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Creativity in Challenging Times
Artists share strategies for recessionary renaissance
It has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor — who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom. -From President Obama’s Inaugural Address
We’re in a challenging time — and who better to respond creatively than artists?
President Obama’s call for the hard work of new beginnings led cerfnews to ask four well-known craft artists how they’ve been responding to the recession. What they told us follows, in three categories: new marketing, citizen artists, and creativity can’t be stopped.
New Marketing — or, Got Your Web 2.0 Right Here!
“Web 2.0” means using the Web in interactive, collaborative ways — and for Harriete Estel Berman, a metalworker/sculptor in San Mateo, Ca., it means new vehicles for reaching people.
All sorts of people.
Harriete has a web site, and she’s on both Facebook and flickr.com. She uses etsy.com to market her work, and she’s on “a couple of other sites that I can’t keep up with” — like callforcreativity.com.
“I feel it gives me more visibility, to a completely different audience,” she said. “I get to meet a lot of people this way, and a lot of people get to meet me. Otherwise, I’m in a more rarified environment.”
Other artists are trimming their investment in craft shows and developing targeted marketing strategies. Julie and Ken Girardini, metalworkers in Sykesville, Md. used to trek to 10 shows a year — but cut back in 2008 to just four “juried, nice craft shows,” said Julie.
“We cut our expenses by about 30 percent, but our income remained the same,” she said. In part that’s because the Girardinis are “honing our database” to track both customers and potential buyers, and they’re following up on contacts.
“At a show, if somebody expresses interest in a particular thing, we take their name, their phone number, their email — any contact info that they want to give us — and in a couple of weeks, we send them an email with a photo of the item they liked,” Julie said. The couple will offer to come visit, next time they’re in the area. Personal attention, they find, often develops into sales.
To build on this approach, the couple is hiring an email-marketing service this year. “One of the big names is Constant Contact,” Julie said, “and right now they’re offering really great introductory offers.”
In Salida, Co., relocated New Orleans metal sculptor Jimmy Descant is also cutting back on trekking to festivals, selecting “only those that are tried and true. I’m also focusing on public art projects and grants, and on bigger galleries and representation.”
“Whatever you choose to do as new marketing, set up a system that makes it easier,” urged Julie Girardini. “I’ve committed once a quarter to doing a newsletter, and emailing it to my entire email list. So every quarter, I have it on my calendar: ‘Do your newsletter.’
“Make it newsy about yourself, and what’s going on in your studio — not just about sales,” she suggested. “People who buy arts and crafts want to know what goes on in the lives of the makers of these things.”
Citizen Artists: The Rewards of Pitching In
San Antonio glassblower/designer Gini Garcia serves on several community boards. “It’s not work, it’s a privilege,” she said — and it’s an investment of the artist’s energies and vision that can bring more benefits than are easy to predict.
“I’m on the Main Plaza Conservatory Board in San Antonio,” she said. “Consequently, we now have an entire arts plan” for the city’s historic central plaza. “This now becomes sort of a marketplace for artists, for arts to become more a part of people’s everyday lives.
“Yep, you have to donate time, but you know what? It all starts with your love of community, and your love of art,” Gini said. When she makes a presentation, seeking a public commission, her proposal is accompanied by letters of recommendation from public officials — prominent people who know her and worked with her.
“I’m in outreach mode, and it all comes back to me. We’re all connected, one way or another.”
Harriete Berman does a lot of service work in the field, helping artists sort through professional guidelines. “When you volunteer to be part of your community, whether it’s your home or your arts community, you’ll get to know people,” she said. “You learn, you become a participant, you’re networking. Sometimes people’s appreciation of your work might be because they got to know you more, and understand where you’re coming from.”
Creativity Can’t Be Stopped
“It’s very easy for us to get so attached to our objects that we don’t see the bigger picture,” Gini Garcia observed. “I think craftspeople and artists need to not become victims, but really find an opportunity.”
For example, she noticed that her city’s mayor and her state’s governor often need gifts for visiting dignitaries. So Garcia Art Glass, Inc. now makes all the gifts for the City of San Antonio, and has become official gift makers for the State of Texas.
“Everything is really about not having any stone left unturned,” she said.
In other words, step back from your work; try to see it fresh. Look long-term, consider new options. Connect with others in the field. Connect. Draw sparks.
“We’re involved with a group called 100 Percent Blast, a group of like-minded artists, pooling resources so we can make larger, more strategic media buys,” said Julie Girardini. “Being involved with a group not only legitimizes your work — it also makes you get involved and do the work, because now you’re doing it for a group of people that you don’t want to let down.”
“I found an alternate venue for a show recently,” said Jimmy Descant. With a group of friends as volunteer helpers, he put on a show that drew over 1,000 people, for a total cost of less than $1,000.
“I didn’t sell a thing — but I handed out another 500 cards,” he said. “Things like that might not translate into money immediately, but somebody might call and say, ‘I’m ready.’ Or, ‘I want to commission this,’ or ‘I’ve got this idea,’ or ‘I’ll take this.’
“It’s all investment in the future,” he said “Plant the seeds and let ‘em grow.”
Here are the websites for the artists quoted in this article:
Gini Garcia: www.garciaartglass.com/
Ken and Julie Girardini: www.girardinidesign.com/
Harriete Estel Berman: www.harriete-estel-berman.info
/ Jimmy Descant: www.deluxerocketships.com/