When Walls Become Your New Marketing Tool: Providing a Venue for Local Artists Can Be a Great Investment

If your store, café, or office has even a small amount of wall space, an art display program might offer a welcome boost to your business.

In today’s economic environment, many local retail and service businesses need to rebuild foot traffic and cultivate personal connections in their communities, while making the most out of every hour and dollar invested in marketing.

If your store, café, or office finds itself in this type of situation, and has even a modest amount of wall space, an art display program might offer a welcome boost to your business.

In the new e-book, Art Shows for Everyone: A New Tool for Boosting Your Small Business or Organization book, small business owners explain how providing venues for local artists has helped them create a memorable, distinctive, creative atmosphere and generate word-of-mouth buzz, with relatively low cost and time requirements.

What’s more, opening events and receptions for the exhibits provide an excellent way to attract and connect with new and repeat visitors. “Friends, family, and collectors of the artists attend and are exposed to your business,” says Debbie Fox of Fox Fine Jewelry in Ventura, CA, which has hosted exhibitions for over two decades and generated “countless jewelry sales as a direct result.” Fox notes that openings typically attract 75 – 150 attendees; they also provide a reason to reach out to your customer base, and an opportunity to seek media coverage.

“Planning and implementing an art display program can be a very manageable undertaking, notes Peter Dunn, director of marketing for Gallery System Art Displays. “And the payoff in terms of greater awareness—and, in some cases, increased sales—for your business can be quite measurable.”

Dunn has worked with Gallery System clients and partners to develop Art Shows for Everyone, which includes information on:

• The basic benefits of an art exhibit program
• Success stories from experienced show sponsors
• Strategies for choosing your space and attracting a crowd
• What to expect in terms of effort and results
• And when you’re ready to get started, 10 Steps to a Successful Art Exhibit Program

“It’s very satisfying to see our clients thrive—and much of the advice in the book comes from their first-hand experiences,” Dunn says. “It’s our hope that Art Shows for Everyone can be a useful resource for small business owners, as they work to keep their enterprises moving forward.”

Art Shows for Everyone is available free of charge on the Gallery System website.