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Making a Living as an Artist – Art Shows and Festivals

January 27, 2010 How-To Articles

by Elizabeth Sullivan
Wild Spirit Artworks

If you have a hankering to quit your day job and actually pay the bills by selling your artwork, you might consider doing Art Festivals. Many fine artists and fine crafters make a living at outdoor art shows. You have to start by being a good artist and creating art or fine crafts (jewelry, pottery, etc.) that communicate to the public.

Many people consider traveling around from city to city selling artwork at art festivals the ideal life for an artist. You pay your bills, support your family and you get to travel and see new places while doing what you like best – creating art. A sort of modern gypsy.

The truth is it is hard work. You can make enough to pay the bills, support your family and pay for art materials and show fees. But if you can put up with the travel and slave labor of setting up and tearing down a booth, it is a way to make a living as an artist and gain the satisfaction of having your paintings hanging in someone’s living room.

This article and the ones that follow will give you the information you need to figure out if you can make a living at art shows and if you want to. If you want to try it, we will try to give you ways to start out without investing a tremendous amount of money on displays and show fees.

If you know an artist who is doing art shows regularly and making a living at it, you want to cultivate a friendship. Learn all you can from him or her, go to a show or two and help that artist set up and take down and sell in exchange for information on how to run the business. It really is a business. You have to keep business records, pay tax, get licenses, etc. Become an apprentice to someone who is already successful.

In case you don’t have an artist friend, go to some outdoor art festivals and meet artists who are successful. Observe everything about the show. Find out what sells and what doesn’t. Observe. Talk. Are you the kind of person who is willing to stay in a booth outside in all kinds of weather for 2-4 days? Artists are usually friendly types, and when they find out you are just beginning, they are more than willing to talk. Ask lots of questions. Maybe you will find someone you can apprentice with.

Now that you have some information about art shows, make a comparison of what you saw at the art show to the art you create. Do you have enough art to start? In other words, how much more do you need to create in order to fill your booth? $10,000 worth of art to sell would be a good start. If you start with only $3,000 of your work, expect to sell a quarter of it or a third of it. $10,000 worth is better. Compare your art to what you observed as selling at art shows. Several years ago it was not unusual for patrons at shows to buy paintings for $1,000 or more. Since the recession, prints for $20 or less are more popular. Do you have prints or jewelry in that price range, and can you produce enough of them and sell enough of them that will make it worth your while to do a show?

While visiting art shows and apprenticing, read some more about art shows. Www.zapplication.org has a listing of hundreds of shows, and shows you how to apply, with lots of information about fees and locations. There are magazines written for art show artists – such as Where It’s At and Sunshine Artist. Most art shows have their own websites – look up local shows, and read the websites.

These actions will give you an idea of what it is like to do art festivals and how your art fits in with this lifestyle. In future articles we will consider more steps to take to get started, beginning with choosing a first art show and getting accepted – a beginning of your art career.

Tags: Art, art shows, Business, Ethnic and Regional, Fine art, how to, making a living, Media, Visual Arts