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by Robin Markowitz
Crayola Crayons Colors by Velo
1903 - 2010 |
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Color is a powerful communication tool and can be used to signal action, influence mood, and even influence physiological reactions.
The most important thing to know about colors, and our emotional response to them, has to do with colors' saturation and brightness.
Saturation is how pure a color is. Less saturated colors are more grayish, so khaki green is less saturated than Kelly green. Brightness is, as you'd expect, basically how light a color seems. Colors that are less saturated but bright, such as a bright sage green, are relaxing, and those that are more saturated and less bright, such as sapphire blues, are more energizing to look at.
The concept of color psychology has become a hot topic in marketing, art, and design. Much of the evidence is anecdotal at best, but the trends that affect the art world are powerful and perceived to affect our bodies and minds.
While perceptions of color are somewhat subjective, there are some color effects that have universal meaning. Colors in the red area of the color spectrum are known as warm colors and include red, orange, and yellow. These warm colors evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility. Colors on the blue side of the spectrum are known as cool colors and include blue, purple, and green. These colors are often described as calm, but can also call to mind feelings of sadness or indifference.
The popularity of different colors across the decades reflects the changing influences of politics, fashion, music, art and media on the history of color
. Sherwin Williams has complied a very interesting look at color through the decades - Click Here.
With the massive burgeoning of available colors in recent years, how do we begin to analyze and determine which hues are in style and which are passé? Lucky for us, Shutterstock in November 2018
searched its data, collapsing pixel data and hex codes to see what hues its users were downloading most frequently.
The fastest growing colors are
When it comes to color trends, expect to see more consistency across design disciplines this year. Social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest have enabled trends to emerge from a global design consciousness. These bright hues have already made an impact on the top fashion colors for 2019 as seen in this
World Fashion YouTube Video.
As artists, a part of our nature is to observe the world around us and think of it in terms of the basic elements of design: space, line, forms, light, color, texture, and pattern.
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Last Chance to APPLY:
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Kettering, OH
Application Closes: 3/31/19
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Naperville, IL
Application Closes: 3/26/19
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Morgan Hill, CA
Application Closes: 4/1/19
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Rochester, NY
Application Closes: 3/17/19
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Click HERE to view more Calls to Artists:
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Art Festival Strategic Partnerships
Defining the problem:
Sponsorship and partnerships can be game-changing for an art festival, yet many art festivals have a hard time attracting sponsors.
Strategic partnerships with local or national companies, local governments or other cultural organizations can be crucial to the long-term viability of an art festival
. Having partners that can supply volunteers, market the event, and/or contribute to funding make a noticeable difference in the quality of the overall event, which increases the prestige of the event in following years. Yet, sponsorship can be difficult to attract. It is important to recognize that sponsorship is principally about meeting the marketing needs of the company--sponsorship of art festivals may not necessarily at the top of their agenda. An art festival seeking sponsorship will always be competing with all sorts of other ways that companies can spend their money to market their brand. Thus, art festivals have to position themselves as a valuable partner and a good business proposition. Many art festivals desire a roadmap for this process-how to find an appropriate sponsor, how to attract or approach a sponsor, and how to leverage sponsorship both during the event and after.
These partnerships are beneficial for both the festival and the partner.
The good news is that these partnerships can be useful for the sponsor.
These potential sponsors or partners realize that being seen as generous in either funding or in kind contributions enhances their public image. The major benefit to both parties are greater community involvement, connections to new participants, and additional resources.
According to the National Endowment for the Arts,
festival audiences on average are more diverse than those for many other types of live art events.
What else motivates businesses to sponsor festivals or otherwise give financial backing?
There is an undeniable glamour factor: an association with the festival gives a degree of cultural sophistication as well as a venue for a great marketing opportunity. Working with a festival can also help a company to deliver its corporate social responsibility strategy. Companies keen to show local politicians that they are about more than just making money will support local arts events to demonstrate their commitment to the community.
How to market your organization as beneficial to the company.
But how do you convince someone that your festival is the right fit? Quite frankly, prestige is often what attracts sponsors to a festival, and it is hard to build. If your show has had a low profile, then you have to think pragmatically about how you seek sponsorship. You have to understand how your value proposition coincides with the strategic objectives of the donor.
It is critical to fully understand your organization's unique story, value, and impact-and more importantly, to be able to communicate these to sponsors that align with your organization's mission.
Companies often sponsor events that align with their brand, and often events accept sponsorships from brands that align with the purpose of the event. This arrangement allows the business to interact with its ideal consumer, gain trust and recognition with its consumer base, and
create brand experiences in non-traditional ways.
What companies are looking for is a sense that the festival is well run and there is robust measurement of impact in place, as well as how many people will be coming to the show and from where - local, national or international. That means there's a burden on the festival to provide that level of detailed analysis of the impact it has made. Being prepared with these data points can mean the difference between sponsorship or not.
Below is a list of things to consider when approaching a sponsor.
1. Create a prospectus about the Festival. This should include:
- The Festival's Vision
- Mission
- History
- Information about the Art Festival including
- Attendance
- Socio-economic overview
- Sponsorship Benefits - overview of what the sponsorship achieves
- Sponsorship Levels - specific benefits associated with each level
- Community Programs available for sponsorship
2. Examine the events that companies already support to see where yours might match their priorities.
3. Remember that companies have their own agenda - self-promotion.
4. Remember also that sponsorship is a business arrangement, not a casual quid pro quo.
5. If you cannot offer 'prestige', you may be able to provide other benefits to a company, such as helping it demonstrate its corporate social responsibility.
Robin Markowitz
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This Issue's Quote: "The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." -Pablo Picasso
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October 4-6, 2019
Williamsburg, VA
Discussion with Leo Charlotte, Executive Director
Imagine the likes of George Washington stopping by your booth during a show, or a full brigade of fife and drum marching by to open the show on Sunday morning. These are happenings at An Occasion for the Art in Williamsburg, VA.
Nestled between Colonial Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary, the show has a unique location in the heart of historic Williamsburg. It draws visitors who are visiting from around the world and art patrons from the burgeoning local communities of the historic triangle: Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg. The show has a loyal following of patrons who have supported it for more than 50 years. Last year it was estimated that 25-30,000 art enthusiasts visited and many purchased at the show.
 In terms of curation, how does your show differ from other art festivals?
I am very aware of the trust that artists have placed in our ability to offer an event that will help them meet customers and sell their creations. For this reason, we are committed to balancing the show so it will showcase artist's work as unique, providing the potential for strong sales. If the goal is to present artists' work as unique and provide the potential for strong sales, we believe no art category should be greater than 20% of the show and there should be a mix between new and returning artists. We hope approximately 2/3 returning and 1/3 new. "It's about artists' sales." This is my guiding motto and the thing that all goals are measured by.
What is your favorite aspect of running this show?
It starts with  being an artist. For more than a decade I traveled the country participating in art shows. I was fortunate to see and experience the best and bad practices at art shows and I got to meet many fantastic artists in my travels. For me a favorite aspect of running An Occasion for the Arts is being able to apply several of the best practices I learned along the way (for example: strong volunteer program, well organized Friday setup, corner booths for everyone), and hopefully, ease artists' concerns of coming to a new area and keep the focus solely of sales and customer relations. It is a treat to have friends at the show knowing they are having a good time and successful sales.
When you look at the next decade, what do you see for this industry?
First, I cannot sit back and rely on the past success. This industry is changing. I have been recently encouraged seeing a number of younger artists applying and participating in shows... in all categories. How can An Occasion for the Arts help equip these younger artists so they will be successful? A few shows are developing very comprehensive Emerging Artists Programs. I think more needs to be done along these lines. We are considering this at An Occasion for the Arts.
 Probably the area that is a concern in the next decade is the need to instill an appreciation and commitment to support the arts with the next generation (30-50). Commercial knockoffs claiming to be art are so easily accessible. This is a challenge but I believe art shows provide the potential to address this. It makes art personal and this develops an appreciation for the art and the artist. The vast majority of my art sales are the result of personal conversations. Patrons want to feel a personal attachment to the art. The challenge for many young families is affordability. If they cannot succeed in buying art then they won't return. This is a challenge that An Occasion for the Arts will need to address, but with solutions other than artist's discounts. We have succeeded for 50 years and we look forward to the challenges of the next 50 years.
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Show Directors and Producers
What Can Art-Linx Do For You?
*Increase applications to your festival
*Create a positive impression of your event
*Tell artists about important developments
*Expand your pool of loyal artists
*Create a focused, cost effective marketing program to potential exhibitors
*...and much more!.
Call or email us today for a no obligation consultation on your artist marketing needs!
Click HERE for more information
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Let us know what topics interest you and Art-Linx will work to include them in the next Art Festival Newsletter - Published May 15, 2019
Contact Robin Markowitz
202-251-0637
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Looking for
information on festivals?
Deciding where to apply?
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updates on festival participation trends?
Visit our website!
www.Art-Linx.com
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Artist Grants
Grants can be a financial lifesaver.
The first step is how to write a grant. I highly recommend
The Artist Guide to Grant Writing
by Gigi Rosenberg. This book lays out easy step-by-step directions, for writing proposals that can win competitive grants.
There are wonderful resources available to help you research which grants you should consider. Please click on the blue type to go the respective organizations website.
Artwork Archive
Format
Grantspace
Artspace
NEA (individuals)
WomenARTS
Insight
This list is just the beginning. The May Art Festival Newsletter will list grants by medium.
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