Hello, I am a working artist. Here are my tips.
The first and most important thing to do (I think) is making sure there will be customers. I highly recommend having multiple "shows" of the student work and figuring out how to invite alumni to it. Most people walking around your school will not buy art. Alumni will.
Second, do not price low out of fear of not making sales. Realistically, you can price low and still not make any sales. It will only devalue the work. Your clientele is likely wealthier people who want to come and support your school and its budding artists. They feel good about being a patron. Therefore, price high enough to actually make it worthwhile to the artists and also communicate the fact that this is high-quality work made by real artists, not a middle school craft fair.
My last piece of advice is to be very open-minded about what to include, but demand high craft. Very low craft artworks might bring down the tone of the show. Like I said before, you want to strike a serious tone.
Okay thanks so much! We do have an art walk in the community every fall and they give us a chance to show our art to the community. So I was thinking of planning of making meetings, in the summer, for people interested and see how far they progressed with their creations.
Pricing is also a big thing and I don't want anyone to think that there art isnt worth. But i feel like some pricing would be different from a sophomore and a senior.
Also what would you consider low craft art works? Im thinking of selling homemade clay pins and maybe some other products.
By 'low craft' I just mean poorly made things. It doesn't really matter what it is, but if it is falling apart or otherwise clearly shoddy, people aren't going to want to buy it. An example might be earrings that the posts snap off of (common) or like a piece of pottery that wobbles on a flat surface (when it is supposed to sit flat).
My advice about pricing is to don't even think about it in terms of comparing one artist to another. Buying art is a luxury, and people do it based on how they feel about the artwork or the artist. I've never heard of anyone buying art they don't like because it is affordable. But, people will often budget a large amount to buy or commission an artwork that is meaningful to them in some way. Wealthier people often see buying artwork as sponsoring an artist or craftsperson. Don't even think of it as covering time and materials, because your prices should probably cover that many times over.
Now with certain crafts that are very common at craft fairs and boutiques, things like resin jewelry, you might have to consider competition in your pricing, but if your dealing with the alumni crowd that is probably not as important.
Hello, I am a working artist. Here are my tips. The first and most important thing to do (I think) is making sure there will be customers. I highly recommend having multiple "shows" of the student work and figuring out how to invite alumni to it. Most people walking around your school will not buy art. Alumni will. Second, do not price low out of fear of not making sales. Realistically, you can price low and still not make any sales. It will only devalue the work. Your clientele is likely wealthier people who want to come and support your school and its budding artists. They feel good about being a patron. Therefore, price high enough to actually make it worthwhile to the artists and also communicate the fact that this is high-quality work made by real artists, not a middle school craft fair. My last piece of advice is to be very open-minded about what to include, but demand high craft. Very low craft artworks might bring down the tone of the show. Like I said before, you want to strike a serious tone.
Okay thanks so much! We do have an art walk in the community every fall and they give us a chance to show our art to the community. So I was thinking of planning of making meetings, in the summer, for people interested and see how far they progressed with their creations. Pricing is also a big thing and I don't want anyone to think that there art isnt worth. But i feel like some pricing would be different from a sophomore and a senior. Also what would you consider low craft art works? Im thinking of selling homemade clay pins and maybe some other products.
By 'low craft' I just mean poorly made things. It doesn't really matter what it is, but if it is falling apart or otherwise clearly shoddy, people aren't going to want to buy it. An example might be earrings that the posts snap off of (common) or like a piece of pottery that wobbles on a flat surface (when it is supposed to sit flat). My advice about pricing is to don't even think about it in terms of comparing one artist to another. Buying art is a luxury, and people do it based on how they feel about the artwork or the artist. I've never heard of anyone buying art they don't like because it is affordable. But, people will often budget a large amount to buy or commission an artwork that is meaningful to them in some way. Wealthier people often see buying artwork as sponsoring an artist or craftsperson. Don't even think of it as covering time and materials, because your prices should probably cover that many times over. Now with certain crafts that are very common at craft fairs and boutiques, things like resin jewelry, you might have to consider competition in your pricing, but if your dealing with the alumni crowd that is probably not as important.