Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Public Education

There has been a debate raging in an online form I frequent. It started with the familiar lament of an artist deploring big box store 'art 'and the people who buy it.
From there the discussion cycled through how do we producers of real art compete, should we even try, and ended up at how do we educate the public about the value of real art?
All I could think was.... it's apples and oranges folks.
Big box store art, or art by the yard is usually made in a Chinese art factory, and often sold for less then the supplies would cost in an art supply store. Decor hunters love a pretty bargain, and as trend followers usually think of said pretty bargain as being disposable.
Artists, these are not your target market.
Granted with education some of them may be turned into collectors, but not often, for collecting is a different mind set.
Collectors look for value, they want keepers, not disposable trophies.
It behooves us the artistic community then to  focus on the value of what we produce, it's uniqueness, it's local flavour, and it's universality.
We sell emotion made tangible , and their response to it, after all they buy our art because they love the art, and that is the real value of art!
painting, crow, acrylic Robin Baratta
Skyward! 12x12, $160.00, glazed acrylic, contact for info
This piece is currently at The Art Emporium, and has been submitted to the Port Stanley Artists' Guild Show June 5-7 at the Port Stanley Legion.


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