According to the TEFAF Art Marketing Report for 2018, over one million people attended the world’s top 20 art fairs last year. And projected sales for this year hover around the $45 billion mark.
That’s 45 BILLION dollars!

So when I tell you that art fairs are the best way I know to sell art, the numbers back me up.

Art fairs and festivals can also help you build audience, create community, and command the attention of gallerists and curators.

If you’re an artist who’s interested in using this powerful opportunity to build your career, I’ve created these Top 10 Tips for artists wanting to access the powerful reach of art fairs:

1. Put the research first. Preparation is your best friend because when it comes to art fairs, you can’t plan too much.
2. Follow instructions. Artists are known for breaking the rules, but the place to break them is in your work, not in your professional submissions.
3. Get super-organized and create a system to make sure all the details are covered. This will make the difference between a fair experience that’s fluid and focused, and a fair experience that’s frantic and confusing.
4. Pay attention to your brand when you exhibit. All of your materials should be created with your brand in mind, even down to the details. It’s all about consistency and authenticity.
5. Don’t overhang your booth! Art fairs are overwhelming enough. The booths that stand out and are the most inviting are the booths that allow viewers — and the artwork — the space to breathe.
6. Art fairs are an excellent investment, but think long term. Don’t invest everything you have in one art fair, there are too many variables outside of your control. So plan for success, but keep your feet on the ground and manage your expectations.
7. Promote your booth before and during the fair. Be sure to let people know exactly where to find you. Share your excitement with your audience!
8. Be sure to follow up on your leads because the best sales often happen after the fair.
9. Stay positive, even when things don’t appear to be going your way. Your energy affects everything.
10. Remember that art fairs are a powerful way to build relationships – both with an audience and with other artists. Be sure to put your best smile on and engage!

You don’t have to be an exhibitor to get the benefits of a fair. It’s also important to see what other artists are doing, what galleries are showing, and finding work that inspires you.

So even if you don’t have any plans to exhibit in an art fair yourself, I urge you to visit art fairs whenever you get the opportunity. You’ll always find something to learn, someone to meet, and something to see.

Learn more about art fairs and festivals at The Working Artist website. The Art Fair Essentials program is an online workshop that will fast track your success. Honestly, there is nothing else like it on the market. For more information: click here.

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As a young man, he’d had an opportunity to show his portfolio to an established and highly celebrated photographer whom he admired deeply. This famous photographer took one look at his work and pronounced, “Boring.”

My teacher later told me this was a gift, that the photographer had been right and that his talents were better served as a historian and enthusiast of the medium. But that story always unsettled me.

Later, I met the photographer and we, too, became close friends. I showed him my work, but felt that he never really looked at it before dismissing it. And dismiss it he did, advising me to become an art historian instead. My teacher agreed.

I tried it their way, but I could never shake the feeling that I’d been sold a bum rap.

I later opened a gallery and started selling the work of this esteemed photographer. It was the first time I’d ever felt that he approved of me. (Probably because—no joke—he said, “This is the first time I’ve ever approved of you.”) When I told him I missed making my own work, he waved me off, saying, “You’ve finally found success. This is what you were meant to do.”

He didn’t understand when I decided to quit and settle in London in order to devote myself to photography, my personal writing, and working with other artists. I proudly showed him some of my stories and images, but he dismissed them without even looking. “That’s not my sort of thing,” he’d say.

And when I launched The Working Artist and sent him the videos I’d created, he responded, “You were more interesting when you were selling art.”

As an artist, I understand that not everyone will like my stuff, and I challenge myself not to take it personally. But it’s especially difficult when that someone is a friend whom I value and an artist I respect.

At first, his response to my work made me quit. Later, it made me try harder. Now, it just makes me sigh. But never again will his opinion or anyone else’s make me stop.
Because I’ve got work to do.

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