Image via Wikipedia

Art 4 Business Case Study

CASE STUDY: making a submission to an art consultant–

There is much for you to learn from just one submission, and many things to consider.

I recommend reading my 90 page ebook, The Transmedia Artist Guide To Making Artist Submission, prior to making your submission, to learn what *corporate appropriate art* is and isn’t, including best sizes and subject matter to submit. Link to ebook buy page: http://bit.ly/kSuhC6

Another valuable time-saving tip I will give you here, is to let you know that some large art consulting firms only review artist submissions quarterly, so that doing follow-ups to initial submissions may be a waste of time and effort on your part! If you have sent a CD or DVD on request, then by all means follow-up. But if you have made a first contact with an unsolicited submission, and have received no reply after a few weeks, I do *not* recommend making follow-up contact. This may not seem logical to you, or may even seem counter-intuitive, but, with the additional information below, you will begin to understand why I do not recommend follow-ups in most cases.

Just as commercial art galleries have to make sales and complete numerous tasks on a daily basis, so that they are too busy to respond to email from artists that they do not represent, art consultants have a myriad of tasks to complete. Art consultants work on teams with architects, interior designers, framers, project managers, corporate executives, and building site facility managers. Art consultants have to study blueprints, coordinate and handle framing, shipping and installation of large-scale art works, and multiple art works. They have to write project proposals, make written bids, write-up budgets, write RFQs for artists they work with, along with basic business tasks, including continually working to get new business/new clients for their firm.

Of all the many art consultants I have communicated with, every one of them has stated that *they are always looking for new artists* or * are always looking at art.* Some art consultant firms have galleries. Some art consultant firms have a large staff and review the artist submissions in meetings with all staff members present. This may be done in a variety of ways, from large screens, to printouts. I know an artist liaison with an art consulting firm who told me that her job is to review submissions and print the art images of the artists that she thinks are a good fit for their gallery. She explained that the owners of the company *like* to sit in a meeting and review the printed materials, including printed images and artist Bio /CV on paper. I make a point of mentioning this here, to emphasis how little control the person receiving your submission may actually have in how your submissions are handled.

That is why I recommend that you do not  add to the burden of the submission process by sending multiple email messages as follow-up to submissions.

Send in your full submission with bio/CV, image list and properly labeled jpegs, and then wait. You may hear back right away. If you do not receive a reply right away, it is very likely that your submission has been filed for future review or consideration. That is what art consultants do. That is not the case with most art gallery submissions. If you do not receive a reply from a gallery within a few weeks, you will most likely never hear from the gallery. But for artist submission to art consultants, your submissions may be kept on file for long periods of time.

Consider, for instance, that if you have submitted a series of landscape paintings, and the art consultant has no need for landscape paintings for any current project, but likes your images so puts them on file for future projects. Your work is sitting there and available for the consultant to present to any client seeking landscape paintings, or if a new project comes up requiring paintings in the sizes you offer, then the art consultant may contact you. Think about this for a moment. At no charge to you, the consultant keeps your work on file and shows it to clients.

If you wish to do a follow-up to an email submission, then follow-up by submitting new work.

It is very important that you present yourself in a professional manner during all contacts with any art consultants. Artists who demonstrate competency with computers and sales, a willingness to work cooperatively and meet deadlines, plus art world and art business savvy, are more likely to receive large orders, multiple orders, and commissions of art works for specific projects.

My reasons for recommending a submission to Art4Business are many. I am not affiliated with Art4Business in any way, but I know that they have been around for a long time, and I also know of artists who have been with them for years and receive payment for sales of their artwork.

So, if this is your first submission to an art consultant, Art4Business is a good place to start, since it will be easy for you to upload images on the Art4Business site–no letter to write and no images to attach to an email.

You may open an account on the Art4Business site and upload one or more images and return when you wish to add more images, for a maximum of 12 for your submission.

Here are the steps:

1. Go to: http://www.art4business.com/http://www.art4business.com/

2. In the right sidebar, under the heading *Info for Artists*, click *Artist Login*

3. Click the blue text: *Click here to register as an artist*

4. Complete the form

5. Read the agreement

6. Submit the form–Now you have an *artist account*

7. Now you will see various ways to enter your account, including *add new artwork*.

8. Enter the details in the form: Title, dimension, select size category, and enter your *wholesale or net price* that is, the amount you want to receive for the sale of this artwork.(Net/Wholesale is Generally 50% of your retail price, but some artists will do a different split when listing wholesale/net prices only). You may also indicate a work as Commissionable. Then the size and price are not needed.

9. Click *create entry*

10. Then click *update image* to add your image.

11. Save.

Tip: Art4Business reviews art entries quarterly. Submissions made in January receive a response in April. After review, all or some of your artworks may be selected for their website. As you will note on the site home page, Art4Business clients review artworks on the site for purchase or commission.

Tip: Consider uploading some of your sold art works and listing them as Commissionable.

Tip: Upload a variety, such as original paintings and Giclee prints in the largest sizes you have available, or list Giclee prints on paper or canvas as Commissionable. This may open up more possibilities and fit more search criteria of site users.

You will find 500+ more in the Directory of Art Consultants:  http://transmediartistmarketing.org/wordpress/list-services-available/

500+ Places to sell your art:  : http://bit.ly/artshops

Art Gallery Share List:  http://transmediartistmarketing.org/wordpress/art-gallery-share-list/

Link to share list of Art Licensing contacts:   http://transmediartistmarketing.org/wordpress/art-licensing-companies/