What should artists do about the uncertainty around when art shows and galleries will return to normal?

Recognize that there’s a lot of unknown and unpredictability around traditional channels like art shows and galleries. They could be great or horrible when they return, but you won’t know until you’re actually in it. What IS known and controllable is the online market and selling direct. That’s going to be there no matter what happens with retail situations. Whether art shows are good or bad, whether galleries are good or bad, online will be there—and it’s the future. It’s far less fragile than any other selling method. The smart strategy is to focus on educating yourself and building the skills and tools to get better at running your own online art business. What else are you going to do? You can’t get better at ‘running an art fair’—you just set up your booth and hope. With galleries, you can’t control much beyond negotiating contracts. But right now, you CAN build the unfragile part of your business—the area that’s done extremely well, where the market is headed, and where you have actual control.

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Asked by general teaching point · Answered by Nick · art-marketing-podcast · 2021-03-25