Issue 9: August 2003

Ways that Craft Artists Can Create New Opportunities

by Doug Wilhelm

How can craft artists take a fresh new look – at the work they can produce, at the business and marketing opportunities they can find, or at both?

In tight economic times, this can be an especially relevant question. When craft artists are looking to re-inspire their art, expand their market, and/or to build new revenue streams, Ted Berger, executive director of the New York Foundation for the Arts, suggests several options.

"Gather information about the opportunities that may be out there," Berger advises. "Artists tend to get used to a certain way of doing their business."

"A lot of artists’ earned income has depended historically on tourism," Berger reflects. "Frequently we forget to market to the people right around the corner." He encourages artists to create new connections between themselves and their communities – for example, by teaching or doing an artist’s residency in an area school. Some craft artists, he adds, might think about taking charge of their own marketing efforts, using technology or other means to go around traditional marketing systems.

"There’s a lot of information out there about other kinds of resources," Berger advises.

"keep exploring and playing"

Julie and Ken Girardini are two craft artists who took a fresh look at their work and their possibilities, literally by leaving their studio for a while.

In Sykesville, Maryland, outside Baltimore, the couple had been producing functional steel pieces for the home, such as clocks and lighting, for about 12 years.

"When you get onto the show circuit, it seems like you’re always going from one show to the next without really giving yourself a block of time to design new work," Julie says. "You get so caught up in the perfection of making everything; you forget that you need to keep exploring and playing in different media."

So last year, Julie and Ken took some money they’d saved, packed up their Subaru, and hit the road. For six months they traveled, mostly in the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest, staying with friends and fellow craft artists, visiting studios, and taking courses at small craft colleges and local craft centers – all in media they had never before explored.

"We took a printmaking class in Taos [New Mexico], we got to work in Anny and Craig Zweifel’s glass studio in Ketchum, Idaho – and we took a lot of classes at Bullseye Glass in Portland [Oregon]," Julie says. They found classes on the Web, through American Craft magazine, and by getting in touch with craft centers they knew about.

Since the Girardinis have been back in Sykesville, "We’ve refreshed our whole metal line, and we’d like to start adding in some of the new stuff we learned, particularly the glass," Julie says. "But I think the biggest thing it did for us was just giving us a sense of possibility again. Just knowing that you could go out and play with something, and if it developed into an item that you wanted to make, that was great – but if it didn’t, that was OK too."

"I had never really seen the value"

For Beth Mueller, a Vermont craft artist who decorates her functional pottery with small images and brief sayings, the fresh perspective came to her: a greeting-card company asked if she would license some of her artwork for its cards.

"I had never really seen the value of what I was doing – I couldn’t even conceive of a card company being interested in it," Beth says. "But once that door is open, you see that these big companies are really quite mesmerized by people like us. They come around looking at us to discern trends, and all kinds of stuff. They see a great deal of value in what we do." Today, Beth is working to develop other licensing prospects.

"It’s pretty simply that you look around at companies that you like, put together a presentation, and contact them," she says. "I think it’s important to be persistent, because these companies are really busy – and sometimes it takes a while to find the right person. Keep trying."

"a lot of it’s about risk taking"

A tough economic period can be a chance to rethink your business and your marketing, advises Carol Ross, director of craft marketing at George Little Management, LLC.

"Understand cash flow," she says. "Do you really need five people in your studio? Do you have a plan for contacting stores that have bought from you in the past? Can you get by with four shows instead of six?" She urges creativity in running the business, as well as in creating new work. For example, craftpeople may want to try consignment, or give up one show and do a mailing instead.

In Seattle, well-known glass artist Richard Royal decided to take a break from the time and expense of mounting one-man shows. In the process, Rich says he developed some exciting new ideas. "A lot of it’s about risk taking," Rich says. "I’d never done a [commissioned] lighting project until about three years ago, but one came up and I said, ‘Well, why not?’ We try to be conscious about what we’re doing – but these things just somehow arise, and you take the opportunity.

"You’ve got to clear out the old stuff to make room for the new stuff," adds Rich.

Making a creative & marketing shift

Sometimes an artist consciously combines the creative and the marketing aspects in making a shift. For example, about five years ago, Rhode Island glass artist Paul Housberg decided to put more of his creative energies into architectural glass, and he began looking into ways to secure large-scale commissions for his work.

"I was trying to find my own vision," Paul says. He liked the materiality of this new direction in his work: it felt more tactile, had more texture. Feeling the need to focus more, he decided to focus on this. Paul learned that public commissions are usually chosen based on a selection of slides that are narrowed down to a short list, at which point the selected artists are asked to do presentations. He did an Internet search for public-art programs, which most states and some municipalities maintain. If artists can get their work on a program’s slide registry, and get on its mailing list, he says, they can enter the mix of prospects for public commissions. For private commissions, he has advertised in the Sourcebook of Architectual and Interior Art (see www.guild.com), which is distributed to architects and designers.

Over the five years that he has built this aspect of his business, Paul says he has found it quite satisfying. But, he adds, craft artists who want to make a shift of their own should not expect instant results.

"Expect that it will take some time," Paul adds of pursuing a new market or business direction. "People who stick with it in the end are successful."

Glass artist Scott Benefield said he appreciates the value of pre-planning and foundation-building – but the reality, he admitted, is it never happens. Flo Perkins said there were no consultants when she started her career, so she found someone she could learn from – a mentor – who taught her what she felt she needed to get started. Cinnamon cautioned that consultants may not have existed back then, but the world is a different place now. She cited copyrighting and liability issues as examples.

The panel did agree that every artist needs to fully understand what they are getting into when entering any relationship. Ignorance is never bliss. For example, if you opt not to have a contract with a gallery, be very clear about how and when you can expect payment for work sold.

"Even if you have a contract with a gallery," Bob Carlson noted, "it’s only as good as your relationship with that gallery."

Do You Need a Degree?

A subject of lengthy discussion was establishing professional credentials, and whether a glass artist needs an advanced degree to succeed. Artist Preston Singletary, who completed his formal education partway through high school, felt he’d been lucky to be in the right place at the right time (Preston was a high school classmate of Dante Marioni). In contrast, Scott Benefield said art school had been immensely important to him. He had not known any artists growing up, and school provided mentors and valuable contacts that have been helpful throughout his career.

"The important thing is to learn," said Flo Perkins. "Be around people you can learn from, learn about art history. It doesn’t matter how you get your education, just get it!" If you want to teach, she added, you do need a graduate degree. Barbara Goldstein concluded the conversation on formal education by observing that school will not make someone into an artist.

Many in the audience wanted to know how artists break into the world of large-scale public art commissions. Barbara Goldstein, who manages Seattle’s public art program, suggested that artists start by applying for small-scale commissions – commissions that they know they can manage. Don’t be discouraged about being rejected, she added; there is great competition for these commissions. Make sure you know what panelists are looking for, and provide it. If you are successful at getting the commission, make sure you deliver exactly what you promised.

A lot more ground was covered than there are pages in the G.A.S. Journal, so we’ll end by noting that the panel, in closing, found one key point of agreement: being a successful artist really needs to be about happiness. Each artist needs to define what happiness means to him or her, so that when you finally get there you can realize that if you really want it, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish in life.

Staying Safe From Theft – How can craft artists better protect themselves from theft at a show?