Artists' Flow Chart for Events

How To Flow For Events Graphic by Susie Caron (2022)

Artists' Flow Chart For Events
Susie Caron (c) 2022

As 2022 winds down, I  prepare for next year's art exhibits. What will I create? In which events do I want to participate? How do I know what I plan  won't be a waste of my time and energies?

Colorful, pictural, or graphic charts  help me focus on the business side of my creative endeavors. If you are like me, an artist, crafter, or creative in any sense, and you participate in live exhibits,  a graphic may help you as well.

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Creating -  Business

I admit, I struggled for a while to keep track of the business elements.  I couldn't easily visualize how to flow through multiple tasks involved while exhibiting my paintings. Painting was fun. The 'business side' - marketing, blogging, email, posts, keeping track and evaluating results was not as much fun. I wanted to make it easier to market and keep track of the art events, my contributions, costs and results.   I needed a visible way to handle this process because during the busy art exhibit seasons I simply didn't have the time to fuss over each element.

The chart above (downloadable below) resulted from my deliberations and I offer it as a starting point for you.  Each color block could be discussed further in depth, (perhaps I will do that at another time.) For now, I'll explain a bit more about each major element.  Let me know if this helps you and if you have comments or suggestions.

 Title:     " How to Flow for Events "
You may be asking "Why do you need this? How does it help?" If you are a mainly visual artist, you may need to see the whole picture in order to attend more readily to the details. To me this is much like painting an abstract or expressionistic background before I add a detailed, realistic pet portrait. This diagram can keep you focused and on track. To use it you can simply work through the elements to attend to the business side of your art more easily.

New Dated Excel for Event:
This is just what is says. I created an excel sheet, listing  by date, all the exhibits and events I participate in for the year. This includes contact persons, important deadlines, the art submitted, and any awards or sales. (I  created an excel template for this purpose. See Below) The template is e important to keep track of which art you exhibit at each event. That way you don't make the mistake of presenting the same works over again in any particular exhibit and risk it being rejected. Plus you have an easily available document with important dates. I provide a link below to access this template.

Painting Theme:
Exhibits often sponsor art on a particular theme. Sometimes artists get to choose a theme to present. Focusing on a theme can help  advance business goals and purposes for each event. For example, are you interested in selling paintings, or do you want to use an exhibit to advertise and connect with potential  commission customers? Knowing the theme can determine whether or not you want to participate now or even in the future. If the theme suggested doesn't fit what you like to create, you may  choose not to participate. Alternately, if an exhibit  allows contributions on a subject  - in any style or medium, the artist may want to engage.  Choosing a theme also helps you more easily create, store and  access blog &  post ideas and photos.

Blog Purpose:
Will you write  articles about the event, the sponsors,  or about the art you plan to display? What is your purpose for writing and what will you ask your reader to do?

Email Purpose: My email list is full of special people who love what I do. If you don't have an email list, you really need one. If you do email your fans, ask yourself these questions.
"How will I approach my list and what will I offer them?"
For example, you  may want to provide them with a limited time coupon.

Posting Goals: 
Where will you post on social media? What are your goals? Who are your target audiences? What are the CTA's (calls to action). What do you want  readers to see or do?

Evaluate Results:
After each event or exhibit, how might you evaluate the results? Will you base your personal value  on number of people attending,  quality of vendors participating, how much money you made, or number of potential customer sign ups received? Did the exhibit match your business beliefs and help meet any goals? finally, how do you decide if an event is worth doing again?

Send A Thank You  Note To The Event Contact Person, Organizer, and/or Organization Sponsor.
I include this one because even though you may have paid for a space, most of the time volunteers set up and run art events. Even if this isn't true, these event  take a lot of thought, planning and work to run. It's important to thank people who've helped you.  

Adjust Notes for Next Year
Your notes about the event, your feelings, successes or failures written now will help you to decide whether or not to participate again. If you plan to participate, your notes will help you plan what you create,  what business goals you'll focus on, and what you want to accomplish.

This information and the available downloads below, can help you plan and record your events, exhibits and memberships for the coming year. Obviously, the 'how tos' involved for each block in the chart involve research and work on your part. However, this chart may go a long way to visually showing you a path to follow as you attend and record events potentially, year after year.
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Thank you for reading. As always you questions, thoughts and comments are welcome.

If you think the chart above could be helpful to you,  feel free to  download a free copy right now.
Just click on the file link below

13_chart_how_to_flow_for_events.jpg
File Size:	53 kb
File Type:	jpg

Download File

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(For a free template  - 2 Easy Excel Templates To Organize Artist's Memberships & Events,  Click HERE .) ​