Aug. 28 arts marketing workshop yielded fresh ideas

Artists, entrepreneurs and community leaders gathered at The Old Feed Store in Cobden Aug. 28 in round-table discussion about arts marketing.

Panelists Aimee Wigfall, of the SIU Small Business Center,  Amy McMorrow Hunter, a technology transfer associate at SIU and Emily Kircher, fiber artists and owner of EKRA opened the forum by discussing of some of the highpoints and challenges artists face, which included balancing creating and marketing time, developing self-discipline, and loneliness caused by working in isolation.

Selling art is about creating relationships, Wigfall said.

“The connection has to be real,” she said. “It has to come from your heart for people to connect.”

Kircher, who specializes in creating rugs from recycled materials, said she posts pictures of her works-in- progress to generate interest.

“I’ll explain that the rug is being made from a vintage sheet I found in a thrift store,” she said.

McMorrow Hunter said using social media, especially Facebook, is critical to today’s artist

“You can keep your posts short on Facebook,” she said. “They don’t need to be long and involved.”

Wil Maring, a musician/songwriter and painter from Cobden said it was important to create a personal connection to your art as a part of the marketing plan.

“People marvel that you can just paint something.  They want to know more about you,” she said.

The workshop, “Maximizing Creative Time by Optimizing Marketing and Other Business Efforts” was part of the SIU “Imagining Geographies: Land, Lives and Arts of Southern Illinois” initiative, a year-long project in which SIU partners with civic organizations to examine the history, present day and future of the region.

In addition to talking about art marketing and online media, the group also discussed ways southern Illinois could be developed to meet the needs of artists.

Renee Dillard, a fiber artist from Makanda, said that one of the problems artist encounter when marketing their work in southern Illinois is the low ratio of artists to art consumers. 

“The area lacks a robust consumer base due to low population density and the effects of the recession on the tourism industry,” she said.

Dillard also said artists in the region need to aggregate and create a confederation of art associations.

“Everyone is trying to lift the burden with their own small resources,” she said.

Marie Bukowski, the new director of the School of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, said getting businesses involved in promoting locally created art was beneficial to both shop owners and the artists.

Bob Hageman, owner of anthill gallery & vintage gifts in Cobden, said he’d like to see a focus on linking artists with the area’s venues and the tourist traffic.

Maring said that she not only markets her art through social networking but creates an excitement for the area by writing short posts about its beauty.

“Tourists are crucial for visual art and music,” she said. “Everyone can work on branding the region through social networking.”