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What's the best way to help an artist break out in Chicago?
I know someone who does some amazing stuff, but he lives in Michigan and doesn't really know what to do with his work. I'm hoping to use my location in Chicago to help him get a leg up. We made a DVD portfolio of his work. Now what should we do?
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This depends at least partially on the type of art, since that will influence the places and events you seek out.
In general, you'll probably want to consider getting originals of the work, since DVDs are fine for showing to gallery owners (which is a good avenue), but you'll need some of the actual pieces for other things. If this is any sort of fine art, such as painting/watercolor/pen & ink, one good option (because it is free) is to identify places where art patrons or people who know art might be, and display the art there. The art you see hanging in the Starbucks (probably not there actually as a chain, but the more independent places) across the street from the Art Institute has a good chance of being "noticed."
The above is something passive you can do, just talking to some store owners and similar about hanging works there. The active stuff is involved in finding galleries and venues appropriate to the material, getting shows (probably shared to start), making contacts in the area with people who have additional spaces and know other people interested in supporting such art.
It takes a lot of ground work, talking politely but unabashedly to a wide variety of people. You should have an internet presence with an online gallery with high quality photos, business cards, and you should get very familiar with the appropriate art scene in the city. There are a lot of film festivals and cultural festivals in the city (even if the Taste isn't one of them that helps much). If the artists or the content concerns Latino themes, see about incorporating it into the Latin film festival or various cultural celebrations related to that. Or whatever group/demographic may apply.
Check out local colleges (there are a lot of art schools in the city, at least 5 I can think of), independent coffee shops, music venues, neighborhood festivals, cultural centers, and things in that vein. Some of them will have artist's equivalents of "open mic nights" with small or brief installations. That's generally how you start, it's a grind, but with talent in the art and devotion to the task, it does work.
In general, you'll probably want to consider getting originals of the work, since DVDs are fine for showing to gallery owners (which is a good avenue), but you'll need some of the actual pieces for other things. If this is any sort of fine art, such as painting/watercolor/pen & ink, one good option (because it is free) is to identify places where art patrons or people who know art might be, and display the art there. The art you see hanging in the Starbucks (probably not there actually as a chain, but the more independent places) across the street from the Art Institute has a good chance of being "noticed."
The above is something passive you can do, just talking to some store owners and similar about hanging works there. The active stuff is involved in finding galleries and venues appropriate to the material, getting shows (probably shared to start), making contacts in the area with people who have additional spaces and know other people interested in supporting such art.
It takes a lot of ground work, talking politely but unabashedly to a wide variety of people. You should have an internet presence with an online gallery with high quality photos, business cards, and you should get very familiar with the appropriate art scene in the city. There are a lot of film festivals and cultural festivals in the city (even if the Taste isn't one of them that helps much). If the artists or the content concerns Latino themes, see about incorporating it into the Latin film festival or various cultural celebrations related to that. Or whatever group/demographic may apply.
Check out local colleges (there are a lot of art schools in the city, at least 5 I can think of), independent coffee shops, music venues, neighborhood festivals, cultural centers, and things in that vein. Some of them will have artist's equivalents of "open mic nights" with small or brief installations. That's generally how you start, it's a grind, but with talent in the art and devotion to the task, it does work.
source(s):
Watching friends and students pursue the same course (in photography in my case).
Watching friends and students pursue the same course (in photography in my case).
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That's extremely helpful. Tons of great information.
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