This is the much awaited second-part of this thrilling series:) In Part 1, we covered: Deciding what a successful open studio means to you; Understanding Your Gallery-Dealer relationships; and Choosing a Time that works for your visitors.

Part 2 Begins……..

Promote your Open Studio Event

Start planning at least a month in advance and be creative! As a bare minimum you should use the following list:

• Press releases to local or arts related publications
• Announcements in local event listings
• Email announcements to your email list
• Postcard mailings to snail-mail list
• Postcard mailings to local galleries and museums
• Posters in cafes, health practitioners offices, clinics, libraries, etc
• Tell everyone you know

Curate and Hang the Artwork

Curating is an art in its own right! Don’t leave the placement of the art until the last minute – start staging the work at least a week prior to the show. If you feel comfortable, invite trusted friends and arts professionals to look critically at the placement of the work. A well-curated show will have a sense of “flow” and will give visitors a sense of the whole of your work rather than just a collection of individual parts.

Think about payment Methods

Many people will be happy to write you a check in the event of a purchase while others may prefer to use a credit card. If you are planning to have regular Open Studio events you might want to think about setting up a merchant account so that you can accept credit card payments. There are some very simple and cost effective solutions available, so be sure to do your research before signing up.

Check Back Soon for Part 3 where we’ll look at the day of the event.

Technorati Tags: art, art marketing, art sales, selling art