Artists blend passion with business sense

This is the first of a four-part series

running through July about the ways that artists make a living from their work.

BY PAT PATERA

Art: business or pleasure? Most artists are long on passion but a common perception is that they're short on business sense.

Still, not all artists are starving. And some who endure for the long term find that success lies in building a company of like-minded associates and offering a diversified product line.

Artists' Co-op of Reno, in business for 43 years at 627 Mill St., boasts a strong membership and runs like a well-oiled machine. The original 10 members stabilized at 20 and the group now feels like family, says Al

Ferrand, a painter, sculptor and president of the co-op.

And Wildflower Village, set on about seven acres at 4395 W. Fourth St., makes use of ample space to diversify, says Pat Campbell, owner of the center. Offerings include a 4,000-square-foot gallery, artist apartments, a wedding chapel, a trading post, a bed and breakfast and art classes. Plans call for a host of added attractions such as a casting foundry, glass blowing smithy and garden center.

A third business model is set by Silver Sage Artists. These four artists specialize, but in divergent media: Patricia Wallis, painter; Joe Donahue, wood vessels; Tia Flores, gourd vessels and Barbara Uriu, gems and jewelry. What they share is a background in the business world and a serious focus on branding, marketing and quality control. Plus a genuine liking for one another and a willingness to work for each other's success.

At the Artist's Co-op, costs and space are equally shared. Members pay a $35 monthly fee, a 20 percent commission on sales, and work four days each quarter in the gallery. (The gallery is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) For that, each artist earns 100 square feet of space in which to show.

"Like any business, we have low months but then rebound," says Ferrand. Co-op sales average $3,000 to $4,000 a month, but go as high as $8,000. Best months are during the holiday season and during non-profit fundraisers, hosted about four times a year. (The non-profit takes 20 percent of sales.) In turn, the non-profit's membership turns out to buy art, so attendance at those shows is strong, he says.

Artist's Co-op maintains a mailing list of 1,200 and mails up to 1,500 postcards to promote a fundraiser such as one with Nevada Rock Art Foundation this month.

The gallery operates smoothly, says Ferrand, because a quarterly schedule keeps all the members on track. If problems arise, it's because the co-op is responsible for building upkeep, such as painting, carpeting or repairing a leaky roof.

At Wildflower Village, Campbell follows a plan of diversity. She founded the art center in 1994 as a limited partnership she owns 95 percent, her spouse the remainder. The center employs 10 part-time workers, and 100 artists show at the 4,000-square-foot gallery.

But Campbell began with a business plan far different from the current reality. In the early 1990s, she says, Reno redevelopment agencies touted a need for single-residence units and promised bus service if she built it. But nearly 15 years later she says, "No bus goes by here yet."

So Campbell rolled with the reality of running an arts-based business. Profit, however, has not been a part of that reality. "Initially I saw it for retirement income," she says. "But now profit is not why I do it."

However, she adds, "The last five years have been fun. Art has blossomed." The gallery charges 35 percent on sales.

Catering to the local community is not enough, she says; the tourist trade is key.

But the real income stream, says Campbell, will come from selling water rights to the land. "Then I will have no debt."

Yet a third business model is set by Silver Sage Artists, four diverse creatives who banded together in 2006 to operate like a business after earlier careers in technology, finance, interior design and academia.

"We had common goals," says Flores. "This was a second life for all of us. We're self-employed. Each of us has a strong work ethic."

To get started, the members met with every arts organization in town to ask for words of wisdom. They were told: "What will make or break you is repeat customers. You need to build a collector base. Determine your image and be true to that."

Promotion is key says Wallis. "A huge part of art as a business is marketing. You have to get out there."

That's the antitheses of what she calls "the gallery mindset" an artist's hope that an art gallery will do all the work.

For instance, the Silver Sage Artists turn out to meet and greet at all gallery receptions. "Meeting the artist adds value to the purchase," says Wallis.

The team doesn't enter into shows lightly.

"First impressions are important," says Wallis. She recalls one show, saying, "We all agreed we'd take our high-end pieces (none of the cheaper bread and butter lines) and build display pedestals. We didn't want it to look like an art faire, all cluttered. Each piece had its space. When we show, it will always be that one step up."

Over time, the group has learned from its mistakes. A no-no, says Flores, is piggybacking on some unrelated festival. "The art must be the destination, not the backdrop."

And Wallis recalls a foray into an outdoor market. "We heard that sales were good. But selling on the sidewalk with a tent above your head results in a different perception by the customer when it comes to the value of the work. We decided not to do that as a group again."

Silver Sage Artists' work is priced from $150 to $5,500. Average price of pieces is in the thousands hardly an impulse buy for a shopper at a one-day event.

As an Artown event, Silver Sage Artists plan a group show at Bartley Ranch brick house on two consecutive weekends in July. The reason for doing bookend weekends: "People come back on day two and bring other people with them to help justify the purchase," says Uriu.

Working as a company also mitigates the loneliness of going solo.

"We have fun together," says Flores. "We get so excited for one another."