Open Studios Experience
by Dawn Conn
17
Her knowledge and efficiency was inspirational, from hosting information Zoom sessions covering all forms of presentation, marketing, and social media.
I decided to go all out with professional photography, printing brochures, street signage, fitting out the barn gallery space and created the beginnings of a sculpture garden along with notices in the village parish magazine, newsletters, and social media.
I had fairly high expectations…. and no one came. I waited and waited – a trickle of neighbours came along.
I thought with a large public garden next door, I may get some overflow. The nearest other artists with an open studio were probably three or four miles away.
The first day came and went and I felt a little bit disappointed; the next day was marginally better. I changed the signage around so it was more prominent on the roadside. I had no sales; no enquiries from the event.
I had lots of conversations explaining all about what I did and how I did it. The mediums I use, I think that really was very well received. And interesting for people who didn't really know so it was good in that way.
So, in conclusion, I would do a little bit more research to see who was opening nearby. If you have a cluster it makes it worthwhile for people to come if you live in the countryside. The other thing is doing a little bit more of a collaboration and maybe having several artists of different disciplines that complement your price point.
Editor's Note: Good learning for all of us thinking about opening our own doors to the public. Thanks so much, Dawn, for sharing this.
I've always wanted to do an open studio. Having bought the house and now having a wonderful studio and gallery, I thought it would be the perfect situation to open the doors and share my space and my vision as to what my sculptures are all about.
I had two weeks to submit the application after moving into the house in December last year. Open studios was going to take place over a period of two weeks for our area of South Oxfordshire.
I chose to be open only on the two weekends and really didn't know much about it. I thought, "Surely this has been going for 40 years ... it looks such a great event - a wonderful opportunity to meet interested people; to get a real insight of what people were interested in."
We had extensive insights into preparing for the event in terms of marketing and hosting an open studio. Esther, the festival director who organised the open studio event, was amazing.