A Beginner's Guide to Starting a Meaningful Art Collection, Part 2
Josh Hailey, Heart of Gold Series, 2020. Josh Hailey is a visual artist living and working in New Orleans, Louisiana. In Josh’s words: “Adding one new piece at a time, these works are full of color, energy, and gold light as I work on centering my artistic mission on positivity during these trying times. Proceeds from these pieces will go to support www.datschoolnola.org as they prepare for technology upgrades this fall.” For more information about the Heart of Gold series, visit here. Learn more about Josh Hailey Studio here.
Last week, we dove into all the reasons why starting an art collection is a great idea for anyone at any budget. Y’all get inspired? Buy any art? Maybe you definitely would like to support more artists and buy more art, but you’re not really sure where to begin. You’re in luck! Today, I’ll lay out some first steps on getting clear on the art and artists you’d like to support, and provide some ideas on how to find these wonderful people.
Starting your collection: How to Begin
A helpful reminder from last week: Art in your home or office should reflect your values, not necessarily your sofa fabric. Knowing who you are and what you’re about can be an easy way to begin, and define, your collection.
For example, say you are fully committed to improving social justice in your community. You may decide to purchase art from local Black artists for the next year.
You may be an aspiring environmentalist, and would like to invest in artwork that promotes sustainability through its creation and/or its content.
You may a foodie, or obsessed with the Muppets (that may just be me), or a huge music fan.
Or you may want to expand what you’re already familiar with – you love photography, and want to know more about ceramics, or fiber art, or sculpture.
Start with what meaningful to you. That’s your North Star. Not your sofa.
Akwi Nji; Always Remember You Have Within You the Strength; 5”w x8.5”h x1”d; linen, sculpted wood, tweed, cotton, gold; 2020. Akwi Nji is a Cameroonian-American artist creating in poetry, fiction, and visual arts. Her work explores the intersections of gender, race, spirituality, and parenthood. This piece is from the Revelations series. In Akwi’s words, “A spring and summer marked by global pandemic and a sudden awakening to racial injustice inspired Revelations -- a series which explores both at once…This is about revelations of the historical and racial, individually and nationally, in a season of a masked existence.” Learn more about Akwi and her work here.
Four Ways to Discover Artists
Thanks to the Internet, there are loads of ways to discover and connect with new artists. These are just to get you started.
Tap into Local Arts Councils: Each state and many communities have an arts council. These non-profit organizations often have artist members featured on council websites and should have their finger on the pulse of your community. Sign up for their newsletter and send them a donation while you’re at it.
Rabbit Hole Instagram. We LOVE Instagram. Problematic algorithms aside, IG eliminates traditional gatekeepers and lets us artists connect directly with our viewers and clients. Hashtags can be especially useful in finding new artwork.
Instagram Protip 1: Do not search #art or #painting or #sculpture. You will drown in a sea of overwhelm. Really try to focus your hashtags. Better yet, once you find and follow an artist you like, look at what hashtags they are using to promote their work, such as #blackartists #landscapepainting #Mississippiart #muppetart #steelsculpture, etc, etc, etc.
Instagram Protip 2: Those one or two artists you know and follow? Your art savvy friends? Commit to some sanctioned stalking. Spend a little time looking at who they follow. It’s an educational goldmine.
Visit a First Friday or Open Studio Tour. Pretty much every community has some version of this, whether it’s monthly, quarterly, or annually. A First Friday or an Open Studio event is a coordinated effort among galleries or artist studios to launch new exhibitions or showcase new work. As with anything, there are pros and cons of visiting galleries versus artist studios.
Gallery Pro/Cons: In galleries, you typically have the opportunity to see a variety of artists and styles. Note that galleries take between 50-60% of the price of the artwork to offset their operating costs and marketing efforts. Many galleries treat their artists like gold, many do not. Do your research.
Open Studio Tour Pro/Cons: You can directly interact with artists, see behind-the-scenes into their process, and trust that 100% of your payment supports their work and career. However, you are limited by the number of artists that can and do choose to open their studio to the public. Many artists work in home studios that aren’t suitable for visitors.
Seek Out Pop-Up Exhibitions + Murals + Public Art: More and more artists are getting uber-creative with how they exhibit their work. In this month alone, there have been two pop-up exhibitions that pair local artists with downtown businesses for storefront exhibitions where I live. Again, your local art council should be a resource for these types of events.
Next week’s final installment of A Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Meaningful Art Collection will be all about aligning your budget with your collection.
If you skipped last week and want to know the whys of collecting art, check out A Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Meaningful Art Collection, Part 1. Read the final installation of A Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Meaningful Art Collection, Part III here.
Started a collection and wanna frame it? I got you covered. Start here: How to Hang Art on Your Walls, Part I.
In the meantime, I’d love to know the artists you adore and support – leave a comment below or tag them and share!
Amenda Tate, Celebrate, 80” x 36”, acrylic, wood, Manibus-Translated Dance Moves, 2019. Amenda Tate is a visual artist living and working in Des Moines, Iowa. In Amenda’s words, “This work was created live in collaboration with impromptu dancing participants/performers in attendance at the recent Celebrate Iowa Gala hosted by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs at the Scottish Rite Consistory.” Learn more about Amenda and her work here.