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 Tuesday, May 27, 2008
If You Hang It, They Will Come
Posted by anne
 We talk a lot in this community about the importance of educating the buying public about the pastel medium, correcting for one, the mistaken idea that pastel is the same thing as playground chalk. But what we may not always realize is that, along with the buying public, many gallery owners may also be in need of some education. And, the fact is, if they won't hang it, it's harder to familiarize the public with the medium. There are many galleries, such as Ventana Gallery in Santa Fe, N.M., who proudly represent pastel artists ( Albert Handell and Doug Dawson, in the case of Ventana), which has done a lot to expand certain art markets, but there is work to be done. I recently received a plea from a reader of The Pastel Journal, Lisa, who just had a run-in with a skeptical gallery owner. I asked her if I could post her letter here, and open up the discussion to our Pastel Journal community for comment.
Dear Pastel Journal,
I have a marketing question. Recently, our local museum and art organization put together a presentation on how to get into galleries. I emailed some images to one of the presenters, a gallery owner, per his request, after I called him to ask questions (Don't ever send images to a gallery unless they ask you to!). Long story short, he said that my technique was good, but that works on paper do not sell, and that it is hard to sell pastels in Indianapolis, Ind. He explained that people see them as fragile, less valuable, and as something that they can do themselves. He also said that people continually confuse pastels with chalk. I was very disappointed to hear this.
I also know of a pastelist who gave up and switched to oils because he got tired of educating the public.
I asked an artist friend for her thoughts. She suggested that I quit using the term "pastels" in any of my marketing materials, but refer to them instead as mixed media pieces. But I am stubborn! I love pastels and I want people to know that I use them. I want people to realize what can be done with pastel. I do art fairs. I post little "Did You Know?" signs with facts about pastels. People actually take the time to read them and sometimes comment that they "learned something today." But how do I "sell" pastels to galleries?
I would like to know how other pastelists deal with these issues. Am I just in the wrong state? The same gallery owner that I mentioned at the beginning told a wood turner and carver who was at the same presentation, that he needed to go to N.C., N.M. and Ariz.
Sincerely,
Lisa
If you've been at a similar point in your career, and have some advice for Lisa,
please share! We'd all love to hear how other artists have had success
opening doors or spreading pastel enlightenment. (To post a comment,
simply click on "comments" tab below, type your response into the
comment box and submit. You do not have to include your e-mail address
in the form box in order to submit.)
Tips and Techniques
5/27/2008 11:43:02 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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