We firmly believe that artists are 100% responsible for making people discover them, whether online or through events and shows. What can artists do in 2026 to shake things up and make art events more engaging for the general population?
00:00:00 Speaker 1: This is Art Crush with artists Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn talking about art. art making and analyzing art and more. And in this episode we are going to be talking about art events.
00:00:27 Speaker 1: So in previous episodes we have talked about galleries, gallery shows, we’ve talked about, art fairs and things like that. But all of those are, art being served to the public to be consumed in certain ways, established ways. And a lot of people aren’t interested in that kind of thing anymore. It’s a different world, let’s face it. Things have changed dramatically for everybody in the last five years. Sophie and I have been talking about, changing things up, and she’s going to be doing some interesting things in twenty twenty six, potentially. So let’s let’s start with where this idea came from to shake things up a little bit.
00:01:08 Speaker 2: Okay. I was talking to, another art friend, and we just have felt, you know, we a lot of our, sales, we had a very successful art businesses, mainly through social media, selling internationally. and because of the current climate, which obviously is not going to be here forever, but, the only way around our selling doldrums, as I would say, was we were looking at, you know, getting our work into more galleries, doing more art shows. But the art shows are expensive. And to a certain extent, I’m just I’m not generalizing because I’m sure some of them aren’t, but they can be deemed as exploitive to the artist that the people who are running the events are making a great amount of money. And yet artists are still there, just in their little booth, waiting for people to just come past and go, oh, I like that. So we’ve been thinking and I’ve been talking to Paula about this as well, about is it time to change the way that a we buy art, we display art, we attract new customers and fans. You know, is it time to shake things up a bit? Hmm. Yeah.
00:02:39 Speaker 1: Yeah. And we we made an attempt to do that a couple of years ago, in Scotland by having a an immersive sort of art event. And so there were lessons to take away from that, that were overwhelmingly positive. But we as artists need to think about what the publics. We’re so into our art, we don’t think about what the public is desiring to do, what they how they interact with our art, how they may feel intimidated. Galleries are historically intimidating places because they are welcoming to people with money and and not so much to the people who don’t have it right. They’re not accessible to every person. And people can feel intimidated by art as well. if they feel like they need to sound all academic about it. Whereas we want people to come in and feel like they can engage with art from where they’re at, there’s no need to have a PhD to be able to look at a painting and go, I like it or not, that you want them to be able to come in and experience your work and not just look at it and walk by. So art events, that are artist led, put more control in the hands of artists. But I think it also gives a lot of flexibility into how your art is displayed. Is it going to be something that that covers all the senses? Are you going to include food or not? You include music or not. Are you going to include something that engages people or not? Like, we have a lot of choices as artists.
00:04:05 Speaker 2: Well, I think because we know that educationally people learn in different ways. And a multi-sensory approach, works for the majority of people because people will react to different styles of learning. And therefore, why do we not take that multisensory approach and do that with art? Because we cannot rely on schools and the education system, as we’ve talked about before, to promote how children and how people how you look at art. So we need to do it in a different way. we don’t want to distract from our art, because obviously the idea is this is our business. We’re not. We’re not a charity. This is our business. We do want to sell our art. We do want to put food on the table for our families, etc., but we want to have people, like, irresistibly drawn to what we’re saying and what our art is. So I think, yes, it’s looking out of the box and thinking of how this can change. And I would be really interested if any of the people who are listening, you know, get in contact with us. If you’ve been involved in an event that is different from your normal art fairs, galleries, exhibitions, because as Paula says, it’s not for everybody and people go to art events. I would say the majority go for a day out. They’re not even considering buying art. and you just chance if there are people who can’t live without your art and they they buy it. You just, like, made up. And we need to do something more. If social media. And I’m not saying that you can’t sell your art through social media, because I continue to do that and so do many other artists. But the buzz that was around it has definitely gone a bit flat.
00:06:12 Speaker 1: Yeah, it’s a different world now, for sure, but we know people are craving a different experience with art because as you were talking, I was thinking about like the Van Gogh, Van Gogh, exhibits and the the Monet ones and all that, but their art is projected and you walk through art. but those were not the goals of those experiences were experiences rather than purchasing. Because, I mean, who can afford to buy one of those paintings now anyway? The average person can’t. but people are craving some kind of new interaction with art. And it’s easy to want to also go overboard as artists and create an experience that that finding that balance of bringing people in, giving them a new way of experiencing your work, but also, as you said, encouraging them to buy the pieces is important because at the end of the day, you need to make money as an artist or you don’t have a business, you just you have an expensive hobby. which is something I’ve said for years and years and years. So.
00:07:12 Speaker 2: And something else you’ve said for years and years and years, Paula, which is completely true, is who is the best person to sell your art? It is the artist. And this is why I know when I have working galleries, I tend to think they’re not going to sell anything because they don’t have the passion. They don’t understand my work, they can’t tell the stories, they can’t engage people in the same way that I can. but it’s making sure that you can do that. And it’s really interesting. You were you brought up about these experiences, which generally tend to be those up our favorite artists, those white male.
00:07:54 Speaker 3: Yeah, the artists.
00:07:55 Speaker 2: Artists that everybody knows about, rather than anything new. And I mean, again, and we’re also like looking at, you know, the cost to the artist of doing this. But I like the idea of when, you know, we’ve talked about strong narrative about having some sort of projection or light show using the art, you know, like when people have openings, for example. It’s just been really a chance for people to come and have a glass of food and some nibbles and have a first look at the original art, which is fine, but imagine if you went and there was almost like a cinematic experience about the key pieces in the collection, and then people went to have a look at the originals. You know, it’s almost like whetting the appetite because, going to the Van Gogh experience it. You need to see the paintings as well, you know what I mean? Just, I mean, just going to go to that experience. You’re just you might as well be watching fireworks, but it’s because you’ve got the narrative going on, um, about the artist’s life, about their motivation and all that. So that could be that could be almost like made smaller, obviously. But, you know, we all have computers. We could project images.
00:09:34 Speaker 1: And projectors are cheap. Now, I don’t know about over in the UK, but here they’re under fifty dollars for a good projector, so it’s not a huge, huge investment. I’ve got one myself that you can hook up to a computer, whatever and project things. So so there’s there’s ways of doing it. if we look at continuing to look at the the Van Gogh exhibition, they have you now, I haven’t been to it in person. because they were running it in Toronto through Covid, and I wasn’t going to drive my car through the the way they had them done just to see this thing. But the the typical way to run through these events is you experience the power, the awe of the work. It’s projected. There’s music, there’s whatever going on. And then you exit through the gift shop. Right? And there’s a reason for it because you’re still feeling good after the exhibition, after the experience that you’ve had. And you want to keep a piece of that feeling. So you exit through the gift shop, you buy your prints, you buy your tchotchkes, and then you leave. And there’s your experience done. So that’s a potential thing that that you could do where they do experience the the art projected and it’s twenty feet tall or whatever. And you know, there’s there’s things and they exit through the gallery where they look at all the pieces and that they’ve seen large size and, and actually see what they look like.
00:10:54 Speaker 3: So and.
00:10:55 Speaker 2: And in a lot of exhibitions, they will have, you know, they have for years had rooms where people go and they see like little movies about the artist and the work. So, you know, and that people like that.
00:11:13 Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly.
00:11:15 Speaker 2: Can combining that, I’m not sure when they just have like a video playing in an exhibition. How many people watch it when it’s just sort of on the wall with the paintings?
00:11:28 Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:11:28 Speaker 2: Um, but yeah, but certainly if it was an event and it was at the start of an event.
00:11:35 Speaker 1: That would be interesting. So, so I think what we as artists have to do is stop trying to work as much with the establishment. and I say establishment with quotes because like, whatever. but we have to stop trying to work with what is expected. This is how you do art. it certainly is something I’ve come across with here in Canada when I’ve tried to liaise on with the larger art groups and stuff, and they don’t even want to touch social media, they want to do the way things have always been done, try to sell through galleries and and do these steps. And that’s like trying to sell something the way they sold things in the eighteen fifties. Well, we’re not in the eighteen fifties. We are in twenty twenty five. so we have to do things differently. So I think that artists should take back their power. I’ve talked to so many artists who think one gallery show will make their career. No it won’t, absolutely won’t. It’s a cumulative effect. And if you’re working with galleries, you’re looking at paying fifty percent commission to them if you’re not already also buying wall space in addition to whatever commission they charge, we need to take back that and and actually create events. There are lots of spaces available for hire for a couple of hours or a couple of days or two weeks or whatever that are not traditionally galleries. and we can create events and make people want to go. It’s a matter of collaborating with people, with venues, with other creatives and figuring out how everybody can support each other. So when I was running my art business, and this was years ago, I actually had a gallery space that I was leasing. And so I started Liaisoning with, a local chef who did like these incredible little desserts and things like that. We were going to do a tasting and art show. and unfortunately, circumstances in my life changed suddenly, and it never happened, but I wouldn’t have had to pay her to be there because she was going to be promoting her business and her work. And so she was a bonus, in addition to the art that I was going to have available for showing and for sale. so collaborating with people, finding spaces that are inexpensive or free, or you can figure out how to create something that works for everybody. It means that you don’t have to spend a lot because artists also historically don’t necessarily have a lot of money, especially early on in their careers. figuring out how to create that group that support each other and bring each bring their audiences in. And those audiences experience new things through that collaboration is really powerful. And I don’t think.
00:14:13 Speaker 2: Absolutely.
00:14:15 Speaker 1: Yeah. And I don’t think artists lean on that enough, to be honest. I don’t think that artists think outside of the box when it comes to showing their work. The thinking that I’ve come across from artists has been, I wish somebody else would sell my art so I could spend my time in the studio. Well, that’s not going to work. That has never worked, and I wish galleries would pick me up so I don’t have to sell my work. But that’s not going to work either. It’s just not how things are anymore. Get with the times or you’re going to find yourself, you know, working part time somewhere to make the bills.
00:14:46 Speaker 4: I don’t sit don’t sit.
00:14:48 Speaker 2: Around waiting for somebody else to have the idea. You have the idea and act on it. Act by yourself, or as you say, in collaboration. Yeah. and it will be trial and error. It will be trial and error. You know, as we said, when we did our, our show in Scotland, you know, it was it was a great looked great. You know, we did have people coming, but we were relying on sort of friends of friends because it the location wasn’t quite right. But yeah, I love the idea as well of, having interaction we were talking earlier about, going back to so people aren’t just wandering around, you know, with this, with paintings on the wall, but, you know, doing quizzes and doing, treasure hunts and, getting I mean, they do you do it with kids. And I always think, oh, that’s really great. In museums, they’ll have like, sheets for kids and say, right, you need to go and find this in the museum. Well, let’s make it more adult. I mean, that in, you know, in a mature way.
00:15:56 Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:15:57 Speaker 2: you know, can you find this in the painting? You can then, you know, get a free workshop or a one to one with the artist, we will draw it out of a hat for all those people who get who find all these things in the paintings just to get people to look and be more interested. Or it could be about, emotions, write down how you felt when you stared, stared into the eyes of the whatever character in the center of this painting. Write three words. You know, all those things people like to interact. We were also saying, like in weddings, what do people love in weddings? Oh, they love the old photo booth, don’t they? They love, Oh, look, let’s put on a silly hat and some silly glasses and take photos at a wedding. Well, why don’t we have that at an art? One of our art shows. But the theme being the art, hold up your favorite print, have your photo taken, make a reel for your social media and promote it. There are places that will have almost like social media corner. I’ve seen, where people can go, and they love it because it becomes about them, it becomes about their experience and their response to it. So it’s giving the viewer those tools to become more involved.
00:17:25 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. I was just actually at an awards show in Toronto. I wasn’t getting an award, sadly, but they had one of those photo areas with the things you could hold up now they were little like lol and omgs and stuff that you could hold up printed out, but you could do that with the art for sure. And people were lining up to get their photos done, and get the little, little printouts of the photos. So there’s, there’s lots of ways that you can engage, but it’s, it’s the underneath all of this. And we had to point this out. It’s the artists taking responsibility for creating their success and not relying on other people, not relying on being discovered, not relying on galleries, not relying on artist reps who generally are not relying on on somebody else to make their career happen. It’s deciding. You know what? I’m not selling right now. How do I turn this around? What can I do? I’ve got to find a way or make a way so that people can discover me. Make them discover me. Make them want to engage with my art and make them want to buy it and take it home, whatever it is.
00:18:33 Speaker 2: And again, going back to when we started working together, it is always about the customer and the viewer. You know, in the whole marketing of anything, you have to make it about the potential customer. It’s not about the artist, it’s about that person. the people who might buy it or who will buy it, shall we say. And sometimes I think that just gets a bit lost in the melee of, oh, this is what we do, this is what we do. And I think, because, we’ve been in the experience of using social media, Paula, coach people in using that. And as I say, still still works. However, it’s like we keep saying everything evolves and it’s not that your art has got bad or isn’t interesting anymore, but it’s your marketing that has.
00:19:30 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. And there’s there’s something to be said about creating in-person events, five years after the world shut down in the pandemic. I know nobody likes to talk about it, but it is our recent history. We are craving in-person interaction. And and so it’s important to pay attention to what people are trending towards. What are they going to, what are they focus on? We want that real interaction. I want to know what the back of your head looks like kind of thing. I don’t want to just see how you are on video. I want to see how you are in person. I want to see things in person and connect with people and connect with the art in person is something very powerful about that. And so it’s looking at where you are, what’s available in your area, what makes sense and can, if you are living in a certain area, are is it the right demographic to be selling your art to? Because we can be in depressed areas and there’s no point holding events in those areas if the, population won’t be able to afford your art. It’s a waste of time. So so taking that responsibility and understanding that you can turn the tide as long as you do so using your due diligence, making sure that you’re you’re showing your art where people will actually want to buy it and giving them that experience is really important.
00:20:52 Speaker 2: One hundred percent. Absolutely. And that is what we want to share, as any artist does. Again, although we have talked about people who go, oh no, I just want to create art in my house, well that’s fine, that’s your hobby. But, as anyone in, in the creative arts, the visual arts, we want to keep pushing that and exciting people. I think that’s the key getting excited. And so often it’s really easy. You hear artists and people moaning, oh, I’m sold anything. But it’s about if you keep up that momentum and the passion and the excitement and by creating a new event, you’re doing that. It’s contagious.
00:21:36 Speaker 1: We are responsible for creating the excitement around our work. We are responsible for creating the opportunities for people to see it, discover us and buy it. And we are responsible for pivoting when we need to. And I think right now, at this point, we do need to pivot a bit. I still firmly believe in social media as a means for selling art, but we need to add to it.
00:21:56 Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. That’s why. Yeah, that’s why I said it’s not. But it’s just like in the way that we were doing it four or five years ago. It’s got to change. You know, we have. Yeah. It’s a different world now. but yeah, absolutely. Let’s evolve with social media, not against it. You know, so that you’re still going on, but it’s still I. This is what I was told it would work. Well, it’s like no, because you need to look at it and you need to make it yours. What works for you? it’s really, really important.
00:22:30 Speaker 5: Yeah. So I think that wraps up this.
00:22:32 Speaker 1: Episode of Taking responsibility for making people discover you by creating your own events, skipping the establishment, and figuring out how to best present your art to the world in order to sell more art. At the end of the day, you want to be selling your work so you can keep having an art business and an art career. and nobody wants to live in a house stuffed full of art that doesn’t sell right? Like, you just keep creating it. You create a hoarding situation. So let’s get the art out there and selling and think outside of the box. We’re artists. We should be able to think outside of the box.
00:23:08 Speaker 2: And get people excited about art. I think that’s the key. Get the excitement going. It’s an event. It’s exciting and look what you can keep forever and ever.
00:23:22 Speaker 1: that wraps up this episode of Art crush with artists Fee Marks and Paula. And if you want to listen to more episodes, you can head on over to Spotify or your favorite podcast platform. Check out Mark’s art on her website at fee marks. And also on my website. My art and writing is there. Paula, I’ll see you in the next episode.
00:23:45 Speaker 6: Bye!
