How are traditional art shows and fairs adapting to the pandemic, and what are the challenges?

Traditional art shows and fairs, facing closures and low attendance, are attempting to pivot to virtual shows. Show organizers have booth deposits and need revenue, so they’re trying to create online gallery experiences for multiple artists simultaneously. However, these face enormous challenges: the technology is difficult to coordinate across many participants, artists often aren’t tech-savvy, background noise and internet issues disrupt streams, and keeping viewers engaged is hard. Beyond technology, the organizers need significant email lists and marketing skills to drive attendance—without foot traffic, even a technically perfect show fails. Most of these early attempts are struggling significantly.

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Asked by general audience · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2020-08-06