Help your students launch their art career right away with these 5 tips.
Each year, your fine art graduates apply their skills, passion, and storytelling abilities to the project that is going to help solidify their presence in the art community. The student showcase is when your students get to share their unique vision and message with the world.
Up until this point, they have studied different art movements, explored different mediums, and asked different questions. They’ve also grown to understand their own art practice on a deeper level.
As much effort that your students put into their showcases, there is even more going on behind the scenes. Your school’s marketing department works to promote the showcase and the artists. The professors help organize it, and the event coordinators make sure everything goes smoothly.
Everything has led up to this. A highly anticipated event like this should lead to a lot of opportunities, right?
Keep reading to find out what your showcases are missing and what you can do to get the most out of them.
Make your showcases last a lifetime
Unfortunately, there is a gap between the exposure your students should receive and what they actually get. These artists put so much hard work and energy into their showcase, shouldn’t they get the chance to take advantage of this for more than 3 to 4 days?
Remember, these events might well be the only exhibition opportunity most of your students will get for a while. What if they could use it as an opportunity to build a network that is full of people they could work with in the future, all whilst adding to the credibility of your institution?
Also, you should always keep in mind that graduating high school seniors are constantly looking at the schools they are considering applying to. Being able to share all of the work that comes out of your school will give your institution the edge it needs to stand out in a competitive market.
That’s why recording your student showcases should be just as necessary as promoting and organizing them. If it’s not recorded, all that wonderful work is lost, only to be remembered by the people who were physically there.
The context and form of media in which art is delivered plays an important role in how it’s remembered. For the people that couldn’t attend the physical show, try to recreate its setting as much as possible through videos, pictures, and detailed information on your website. Make sure it is thoroughly documented so your students’ stories can live on forever.
Help your students grow their network
We all know that outside of students sharing their unique artistic voice, the main purpose of the showcase is to introduce them to new professional opportunities. Unfortunately, there aren’t going to be any chances of getting offers to work and collaborate if the only people showing up are your students’ family and friends, and a select few from the art community who don’t usually work with graduating artists.
Your students won’t be the only ones missing out on the chance to work on exciting projects either. Times are changing, and brands are actively seeking artists to collaborate with on everything from advertising to company-sponsored exhibitions and even social media content more than ever before. These businesses aren’t following the old school methods of finding artists, so your students shouldn’t follow outdated rules when it comes to growing their careers. That’s why having the right people access your student showcases is crucial to your students’ success.
Help your students get the recognition and opportunities they deserve exposing them to people and brands who are eager to work with talented young artists. Get creative, start inviting local brands and creative agencies that could potentially collaborate with your students in the future.
Tell the story behind the art to bring your showcases to life
Showcases often have limited information about the artworks on display. Your students can make an official artist statement and even discuss their work, but there’s a caveat. This opportunity is limited to the amount of time the exhibition is open and the people who attend.
If someone happens to miss the event, they will also miss the chance to fully understand the meaning and inspiration behind the piece, the artist’s story, and the school’s expertise.
There isn’t anything that can compare to the feeling of fully understanding the voice of an artist to help you contextualize the work and see the world from the artist’s perspective. Having the artist there can make a difference in how people connect to art and the ability for the artist to get hired.
Your students and your school should be able to share an in-depth look into their work, their inspiration, and the story behind it. In the meantime, conduct brief interviews with each of your students to learn more about their work, and display their short answers with their artworks on your school’s website. This is going to help others fully grasp the meaning of your students’ art.
Make it easier for your students to get contacted
Your students aspire to have their work seen and to build a successful career as artists, and so do you.
Artists usually turn to traditional methods like websites, business cards, and social media to share their work and attract opportunities, but it takes time to get traffic and create a reliable network; not to mention how hard it is to hang on to a business card!
This is your student’s career, so it shouldn’t be so hard for them to make valuable connections and find work doing what they love. All of this is only more frustrating for potential clients who want to connect with these artists. Contacting them should feel effortless, not impossible.
There has to be a way to streamline this process so they can always be reached, right? One way to do this is to always keep your students’ contact information current on your website so there are no missed opportunities.
Don’t let your students go unnoticed any longer
These are small things you can do to make your showcases last a lifetime while creating more chances for your students to get discovered.
Take detailed pictures and share them on your website. Start getting your students to share more details about their work, their process, and what makes them unique. Keep their contact info updated at all times, and start expanding their network by inviting people who are looking out for new creatives to work with.
All of these things seem small, but they can make a world of difference in how much of an impact your students’ showcase can have on their careers.
If you’re ready to get started, we’re here to help. These tips do take time and maintenance which is why we created an integrative solution to allow your students to get the most out of their exhibitions.
Artifact creates interactive online exhibitions of your students’ work that is shared with our global network of art experts, brands, and creative businesses looking to work with graduating artists. We are here to help your students and your school get noticed without creating more work for you. Schedule a call with an advisor to learn more or email us at info@artifact.global.
