Local Artists in Cleveland, Ohio

Supporting Local Artists in Cleveland, Ohio

Artists are people too! And we need to eat, buy gas for our cars, feed our growing children just like the rest of the working world. But sometimes it is hard to convince non artists that we are working to make a living.

Artistic Contents

Life in the Artist's Lane
Photos From Our Gallery
The Pros and Cons of Being in a Gallery
Blog Posts about Cleveland Artists
Art Related Greeting Cards
Lake Erie Artists Merchandise
Paula's Blog
Great Books on Art and Artists
What local artists do you love?

Life in the Artist's Lane

Or Why Aren't Artists Taught How to Run a Business In Art School?

I am a gallery owner and an artist. Every day I deal with both artistic and business issues. And I came to art as a career in a roundabout way, later in life after having careers in sales and also in retail.
What amazes me on a daily basis is that most people do not consider artists small business people or entrepreneurs! Even many artists themselves! No one ever taught them to run a business. In art school they learn to be creative, resourceful, and flexible as artists, but they never learn how to market themselves, sell their work, or to find out who might be interested in giving them money for the work that they labor so intensely on.
And trust me, no one works harder than an artist.
Why are many artists starving? Because they don't know how to be businesspeople or even when they need to hire businesspeople to represent them.
As a gallery owner, I am the person who makes sure the artist understands the business side of things. It is a good thing that I picked up a few things in my former careers.

Photos From Our Gallery

Life in the Gallery Biz

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The Pros and Cons of Being in a Gallery

Why are some artists only found at shows?

There are lots of excellent reasons for artists to put their work in a gallery as long as the gallery fulfills their promises to the artist. However, there are always artists who will only sell their work directly. Why?
Well, let's start with why a gallery? Here are the benefits that a gallery can give to an artist:

Legitimacy--If you are in a gallery, many people take you more seriously as an artist.

Year Round Consistent Exposure--A good gallery will keep your work fresh, rotate it, and market for you.

A Representative Agent--The gallery will act as your agent to proactively sell your work to the public and possibly other venues.

PR and Marketing--The gallery should routinely be doing PR and marketing to promote you and other artists in the gallery.

But here are some reasons that artists don't want to be in a gallery:

Profit on each piece is less because the artist has to give the gallery a commission (typically 30 to 60%)

The artist loses control over the sale.

The artist doesn't get to meet every customer.

The artist needs to have enough work to sell some of it in a gallery (and many are not that prolific).

Some artists just don't want to deal with galleries.

Blog Posts about Cleveland Artists

This is Artist Review Today » LEROY NEIMAN PAINTING FOR 2010 ...: LeRoy Neiman is considered one of the most popular living artists in the United States. He has been the official artist of five Olympics, four Super Bowls, as well as the Breeders Cup and the Kentucky Derby. ...
smashing says: the rumors are true!: kathy notreallysmash: cleveland, ohio: i have a fuzzy memory (but just one), a mean handmade shopping habit, an interest in things that are awesome, a growing love for Cleveland, a camera and things to tell you. View my complete profile ...
Cleveland Museum Announces Significant Additions To Celebrated ...: The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) today announced a number of significant acquisitions approved by the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees at its September meeting. Among them are three especially noteworthy additions to the ...
Great Lakes Green Pages » Blog Archive » Local Art makes the ...: This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 at 11:09 am and is filed under Arts & Culture, Cleveland, Green. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your ...