Blog/News

Accessibility to Artists

Posted on 5/2/2019 6:07:16 PM - 10 Comments
Topics: Q&A Series | Talks/Instruction

Accessibility to Artists

RAAC (Rappahannock Association for Arts & the Community) Fall Art Tour

I think most people are socialized to think that ART is too sophisticated for us mere mortals to comprehend, and so are tongue-tied in the presence of a real artist. I know I am, face to face. So what can artists do to make themselves more accessible?

Sidney Oliver

In essence, a painter's life is one of mostly self-imposed solitary confinement. If a painter is not mucking about, which can be defined in many ways, his soul is on that canvas. Trying to break down his soul into perhaps trivial words is difficult as well as torturous, hence the dilemma whereof you speak.

Some painters have no desire to be accessible and that's an option. A friend sent me a Wikipedia link to an author with the pen name of Elena Ferrante to whom she has become addicted. If the reasoning behind the pen name is purely for reasons of her work environment, it makes total sense. Promoting one's work and meeting and greeting takes a lot out of most people, let alone those who work alone.

Reluctance to discuss all of this might go both ways. Both the artist AND the viewer are tongue-tied. It helps to have someone who can ask discerning questions such as you are asking. Otherwise, it might be a mutually awkward standoff.

Recently, I have been involved in the following events, which involve interacting with the public:

This coming Sunday, May 5, from 2-4, I will be teaching a Sunday sketch class that occurs the first Sunday of the month at the National Sporting Library & Museum. I did this last year and it is a way to meet and discuss the process. The reason for this blog is that I do not teach, have no desire to teach, and am not comfortable teaching art. I don't mind discussing art in various formats, but critiquing someone's work is painful for me. Also, I will not teach this class in a normal sense in that I'm pretty free about handling the students. There will be no formal instruction. I'll give a pep talk at the beginning and the end and I'll walk around while the students sketch and I'll speak with them without judging anything. I'm there to encourage.

Display at the headquarters for the Fall Art Tour at Washington School

Each year during the first full weekend of November, RAAC puts on a highly successful Fall Art Tour. The headquarters is at the historic Washington School in Little Washington, VA, and visitors are able to see the gallery displaying art by participating artists. The tour is a self-guided tour throughout the beautiful rolling hills of Rappahannock County to see the individual studios of the artists of the area.

Soup & Soul, an event sponsored by RAAC

Within the last few years, I've been able to help further the dialogue between creatives and those who want to learn more about the process of creating by giving some talks. These talks have been extremely rewarding for me and perhaps for others as well.

Other than opportunities such as these which are available where I am located, I think attending gallery openings and taking classes is an excellent way to meet artists. The more artists you meet in different settings, being tongue-tied might become a distant memory.

Enjoy the process!

Ruthie Windsor-Mann

This post is part of a series of Q & As between Ruthie Windsor-Mann and Sidney Oliver.

We invite the reader to join in with other questions in the comments section. This needs to be interactive in order to work.

All photographs are by Ruthie Windsor-Mann unless otherwise credited.

Comments

10 Responses to Accessibility to Artists

Thanks, Ruthie. Though these might well be peripheral to your points, my take-away is that WHENEVER an artist shows up, she or he IS becoming accessible, and whenever any artist confesses also to being tongue-tied in face-to-face meetings with non-artists, she or he is stepping off the pedestal in a very encouraging way.
Sometimes a self-imposed pressure to "perform" makes the questioner too focused how she's coming across than on understanding the artist or remembering that the primary way an artist communicates is through her medium. That doesn't lend itself to a good conversation.
I guess what I mean is that "accessibility" is a mutual responsibility.

Posted by Sidney Oliver · via ruthiewindsormann.com · 89 months ago

You are exactly right in this. It is mutual. I remember at an opening for a solo show in North Carolina, the director of the gallery brought me over to a couple saying that the couple wanted to meet me. She introduced us, left us alone, and, I swear, I don't believe any of us said a word after that. They needed to ask something. Anything. I could have taken it from there. What was I going to do? Ask some question like, "Do you like my work?" "What's your favorite piece?" That's just not me. It was just ghastly and all three of us had to endure it.

Posted by Ruthie Windsor Mann · via ruthiewindsormann.com · 89 months ago

My question is, what is your goal, selling art or meeting people? My experience is that accessibility to artists is not the answer, either to promoting art or selling it. I've never "sold" a piece of work--by that I mean convinced anyone to buy it by chatting about it. When I set up at outdoor art fairs, I was shocked to learn that my buyers had little interest in me as a person, or the inspiration behind the work, the process, etc. Although I was ready to chat, they just pointed out the ones they wanted and got out their credit cards, 99 percent of the time. They either liked the work or they didn't. The people asking questions were mostly amateur artists looking for tips (which was fine with me, I was happy to share).

A friendly, extroverted artist will make friends and attract students (if they want to teach). But if the goal is to make art less intimidating to the general public, well, art is intimidating to people for a lot of reasons, but I don't believe friendly artists are going to change that. Exhibiting quality work at reasonable prices is a step in the right direction, though.

Posted by Tracy · via ruthiewindsormann.com · 89 months ago

Sidney can chime in here, but I think her question had to do with how, as an artist, one can help those who DO want to ask questions, but can't figure out what or how to say something that doesn't sound stupid.
Perhaps those who purchase at art fairs just want a quick buy. I have no idea.
I only know that my main interaction with collectors is in my studio and there are often deep discussions about my process, theories, etc. Even with the RAAC Fall Art Tour, some fabulous conversations can occur. I'm talking 400+ in a two-day period. My galleries handle it from their end, but I feel if someone is paying for something in the thousands, they want to know more than the cost of the painting.
We might be talking apples and oranges here. If your collectors visited your studio rather than an impersonal art fair packed with other artists, I suspect questions about your process would be asked.

Posted by Ruthie Windsor Mann · via ruthiewindsormann.com · 89 months ago

Tracy, Ruthie is right: The intent of my question was to explore how an accessible (not necessarily folksy) artist can help to demystify art, to the betterment of all concerned. I think reducing it to selling art or meeting people misses the point. The issue, to me, is what the arts community can do to help the interested people develop a vocabulary and an eye for quality art. There's no better way than having an expert pause and take the opportunity, graciously, to show her how's and why's. Your mileage may vary. Mine is learned. Just this morning a giant in the community of ancient to contemporary art bead collecting helped me develop my eye for coral jewelry in just five lines of text. He discussed provenance, bead size, bead color, and retail pricing. Now I am clued in to what constitutes quality in a sphere that's very important to me as a collector.

Posted by Sidney Oliver · via ruthiewindsormann.com · 89 months ago

Thanks, Sidney for your reply. I was far off the track, it seems. I've had many lively conversations with artists, clients, etc. over the decades, but after racking my (admittedly aging) brain I still can't think of a valuable comment to add, lol. I've not experienced any of the awkwardness described above.

Posted by Tracy · via ruthiewindsormann.com · 89 months ago

Wow, Ruthie, congrats on selling work in the thousands!!!! I hope you also offer smaller pieces the average household can afford

Posted by Tracy · via ruthiewindsormann.com · 89 months ago

Absolutely. If you check the link for my works and look at photographs under the Studio Images section of this website, you will see that my sizes range from around 6X8" to 48X48." I don't necessarily price paintings relating to the size, but it's obvious that a smaller painting will be priced at a lower amount than a much larger piece.

If you scroll through the blog, you will get a sense of what we are doing here. I do not teach and am not comfortable teaching as I am an outgoing introvert. This blog is my contribution to helping others either paint or understand the creative process. It's all from my perspective of having been a professional and working painter since 1970. My mother was also a painter and I gained a lot of knowledge through her. Unlike me, she did teach and she had loads of insight into the process.

Please enjoy scrolling through and please contribute. Sidney and I want this to be an interactive and not one-way experience.

Posted by Ruthie Windsor Mann · via ruthiewindsormann.com · 89 months ago

Tracy, well, there is that, and we've all felt that frustration. But there's another, equally important side, it seems to me. Can't we, and isn't it time that we celebrate women artists who have broken through the glass ceiling separating perceptions of men's and women's worth as artists? As my grandfather would say, there's a ways to go, but when any female fine artist can successfully price her work "in the thousands," all female fine artists benefit. That's just the way of the market.

Posted by Sidney Oliver · via ruthiewindsormann.com · 89 months ago

Contrary to one person's opinion (Sidney) I don't have anything to say. I'll work on it. But I'm lucky to live Cornwall which is full of artists. There are 3 studios and one big community in my little town. It has open evenings frequently and both artists and general public are learning to talk to one another and be comfortable with one another. More later. Must dash

Posted by Susan Venus · via ruthiewindsormann.com · 88 months ago