Artexpo attendees and exhibitors: making your way through the aisles of Artexpo New York 2012 just got easier. Download our iPhone app to browse through this year’s exhibitors, read artist highlights, learn about our art seminars & panel discussions, watch our live Twitter stream, and find your way around the pier, from March 22-25. After the show, use our exhibitor directory as a year-round networking reference to connect with hundreds of artists & industry professionals.

While you have your iPhone out, feel free to join the #Artexpo discussion on Twitter. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this year’s Artexpo. Find us on Twitter at @ArtexpoNewYork

You can download the Artexpo iPhone app here: http://artexponewyork.com/app/

[SOLO] exhibitors: take note! Artexpo New York 2010 Exhibitor Karen Kohtz is a seasoned exhibitor with excellent advice to share. This is her second guest blog for Artexpo. www.karenkohtz.com

Artist, 2010 exhibitor & guest blogger Karen Kohtz

For [SOLO] artists, getting ready for Artexpo is like being an athlete and getting ready for a marathon. Athletes work out a preparation schedule long before they run the race. Every day, they set goals to build strength, endurance and mental balance to be emotionally ready for the big day. Preparing for Artexpo is no different. Here are some helpful hints to ensure you cross the finish line victorious!

1. BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR OBJECTIVE
What is your motivation for exhibiting? Are you trying to attract new galleries for representation? Are you trying to introduce your art to a larger global audience? For me personally, one of my objectives was to attract the attention of designers working with large corporate spaces, lobbies, restaurants and hotels. If your hope is to sell enough art at Artexpo to pay for your booth and expenses, I would encourage you to set your goals higher and dream bigger. Being clear about what you want is the first step in achieving it.

2. PREPARING YOUR BOOTH
This part should be easy because you are creative. Lay out your art and how you plan to display it ahead of time. Bring your best original works. I suggest not only business cards, but also a 3×5 or 5×7 card with an example of your work, a picture of you and your contact information. Prospective clients will be seeing a lot of art over the weekend, so anything you can do to help them remember you is a plus.

3. GET TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS
Don’t go solo as a [SOLO] artist. The other artists around you will be a valuable resource and support over the course of the event. Get to know your comrades right away! In 2010, one row of artists coined a nickname for themselves: “Avenue 1400.” They bonded together as new friends and created an energy of excitement around their work.

4. BE PROACTIVE
Stand up; don’t sit passively in the corner of your booth. This will help you stay proactive and engaging with the opportunities before you. Remember, this is a marathon you are running. Think of the four days at Artexpo as the last four miles of your personal marathon. You never see a runner sitting down after they cross the 22-mile mark. They are looking only at the finish line.

5. BE MENTALLY PREPARED
After all your art is ready and you’re ready to bring your personal best to this exhibition, what’s next? Mental preparation! I believe it is your mental attitude that will determine your outcome. Be open, be flexible and, above all, be optimistic.

6. WHAT TO EXPECT
You have worked hard to get to Artexpo and your adrenaline will be running high with excitement and expectations from day one. Your fellow [SOLO] exhibitors are feeling the same thing, so you are not alone! As well as you should be prepared by now, no one can determine exactly how the event will unfold for each artist. Some of you will sell your work the first day. Others may consign work to new galleries with sales coming later on down the road. Be open to the unexpected.

7. MY EXPERIENCE
2010 was my first year as a [SOLO] exhibitor. A few days into the show, I had only sold two pieces. I must admit my confidence was compromised and I began to question if I had made the right decision in exhibiting at Artexpo. By the last day, things started to turn around. I connected with two new galleries—one in Boston, and one in Santa Fe. Being represented by a gallery in Santa Fe had always been a desire of mine, so this alone was a personal victory. By the end of the show, I had consigned the majority of my work to these new galleries.

8. AFTER THE SHOW
Several days after the show was over, I was contacted by an architectural firm in Manhattan looking to commission a piece of art for their lobby. They did not attend Artexpo, but rather found me through the Artexpo website (you get a lot of online exposure simply by having your name on ArtexpoNewYork.com’s Exhibitor List!). Over the last two years, this connection has brought me numerous clients long after the show was over. I have had the opportunity to work with art consultants and designers, and this was all made possible from exhibiting at Artexpo. In the end, it proved to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.

So if you get off to a slow start as I did, don’t be discouraged. Every experience you have had in your life has brought you to this pinnacle point in your artistic career. It marks your effort, your hard work and above all your extraordinary talent.

I look forward to meeting you at this year’s show. Have a great exhibition!

—Karen Kohtz

[SOLO] exhibitors: take note! Artexpo New York 2010 Exhibitor Karen Kohtz is a seasoned exhibitor with excellent advice to share. This is her first guest blog for Artexpo. www.karenkohtz.com

Artist, 2010 exhibitor & guest blogger Karen Kohtz

So, you’ve made the decision to be a [SOLO] exhibitor at Artexpo. Congratulations! Your action has already set you apart from the majority of other artists. Taking this step tells me you believe in your creative voice, and you are confident in your talent.

[SOLO] is a tremendous opportunity to “show who you are” as an artist, and take it to another level. Being clear about your vision is the most important thing. Next, you have to ask yourself: how are you going to show that vision to the world?

3 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN PREPARING YOUR BOOTH

1) WHAT IS YOUR STYLE?
As a well-seasoned artist, you likely have an array of expertise. All of these skills have brought you to this point in your artistic career. One of them should stand out above all others. This is what you should focus on.

Let’s use Picasso as an example. In work from his early career, you often find pen and ink drawings of nudes and landscapes—but this is not what we think about when we think of Picasso as an artist. We recognize him for his Cubist style. This is where he made his mark. As you prepare your booth, you want your collection of work to portray one theme that best represents you.

2) BE CLEAR AND CONCISE IN YOUR SELECTION.
Bring only your best original work. When making this selection, ask yourself: do my pieces complement, rather then compete, with each other? If your art studio looks anything like mine (creative madness) the discerning eye of another may be helpful. Find a fellow artist or person you respect in the industry to bounce ideas off of. In the end, you will make the final decisions, but an objective outsider may help in making the right ones.

3) REMEMBER, LESS IS MORE.
Don’t make the mistake of hanging too much in your booth. Allow adequate spacing between each piece so it can be viewed properly. Artexpo has been kind enough to provided storage space close by for your additional work. Feel free to bring extras for back up; just don’t hang it all at the same time.

Here is another example for you: Neiman Marcus vs. a lower-end department store. At Neiman Marcus, high-end designers have an area in the store for display. The clothes are spaced generously between each other on the racks for viewing, and a stunningly dressed mannequin is always an eye-catcher. The presentation is extremely appealing.

In lower-end department stores, however, the experience is very different. You often see tons of clothes packed together on round racks. The racks themselves are placed so close together it is hard at times to even maneuver around them. In their attempt to show you everything, you can’t find anything!

By the way, which of these two stores do you think is justified in commanding the higher price?

Artexpo is now just a few months away, and I am sure you are in the heart of your creative process. You have “stepped up” with passion for this event, and I admire anyone who has the courage to put themselves out there for all the world to see!

Interested in growing your business and expanding your knowledge base? For more than 30 years, Artexpo New York has offered the finest education seminars for artists, galleries and trade professionals—entirely free of charge. As we gear up for our 2011 Artexpo Education Series, we’re excited to welcome both new and returning speakers, who will deliver expert perspectives on a wide range of timely topics, including:

Litsa Spanos, President of Art Design Consultants, Inc.

Lisa’s award-winning, retail/wholesale art gallery specializes in corporate and residential art consulting.

Lisa’s AENY 2011 Seminars:

• Selling Art to Corporations, Hospitals and Designers
• Innovative & Low-Cost Marketing Ideas to Boost Your Gallery Revenues
• Bringing New Buyers Through Your Door with Special Events

Rick Barnett, Senior Vice President, Business Development & Founding Partner International Artist Management Group (IAMG)

For over 15 years, Rick served as SVP of Retail Development, designing and developing the Thomas Kinkade worldwide retail gallery chain, building the business to 400+ galleries and owning seven galleries himself.

Rick’s AENY 2011 Seminars:

• The Top Ten Check List for Sales Success
• Licensing
• Marketing & Branding

Free Webinar, Oct. 20th
If you’re interested in meeting Rick and the IAMG team, you’re welcome to join a free webinar on October 20th at 11 am PST. IAMG says their team will be announcing a new retail concept that could drastically change the art industry and help you increase your margins. Sounds exciting to me… To register, visit www.iartmg.com

Me, chatting up artist Sylvia Chait at Artexpo New York 2010

Could you use a little promotion for your artwork/business? If you register to exhibit at Artexpo New York 2011 now, I can help you gain exposure for your work right up until the show doors open in March—starting today. Artexpo has:

• 18,000+ fans on Facebook and Twitter
• An active blog followed by artists & industry professionals
• A high-traffic website (167,032 page views in the month of March 2010)

Once you’ve registered to exhibit, you can think of Artexpo—and me, your Director of Social Media—as your own personal PR firm. Send me press releases about your latest works, upcoming shows, charity work, and anything else you care to share with our sizable fine art community online. As Artexpo’s Social Media Maven, it’s my job (and my pleasure!) to post information and updates about your work, so the media and other artists, galleries and publishers can learn more about what you do.

Social Media aside, it pays simply to be listed on our well-respected, high-traffic website! Many Artexpo exhibitors tell have told me they’ve made new business connections just from having their name/gallery listed on artexponewyork.com. Here’s what 2010 exhibitor Karen Kohtz had to say:

“The architectural firm that contacted me after the show never actually attended Artexpo. They had gone to the Artexpo website, went through the Exhibitor List, clicked through to all the artists’ websites and found my work that way. Just being connected with Artexpo and the Artexpo website opens so many different avenues for exposure. There are millions of artists’ websites out there—how else are they going to find you?”

At Artexpo, we’re here to promote you and your artwork—before the show, at the show, and long after (you can still read all about March 2010 exhibitor Karen Kohtz on our website, for instance). Once you reserve your booth for Artexpo New York 2011, just shoot me an email at christine@artexponewyork and we can get to work promoting your show together.

Questions? Email me, or drop a comment here.

Summertime is by far my favorite time of the year. I love the sunshine, the swimming pool, lemonade and most importantly… my ‘creative time’. I enjoy envisioning the upcoming fine art season. The month of August is a time for groundwork, research and homework. Many fine art galleries are preparing for their opening night galas. The large auctions houses like Sotheby’s are organizing ‘works on consignment’ for their brisk fall season art sales. Painters and sculptors around the world are preparing to participate as exhibitors in fine art fairs.

You may be asking yourself as an art professional, “How am I preparing for the upcoming fine art season? What can I do now to make sure I catch the art sales wave during September, October and November?”

Try these four easy and painless activities:

1. Mine for New Leads. It’s your job to find new ‘hot’ trade and consumer buyers. If you are an art gallery director or gallery consultant, you should be preparing yourselves by matching your gallery’s ‘stable of artists’ with new leads. Here are a few ideas:
   A) Always ask your clients for referrals. This is the easiest way to stimulate sales growth.
   B) Trade your gallery leads with other neighboring art gallery owners and work with them together on split sales.
   C) Specialized directories: these are sales lead directories targeted to a list of individuals according to profession. This is a great source if you are specializing in a certain style of art. For example, medical artwork to doctors or interior architectural renderings to interior designers, engineers and architects. Hey, this is your commission check and the fall season is the most important time of year throughout the art world! So your preparation time is a must.
2. Clean up your Database. It’s the old 80/20 rule… in this case, 80% of your fine art sales will come from 20% of your database. Keep it clean and don’t over burden your laptop with dead weight. And as you lose the dead weight of non-buyers, you will need to constantly add new “hot” prospective buyers everyday. I was taught in the fine art sales game that an art consultant needs to contact a new prospective buyer 3-5 times before an art sale is made. It’s true!
3. Ramp up Online. Creating and maintaining your website should be a top priority this summer. A website is more important than a business card these days. Give your prospective art buyer the opportunity to learn about you, your artists and especially about your business. As I see it, the beauty of our fine art industry is this: we are visual businesses and websites are tailor-made for the visual experience. If you would like to visit a professional fine art website with all the bells and whistles, just have a look at artexponewyork.com
4. Promote Testimonials. Over the last few decades of selling artwork, I have noticed a constant in our fine art industry and that constant is third-party testimonials. Yep, it has not changed! Why? Because everyone has an opinion and fine art is very subjective. Always ask for testimonials from your collectors, testimonials from fine art magazine editors, testimonials from fine art publishers and my favorite: testimonials from other artists. An artist with an opinion will always make you laugh, but to an art collector, a testimonial from art insiders is the gospel truth. Use their quotes on your website! You won’t be sorry!

Now the summer is half over and you look tan, trim & very healthy! Let’s order another iced tea by the poolside and get to work preparing for the best fine art season of the year. Shall we?

-Mark Shapiro is an Artexpo New York Sales Manager.

Click to download

This year, Artexpo New York will be even easier to navigate—thanks to the new Artexpo New York iPhone app. An invaluable tool for exhibitors, attendees, artists & art industry professionals alike, this free, interactive app is like a Rolodex, Artexpo floor plan and an events calendar rolled into one. Get yours now.

The Artexpo New York app has all kinds of useful features, including:

1. Floor Plan
   Easier to carry than a map, our Floor Plan helps you find your way around the show floor with ease. Zoom in to see areas up close, and scroll up and down and side to side for different views.
2. Exhibitor Directory
   Everything you need to know about Artexpo exhibitors—right at your fingertips. Browse our exhibitors, look up their booth numbers, and view our Floor Plan to find them at the show. You’ll also find a complete listing of exhibitor contact info that allows you to view artists’ websites, or call/email them right from your phone. Our Exhibitor Directory is a year-round networking reference you’ll use long after the show is over.
3. Events Calendar
   Stay on top of all the exciting events and education offerings at Artexpo, with our easy-to-use Events Calendar. Browse upcoming events, read the course descriptions and speaker bios, and plan your day!
4. Watch Our Live Twitter Stream
   See what people are saying about Artexpo! Contribute to the discussion yourself by including #Artexpo in your tweets.
5. Read Artist Highlights
   Learn more about Artexpo artists by reading Artwork of the Day artist highlights from the Artexpo New York blog. You’ll see beautiful original works and find artist bio info, quotes and more.

The Artexpo New York app can be used on your iPhone or iPod touch and can be downloaded for free. Download yours from the web here, or do a quick search for “Artexpo” in the App Store on your phone.

Once you have the app, feel free to tweet how you feel about it!

Artexpo New York 2010 is three months away, and we already have well over 100 innovative exhibitors signed up — both for the main floor and our SOLO pavilion! It’s shaping up to be a truly terrific event, complete with Art Battles: the Original Live Art Competition; our informative Education Series; and more. If you haven’t signed up, now’s the time to register your booth and get your work in front of 25,000 eager art buyers, publishers and consumers. If you’re already registered to exhibit, it’s time to start promoting your show!

First and foremost, you’ll want to download our custom logos to use in your press releases, invites, advertising and more. And of course, you’ll need to create a press kit, refine your artist statement, and do everything you can to spread the word about your upcoming exhibit (for more information, read “What to Do Before, During & After an Art Trade Show“). Right off the bat, though, the easiest thing you can do to promote your Artexpo show is to send us your images and background info.

Think of the Artexpo team as your informal P.R. agent. Send us your images and info, and we’ll promote your exhibit on our site, in our blog and via social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Sound good? Here’s what to do: if you haven’t already, please email 1-5 high-resolution digital files (at least 1024 pixels on the smallest side) of your artwork to images@artexponewyork.com. Please be sure to include:

1. Artist name(s)
2. The title of each work
3. The medium
4. The publisher name
5. The size(s) of your work
6. The price of each piece
7. Any additional info you feel would be interesting for readers to know about the artist, the publisher, and/or the work, i.e. a brief bio, a few lines about what inspired each artwork, etc.

Easy as pie. It’s never too early to start promoting your exhibit, so put us to work for you today. That’s what we’re here for. I look forward to receiving your images!

Questions? Drop me a line below.

Artist Advocate Magazine, Winter 2009 Issue

Do you subscribe to Artist Advocate Magazine? It’s a terrific publication devoted to getting artists in front of galleries that sell original artworks. It’s also a great read, with helpful, industry-related articles–for instance, an interview with Artexpo CEO Eric Smith in the Winter 2009 issue.

The interview goes into Artexpo’s history–and Eric’s role in it–and also explores the value of trade shows in today’s growing online art marketplace. You can read the full article here. For now, here are a few highlights–starting with a few words on selling art in person:

Trade shows are a proven ground for any product, not just art. As an artist, there’s no better way to sell a piece you’ve just painted than by standing in front of it, meeting a gallery owner, and telling your story about the piece right there. Every work of art has a story behind it, and that’s a really strong part of the appeal. Then there are the colors and textures of the piece. Seeing a work of art in person versus on-screen is a whole different world. There’s nothing better than seeing it person.

And here’s a little blurb about our SOLO show, where countless emerging artists have been discovered and launched their careers:

One of the biggest developments with Artexpo is that we now have many artists in the show representing themselves independently, especially in our SOLO pavilion. It’s a less expensive booth space that’s designed for emerging and career artists to put their work on a national stage in front of art industry experts, buyers, and consumers. From the perspective of someone running the show, it’s a wonderful thing to see an artist get discovered, and in the SOLO pavilion we’ve had many, many artists who’ve been discovered.

That’s the point of exhibiting: to have somebody find you, take you under their wing, publish you, represent you in their gallery. We really do have a huge turnover. A lot of our SOLO artists get discovered, and they don’t come back because they now have representation by galleries and publishers. Some of them do come back, though — for instance, if they’ve found two galleries to represent them, and now they want 10.

You can visit the SOLO and main floor sections of our site for more information. I also encourage you to read the full Artist Advocate interview and share your thoughts, comments, feedback below.

Mehron Zadeh is the General Manager of Deljou Art Group, the world’s leading publisher of fine art, renowned throughout the industry and internationally. Deljou has been exhibiting with Artexpo for 25 years. Below, Mehron shares his thoughts on exhibiting with Artexpo over the years.

Mehron Zadeh, General Manager, Deljou Art Group

“The positive effect Artexpo has produced in both sales and exposure for our business has been undeniable, a success for certain.

“We first heard about Artexpo in the early ’80s through other exhibitors, I would say about 1983. At that time, there were only a few trade shows which catered to our industry. Artexpo was certainly the one that stood out as a great marketing vehicle for our art business. We began exhibiting that year.

“Through Artexpo, we were really effective in getting our name recognized and having our original artwork seen by many professionals in the industry. Networking was very important to us then, and the show was a good vehicle for this goal. As far as selling artwork, it took a few shows to see substantial results–but we knew from the first show that Artexpo would be the right fit for us.

“For an industry without an association of its own, Artexpo has been able to play a major role of bringing the industry together. Artexpo has created an environment where, as an exhibitor, we can reaffirm our existing business relationships, identify new customers and potential partners, and scope out the competition.

“Artexpo has also become an additional platform for our clients and potential clients to see original artwork in person, beyond coming to our gallery. It is very important to see the quality of artwork up close, as this builds our clients’ trust in our work and creates an enthusiasm and appreciation for the artwork unmatched by internet marketing.

“In comparison to the other industry trade shows we have been exhibiting at, Artexpo has been the only one in the U.S. to attract International clients. This of great importance to our business. Artexpo’s recently increased emphasis on education seminars and open-table discussions is another positive development, from which both attendees and exhibitors benefit greatly.

“While we are all faced with decreased consumer spending, it is now prudent to spend more on marketing. In a slower economy, with fewer consumers in the marketplace, it is essential to take advantage of any opportunity that provides such great exposure.”

Learn more about Deljou Art Group at www.deljouartgroup.com

To reserve your booth for Artexpo New York 2010, click here.