ArtistsWhoTHRIVE Seminar

The ArtistsWhoTHRIVE seminar that I delivered last Tuesday earned record attendance and reviews, according to the directors of the Small Business Development Center of Alameda County.

The room was absolutely packed with an eager audience of over 130 creative people, all looking for ways to offer their creative talents in ways that will support them economically and creatively.

As promised, we completed three mini marketing makeovers that included:

1. a painter whose passion is painting drag queens

2. an illustrator of who loves botanicals

3. and a spiritual painter who meditates and then paints the color energy of her subjects

Does it sound impossible to identify a viable market for these three artists?  It’s not! During our live “blue sky” session, these artists, and the entire audience, clearly described their market, who I refer to as a “tribe”, ways to celebrate the tribal culture and serve their tribe, and where their tribe might be found.

The economic health of a city is closely tied to its cultural capital.  As local artists thrive so does the community.  Think of most famous destinations and you think of the art.

There are many economic studies that prove this assertion. Read this New York Times article about a business development program in New York City for artists:

“The city’s cultural sector “attracts very, very creative people who have incredible ideas, but they don’t always know how to turn their ideas into financial sustainable entities,” said Seth W. Pinsky, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

His agency is spending $50,000 on this program and a similar one being run by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, with Creative Capital.   Read more….

Here are a few of the messages I’ve received and that I’d like to share, with permission.

And they are still coming!

“Thank YOU so much.  It was the best workshop I’ve been to.   Honestly, yesterday changed my life.”

-Mary Lonergan

“Your seminar was just AWESOME!  I learned so much, and got so much inspiration.” -  Lisa Baker

“Thank you for the great information you gave at your seminar! It really got me motivated.” - Nat Jackson

“I enjoyed the seminar. I made an Action Plan of notes I took during class. I was tickled at how many people in the room are having some of the same struggles. Why are some of us conditioned to believe a struggling artist is the thing to be?” -D. Jean Collins

“Thank you for your wonderful presentation yesterday. I learned new things and enjoyed your lively interaction with us. I am inspired to take action.” – Pauline C. Nishi

“I can’t begin to express how much it all meant to me. Within the hour after I left, I was telling my friends about you. I will be waiting patiently anticipating the weekly newsletter.” – James Walker

“It was a relief to have someone talk about making a living as an artist instead of wringing their hands about how to pay the rent.” - Susan Troy

My thanks to the seminar sponsors:

• The United States Small Business Administration

• The Small Business Development Center of Alameda County

• The Peralta Community College District

• The Berkeley Public Library

Sponsor an ArtistsWhoTHRIVE seminar for your Artist Group or Organization

Seminars are generally three hours with a break but they can be shaped to fit your audience.

By using an existing a cross promotional program, an ArtistsWhoTHRIVE seminar can also generate additional revenue for your group or organization.

"Bambi's First Year" Thomas Kinkade

Thomas Kinkade, I loath, and I used to actually admire him.  Artistically, an average professional painter.  Entrepreneurially, ground breaking.  But in my never to be humble opinion, he had it comin‘!.

Let’s start with what I admired.  He clearly defined his market, conservative Christians, and he “delivered” (no pun intended) a unique value proposition, and in a way that they would appreciate.  How?  This particular physiographic is quite literal.  So Thomas Kinkade scattered lots of graphic symbols throughout his paintings to celebrate this group’s values. Little hearts signify the sanctity of marriage and the “Painter of Light”, a not so subtle reference to the light of Christ, used an over abundance of artistic devices to convey light.  The result.  Saccharine sweet paintings that make my teeth hurt.

Where it all went wrong was that he also leveraged the general ignorance of this market.  A market that is not typically a group educated in arts and culture.  By saturating the market with “limited edition” prints of 250,000, or more, he was out of integrity.  In the state of California, Mr. Kinkade’s domicile, only 250 prints are considered “limited”, legally.

His genius? He used the franchise model to build his empire, a la eMyth’s approach to building a business.  That’s right, all those Thomas Kinkade galleries that you see closing are franchises, like McDonalds.  But many of these franchise owners sued him, forcing the company to delist from the New York Stock exchange.

Imagine.  An artist with a company listed on the New York Stock exchange.  I had to know more.  So I actually interviewed one of his CPAs and he shared the basic mechanics and history of Thomas Kinkade’s empire. Horrified and fascinated, I thought, “What if I learned from his success but I applied these lessons in a way that I’m proud of and with integrity?”  Isn’t that what Jesus would do?

Recently an arbitrator awarded franchise owners a $2.1 million judgment.  And on Friday, the “Painter of Light” was arrested and jailed in Monterey  for driving while under the influence.  We’re reminded again that integrity is the cornerstone to any lasting and prosperous enterprise, whether its oil and gas, banking, or art.

San Francisco based Artist and CEO Ann Rea

Listen to Artist Ann Rea’s Interview

Click here to listen >>

About Artist and CEO Ann Rea

by Melissa Dinwiddie

Ann went to art school, but abandoned her art career and didn’t paint or draw for over seven years while working a variety of jobs in tech, investing and disaster relief. An encounter with two stage IV breast cancer survivors finally made her realize that life is too short to avoid pursuing her dream.

In late 2004 Ann moved to San Francisco to paint full time, and within one year she’d created a profitable business from her art. (So much for the “starving artist” myth.) A profile in Fortune Magazine refers to Ann as “the practical painter,” and Jonathan Fields writes about her blue ocean business strategy in his book, Career Renegade.

As her art career flourished, other artists started asking Ann for coaching. She now has an artist business coaching and consulting practice and works one-on-one with a a select number of artists in all media across the globe. She started an online community, ArtistsWhoTHRIVE, in order to reach a broader audience and attract other thriving artists to possibly profile in a future book.

Ann’s intention with ArtistsWhoTHRIVE is to cultivate a positive and productive online global community of thriving artists and to provide guidance through a series of Q&A posts. (Yes, your questions are welcome, but be advised, ArtistsWhoTHRIVE is a whining-free zone!)

Here is Ann’s first draft of The Artists Who Thrive manifesto:

• We believe that we have shaped our artistic voice and that we have something to say.
• We believe we offer creative expression that adds value to the world and therefore the marketplace.
• We believe that we are creating and growing a business.
• We articulate our unique selling proposition to our defined market.
• We believe that we will not be discovered but our value can if we promote it.
• We believe that the traditional model of artist representation is too often broken so we represent ourselves using effective strategic marketing.
• We believe in getting a nice piece of the pie in the art market.
• We are confident and optimistic that we are in control of our destiny.
• We know that in the new economy “the right brainers will rule the world.”*

* “A Whole New Mind” by Daniel Pink

This Saturday my fiancé and I attended the San Francisco Fine Art Fair of modern and contemporary art at Fort Mason. And then on Sunday we went to the opening of the Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay at the De Young art museum.

After this weekend I was struck by the fact that I haven’t been spending enough time painting.  That I had several undeveloped ideas for new bodies of work.  And that there are many creative challenges that I want to explore.

For those who know me, you know that I don’t shy away from the business side of the scale. But lately I’ve noticed that it’s been tipping in one direction and it’s time to rebalance.

So this week I took action.  I rented a small storage space to make room in my beach studio for painting larger canvases.  With my art  intern’s help we cleaned, reorganized, and purged my studio.  This included slashing several finished canvases that where not working for me, a very therapeutic and cleansing exercise.  I now feel more refreshed and ready to create.