ARC STUDIOS

A vague description of the CRAWL. The crawl started two hundred years ago give or take. A bunch of artist wanting to get their art exposed to the public without having to go through the normal gallery censoring process. It started small, in fact the first crawl I was in I had 50 people come to my studio. Last year I had 3,000!!! I think there were over 500 artists opening their studios last year. I am not sure how many buildings.

In the beginning each artist had to chip in volunteer time to pull the whole gig off. It was a ton of work. Our specialty here at the ARC was building and painting up Culture Crawl sandwich boards. It was a crazy time as on top of getting your studios and art ready you had to volunteer time also. In my memory Valerie Arntzen was the queen of the Crawl as she was the head of the committee for a very long time and did an incredible job. Since then the crawl has kept evolving and now we no longer have to volunteer like the old days. Of course this makes it an even better deal!!

WHERE TO BEGIN....

Your first step in participation involves paying the fee of $175 give or take. Years ago it seemed like a real bargain at $35. but then again we only had 50 visitors. Now it is a real bargain as you pay $175 and get three thousand!!!! If we paid on the same scale as we did then... divide 3000 by 50 and then mulitply that number by 35 it would cost $2100 to get in!!!! Well if you have ever set up at a trade show those numbers are still cheap!!! So before you go whining like some crybaby show some backbone and clear logic. The $175 is a real bargain!! At the same time if you still think you can't afford the fee stop by my studio and we can talk about it some more.

If you are smarter than most you will sign up before the last deadline to get on the invite. This is advantageous to you in a few ways. They print thousands upon thousands of those invites and your name gets on them. Second is the more artists The ARC has listed on the invite then the more visitors we attract. You see most people want to do the one stop thing and hit the buildings with the most artists first. On top of that it makes it easier for other artists in the building to convince their rich friends to come here first. This means better odds for you to sell something!!! So if you are going to get in anyway then you may as well sign up early. Last year we had 32 artists give or take open their studios.

PREPPING YOUR STUDIO....

Everyone will have their own perceptions on how to prep their studio but here are some common things to prepare for.

Your Valuables...

I have found that the crowd that comes to this event are pretty dam cool. Sure where ever you have a crowd you do have idiots but it never seems that bad. Just the same you want to be prepared. Thus it is best to keep anything valuable (besides your art of course) tucked away and out of sight. Don't leave personal valuables in plain sight to "tempt" the mentally deficient in the crowd. Things like your computer should be shut off or not easy to access. I had one guy wanting to use my computer once to kill some time... you know back up my files for me etc. No thanks!! You will find yourself doing a lot of talking during the crawl... a very lot. Some times you can get lost in those conversations and tune out what is going on around you. Thus the safer your studio is the less you have to think about who's doing what. If you have friends then it is great if you can con one of them into helping you for free beer or something. This is a huge help. Especially if you have to hit the can or something. (though we will have hired help that can assist you for those washroom breaks etc)

Break Proof Your Studio....

You want to make sure your family herloom Ming Dynasty Vase balancing there by the entrance is moved. In my experience as building painter I quickly learned that most people have no idea how "wide" they actually are. Especially when they are wearing heavy jackets like during the Crawl. I have seen my studio here shoulder to shoulder many times during a crawl. Often when people start telling you about this amazing friend of theirs that does incredible work just like yours they will be waving their arms around blindly. This is a recipe for disaster if you have not prepared.

The other pain is often modern parents! You know the ones that love to teach their children to have little to no respect for other peoples stuff. They let their kids behave like your studio is a play ground. OK this does not happen very often but it is good to be prepared. It seems that method of teaching has been going out of style lately. Anyway most parents like that just need a good spanking... unfortunately you can't do this unless you want to end up on the paying end of some lawsuit lottery.

Another hazard I have noticed is dog owners. As hard as it is to comprehend some people actually think everyone loves the idea of their big mutt bouncing around among their fragile glass works. Once a human reaches the age of an adult and does not get it then it is pretty late to teach them anything new. Dogs train pretty easy no matter how old but often dog owners are a breed unto themselves.

Why you want to be at least a little prepared for the above is often the people that miss this obvious etiquette don't have any money to pay for your broken stuff but will be quick to come up with excuses as to why it is not their fault. The trick is not to let the above scare you thoughas it is very rare. Just be a little prepared and then forget about it.

Manage the Flow....

If you can you want to make sure you layout during the Crawl has no "bottle necks" This event will be four days of almost non top people flowing through your place. You don't want three "time killers" to block any "serious art buyers" from seeing all your stuff. With all my years of retail behind me I still set up for disaster a couple years back. I had a huge bottle neck in here. This is when I realized how good the Thursday night opening is. It gives you a test run on your place with way less people. (The real crowds hit on Sat and Sun!!!) Fortunately I had Friday to make amends and change things around!

The Money....

Most times during a crawl you want to sell stuff. That's why you are in. OK the exposure is a bonus but cash in the hand is really bonus. Thus make sure you are ready to receive that cash!!! Make sure you have some change in your pocket... not tucked away in the bathroom somewhere. Most people these days are in a hurry. They want to pay you and go. They don't want to wait while you phone your friend in Richmond to bring you some cash. Or for you to have to dig around in boxes looking for your wallet.

Another thing you want to have set up is the ability to take credit card payments via your phone with Square or some other payment method. Remember most people want to pay and get going. The Square is pretty slick and easy.

Have your receipts or receipt book handy and ready to go including your pen etc. Often people don't want receipts which is no big deal but I still kept a note pad in my pocket for my own records. If you have small stuff you are selling it can be very surprising how quickly they can add up and how many of them you can forget!! You will want to have records for that.

The Selling....

One thing I have heard pretty common with the Crawl is people who sell a lot of cheaper stuff. This makes sense as often people don't walk off the street and spend thousands on art... ok my art anyway. Just the same most people can dig out a twenty or so here and their fairly easily. If your art is very expensive don't get caught up in trying to pull off some flea market "sellers" just for cash. Far better to stay true to your work and who you are. You have to "sell" TV's you don't have to "sell" you. You just have to show you. If your crap is any good it will sell. TV's are different, they are expensive pieces of crap that will be worthless the moment you drag it out of the store and will be outdated in a couple of months or so. If you are lucky it will break down the day before the warranty ends. Every average consumer thinks they actually want one. Crap like this requires high pressure "selling" Your art will sell if you have the right crowd see it. Not everyone wants art let alone your art. Stay true to who your are is my worthless advice.

Having Fun....

I have found it is very easy to have a lot of fun at the Crawl.... unless I am counting on sales. Being desperate for sales will not only ruin your fun but it will show up on your face and in your words also. This will do more to block sales than anything. Since I started ditching the panic to sell crap the more fun I have had and the more crap I have sold. You have to remember people coming to your studio have just came from 400 other studios. Their brain is a blur of art, egos and exhaustion. My worthless advice... quit trying to "sell" your crap and focus more on giving them a memorable experience that will stand out after the show is over. We are not talking TV's here. You are selling art!