that I am some kind great artist that everyone is clamoring over to sell my work. This is not the case at all. I was just fresh meat! lol

All the local art associations have a large number of crossover membership. I decided to join all that had a worthwhile non-profit arm that was doing something with the kids or something on that order. One of them actually has a program where they work with mentally and physically challenged and they teach them art and crafts. I wanted to be part of that.

But it was through all of these associations that I learned about and got invited to show in the strictly for profit, commercial venues.

This is what networking is all about! And it all came about purely by accident.

Here is another benefit of belonging to a local art association.

A local winery was looking to add a number of artist to their rotating show in their tasting room. And yes, tasting rooms sell a lot of art. The went to one of the local associations I belong to and put a call for local artist. I am I don't know how many artist answered the call. I was chosen and I hang there starting on May 15th through the end of July. This is totally free to me and they do not take a commission. AND the hold a reception complete with fancy food, free wine tasting. The first hour of the reception is an exclusive showing to only their wine club members. Hundreds or them. Then it is open to the public. All of this is totally free for me. All I have to do is show up with my art.

"I am just curious if you rotated different pieces, sizes and prices in and out over that three months?"

Yep, rotated it a bit with different pieces. Not a big deal, and I put the experience in the lessons-learned file, as I never meant for it to be a main source of income anyway. :)

Dbl post

Jessica,

I have not heard back from Starbucks yet which is a good thing. Maybe. I only need one piece there. The budget is $30 for a small stretched canvas printed elsewhere. Email if you would like the source. It is not another POD at all.

Floyd, Marlene and Roger,

I just came back to this thread. After reading Floyd on joining artist's leagues, I screwed up my nerve to apply again today to a local guild that had rejected me around very early 2015. Boy was I peeved back then. I am chuckle now at myself. I had 9 works on my website, nine to my name. The people saw I had no work. LOL How do you join a league to show your work with no work? LOL

So as I thought this over and applied again today, I kind of melted.

Dave

Our Whole Foods displays art. i had a display up soon after we moved to Madison. Sold one piece to someone I know pretty quickly; then I got a call about a year later from someone who picked up my card and then found it again bought a framed piece. maybe I should try them again. I just got approached by a local upscale retirement center about displaying art in their gallery.

My feelings are that where people are looking for bargains (like used furniture) they aren't looking to pay good prices for art. Last time I was in my favorite consignment furniture store, the wall art was priced very inexpensively. So I guess if you just need to get rid of some pieces, it would work. If you're building a reputation, you might hold out for a better venue...

My stuff wouldn't sell in any of those places.

Inside port-a potties at the Tour de France.

Here is what happened at my opening reception at the used furniture store. While I didn't sell anything at the opening reception, I did have a convo with a woman who owns a framing/home decor company in Illinois. She makes brochures, goes to trade shows and markets artist's work to designers all over the country. She loved my work and plans to market my work for me (they take a percentage of the sales, of course). That being said, your art is not going to sell hanging on your living room walls. It was a positive experience and I plan on getting my framed pieces in coffee shops, galleries and art fairs.

Good for you Jane!

Got to get out there and be seen, that is the name of the game.

Go for it!

Jane - "That being said, your art is not going to sell hanging on your living room walls."

Actually, Jane, I have sold several pieces that hung on our living room (well, to be honest, our ex-family room turned "gallery') when we lived in Maine.

But I know what you're saying and I totally agree. It's got to get out there to be seen if anyone is going to want to buy it. The above mentioned paintings were sold to people who had been to exhibits that I had been in and wanted to see more of my originals.

I've exhibited in galleries (both non and for profit), a furniture store just last year, and pretty much most of the above listed places. There's some interesting experiences here and solid advice.

My advice would be if anyone is serious about exhibiting/selling their art, besides at the obvious places, if you've got an "extra" room or even a part of a room or hallway/foyer set up an area as an art gallery that is accessible to visitors.

Bill Tomsa

http;//billtomsa.blogspot.com/

but i have tried posting it many time tried even U-haul but it's been very difficult to get a reliable buyer oops if only they knew

I was recently invited to join an artist group that displays at public venues around my city. The group is made up of painters and they lost their photographer and asked me if I would be interested. Since I would be the only photographer in the group, I thought it would be cool for the exclusivity. I participated in a showing in a local hospital lobby that lasted three weeks. Others in the group sold paintings during the exhibition, but none of my framed photographs sold. It was fun and a new experience for me, but I'm proceeding slowly. I don't want to have a ton of money invested in inventory that doesn't sell. I've often heard that photography doesn't sell nearly as well as paintings. There's another exhibit coming up at a large bank's atrium and I'll be anxious to see if my luck improves there.

Incidentally, this artist group found me through my gallery on FAA; one benefit of being here, although my actual sales here are non-existent.

Well the manager of the Starbucks was in later today, so when I arrived we were able to talk over things. I showed her the image on my laptop.

She wants to hang it. She needs to pass it by the manager above her. She stated she does not need to show the image to the GM, that she will be trusted on this.

Just as we were about to wrap it up, i remembered to get into the fact that the canvas would not be for sale. I am not sure of SB's rules, but I think I can not sell in their stores. So she will look further into that. I told her it meant a lot to me. She said she would get back to me right away.

She was great to me.

Dave