LIVING WITH ART BLOG

 Michele Mikesell, "Indalo Man," Oil on Canvas, 31 3/8 x 15 5/8 in., $3,800

Last night I dreamt I was installing an exhibition of Michele Mikesell’s paintings on the walls of a large vessel parked in the Suez Canal. That’s probably because Michele’s paintings which are scheduled to be part of an exhibition opening in our Gallery tomorrow, Friday, April 2, 2021 have not yet arrived from Spain. Michele and her husband, photographer Barry Snidow, currently live and work in Spain most of the year. Last week we received all of Barry’s incredible photographs, but we are still waiting for Michele’s paintings. What will we do if they do not arrive? We will just have to do another digital pivot as we have been doing for over a year now. In fact, on Tuesday we sent out an email featuring the work of Michele and Barry and have already sold several of her paintings. 

 Barry Snidow, "Tableau of Tools, Chelva," Giclée Print, 10 1/8 x 10 1/8 in., $250

Barry Snidow, "Caravana, Chelva," Giclee Print, 10 1/8 x 10 1/8 in., $250 

According to the “2021 Art Market Report” conducted annually by USB and Art Basel, we are not alone. They report that despite the enormous impact of Covid-19 which forced most of the artworld to either shut down or shift online, many art galleries not only managed to survive, but were able to successfully find new ways of promoting, exhibiting, and selling art. Granted the art market shrank by 22% in 2020, but online gallery sales doubled, and overall gallery profits were up due to a reduction in expenditures. I found this article very interesting as it substantiated what has been happening in our Gallery since the advent of Covid almost a year ago. We have made several structural changes to how the Gallery operates and remains successful.

 Barry Snidow, "Fiesta y Fuego, Diablo con Cara Roja, Chelva," Giclée Print, 5 1/2 x 8 1/4 in., $225

Barry Snidowm "Fiesta y Fuego, Diablo con Chispas, Chelva," Giclée Print, 5 1/2 x 8 1/4 in., $225 

When it became no longer safe for JRB Art at The Elms to have our traditional monthly openings, we started thinking about how to deliver our art offerings to people digitally. Now, I am the least technologically sophisticated person who works at the Gallery, but I do know how to conduct research. Consequently, I started reading everything I could find about the digital marketplace. We became an Artsy Partner so we could introduce our inventory to the global marketplace. “Artsy” is the leading online global marketplace and works with some of the largest galleries in the world. We also subscribed to Matterport, the best online 3D platform we could identify. Matterport allows us to provide our customers with virtual gallery tours and exhibitions. Matterport was originally designed for the real estate market, but they found that opportunities existed in the art world and did a digital pivot. We increased the number of our weekly newsletters from one to three, including this blog. We extended regularly scheduled exhibitions from monthly to bi-monthly. We found that scheduling more time between shows gives our customers more time to visit online and/or in person. Throughout the year we have always been available in person by appointment. When people do come to the Gallery; we adhere to social distancing and other safety precautions. In February, we began (gulp) offering free shipping with purchases. Also, we have enhanced and improved our website so that people can now make direct purchases.

Michele Mikesell, "In the Bubble," Oil on Canvas, 7 3/4 x 7 3/4 in., $1,400

Navigating change is time consuming and a lot of hard work. We found that hiring a part time Visual Communications specialist was really beneficial. But even with her expertise, increasing our outreach and customer base has created some interesting challenges. For instance, last week we sold a wonderful painting of a landscape by an Oklahoma artist to a new customer who lives and works in Brazil. When we took the painting to be crated and shipped, we found that the proposed shipping rates exceeded the cost of the painting. So, we started working with the customer and a third-party partner to find a solution. A new customer from St. Louis asked that we open on a Sunday, a day when we are usually closed, so they could purchase David Phelps bronze sculpture. While I was at the Gallery with that customer another customer came by and purchased two paintings. So, I am going to revise our Gallery schedule to include being open on Sunday afternoons. We haven’t been open on Sundays for years. But perhaps the most nerve-wracking situation we have encountered in the last few months has been this shipping problem with Michele’s work. Yet the show must go on, so we will join the rest of the visual art world and pivot. Who knew pivots could be so vexing and so necessary?