The Friday Files - by The Callen Collective

Five Tips to prepare for an Open Studio Weekend.

Thinking of opening your art studio to the public and looking for some tips? Here are my top five tips for preparing your space and opening your studio to the public.

Opening your studio for the first time for an Artist Open Studio Weekend can be a bit daunting, especially if you prefer to work alone or are just happy producing the creative work and not necessarily being front of stage.  However, there are a few benefits to taking part in an Open Studio Weekend. Here are five of my top tips that might help you prepare for the day, which you can adapt to suit your situation, studio and opportunities.

1.        Prepare your artwork for display and sale. 

This might mean, finishing a good volume of work, signing, photographing, varnishing and framing your artworks. Or, if you work on paper, mounting the pressed and flattened works in a professionally cut mount.  Insert in a cello sleeve if that suits your work.  I find this helps keep it fresh and clean and free from fingerprints and marks.  Prepare artwork for prints and greeting cards if you offer that, and arrange for printing to be delivered ahead of open studio weekend, so you can mount, sleeve, price and display.

Prepare and print labels that include your artwork title, medium and prices. Place these near on on the artwork so people can immediately see your prices and the artwork details.

2.        Prepare advertising materials: 

• Prepare some digital advertising posts for email, social media and your website. Use Canva if graphic design is not your strong point.

• You will need some form or printed collateral for your visitors to take away.  Eg.

  • Business cards or postcards that include your artist name, logo, your business name (if different), contact details, and some images of your work.  Printing sites like Vista Print have many templates that you can adapt, and they print and deliver in quick time.

• Print some signage if you don’t have any.  I would recommend a large banner about 1.5m x 70cm with ART STUDIO OPEN or something similar on it, and some A3 signage to put up ahead of the day. If your studio is located in an area where these is not alot of passersby foot or driveby traffic, direction signage might be needed also.

• Print some A5 postcards for promoting via letterbox drop - see below.

• Prepare some digital thank you posts, that you can post after the event on your socials. Eg. thank you to everyone who came along this weekend etc...

3.        Promote your open studio event. 

There are many ways to do this, don’t rely only on Social Media.  Some other options might include: 

• A local letterbox drop in your area, include cafes, local businesses, your gym, notice boards, accommodation places.  Prepare some advertising postcards like in step 2 – but specifically with the details of your open studio (what, when, who you are, where you are and links to your website and socials). 

• Place some signage on the outside of your studio in the week leading up to the event so passers by can see it  (Eg. Street signs, banners, and an eye catching A3 poster with Artist Open Studio this weekend.  10am – 5pm). 

• List your Open Studio as an event on Facebook and/or Eventbrite. 

• Write a 250-300 word press release and have some high resolution images of you in your studio.  Send this out to your local newspaper and any bloggers who promote in your area.  If you are not confident at writing, use the powers of ChatGPT or similar to help you.  Just remember to ask it the right questions, include a demographic or type of person you want to attract and give it enough detail to help it help you.  You will most likely need to tweak it slightly before you use it, so it sounds natural.

• Email everyone you know.  If you have an existing email list, use that and give your audience enough notice to allow them to plan ahead. 

• Prepare some social media posts ahead of time. Include information about your open studio, this will allow you to literally just push go on the day or schedule in advance.  These might include posts, reels, and stories of arriving at your studio or showing your signage; you working on an artwork or a carrousel of images of your work.   Be creative, use video, and use your socials to your advantage.

4.        Prepare your studio the night before – so you are ready to open the doors on time the next day.

• Visitors to an artist open studio like to see the actual place you create in.  So, my recommendation is not to overdo it with the tidying up, unless your space is likely to be a safety or tripping hazard.  Tidy up and clear away personal items. 

• If your studio in in your home, clear the path to your room, close off all other areas, and put PRIVATE on the doors to discourage visitors going where you don't want them.

• Present your work to its best advantage.  Hang it on the walls, use presentation stands for unframed works on paper or prints and layout areas where people can go through your sketch books or see how you work and your process. 

• Have some work on the go, showing how you prepare your artwork and let people see your stages, process, materials and tools.

• Have a range of artwork and items for sale that are relevant to your art medium.  For example, if you are a painter or visual artist, have finished artworks that people can purchase directly from you.  Have a range of price points also, and that might mean having some prints, or greeting cards and smaller items that people can buy or add to their purchase.

• You will need some way to take payments, eg. Direct deposit, a merchant device like a Square or a Tyro facility.  There are many options, choose the most efficient and easy to use, that also has the least percentage fee to you.

5.        On the Day

• Have a family member or friend available to assist if necessary or at least be somewhere in the background.

• Open your studio on time.  

• Play some background music. Sometime artists have snacks or cocktails but that is up to you.  Make your area inviting and interesting.

• Have something to work on while you wait, as there will be quiet times.

• Collect your visitors’ information.  Ideally they will sign up to your email subscriber list (This is one of the advantages I mentioned above)

• Ask them how they heard about your event (so you can hone your advertising and marketing efforts next time).

• If they purchase something from your, ask them if its ok to take their photo and post it on your socials.  And, if you have time, ask them about why they chose that item in particular. You can include this (with their permission) as a testimonial on your website.

• Enjoy the day.  Hopefully, you will get lots of visitors and learn a lot about how this works for your next open studio.

Filed under Studio Notes.

The Friday Files is the artist blog of Narelle Callen from The Callen Collective.

https://www.callencollective.com.au

The Callen Collective offers original paintings, Giclee prints, greeting cards and creative products for sale directly to customers. My studio is open twice each year and I am a member of The Peninsula Studio Trail inc, based on the Mornington Peninsula, south east of Melbourne, Australia.