Evolution of an Artist Salon

Events for artists to show and share and network with their community have lots of benefits. New York artist and agent Samantha Levin describes how an artist salon happens, and how it can grow.

A few years ago, my colleague and friend, artist Allison Sommers along with her husband, musician and scholar, Gerrit Roessler, started to organize artist salons that took place every few months in their apartment. They were hoping to create an environment for artist friends to stretch their creative muscles.

They began hosting these gatherings with one essential rule: attendees have to show a piece of artwork or perform something. They could bring anything they wanted. Old work. New work. Strange work. Work they’re afraid to show to anyone. In fact, they were encouraged to bring things that were frustrating them, or had been left aside for too long. They were encouraged to test things with the salon audience, or bring things that were unfinished.

This rule is the heart of the event, as it is (somewhat ironically) meant to engender creative flexibility. Those artists who get stuck in a creative block, or who are too confined by the needs of their client’s brand, benefit largely by the freedom that these gatherings provide to their creative minds.

They also serve as a place for a network of peers to gather and talk freely. Attendees learn about new events coming up, and meet new friends who might be able to assist with projects they are creating for goals they are hoping to achieve. These things certainly happen with a simple phone call or at a meeting in a cafe, but the salons with their multiple sources of stimulation seem to provide a different sort of boost.

Read the Complete Article