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Jeffrey Campbell

9 Years Ago

Sponsorships

Reading an e-mail I recently received, the content discusses an upcoming solo exhibition for a painter at a specific art gallery in the mid-west. The gentleman is a painter and, not having any firsthand knowledge of any painters, for that matter, I have no idea if he is famous. In the e-mail there in one well known company that is listed as a sponsor; additionally, there is another (unknown to me) sponsor mentioned.

It is uncommon for artists to seek sponsorship endorsements for their exhibitions? What do/could the sponsor provide? For example: do they pay for refreshments, or pay to rent the art center for the evening? Aside from the sponsor having their name attached to the exhibition, is their any other advantages for them?

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Joshua House

9 Years Ago

Tax writeoff perhaps?

 

Jeffrey Campbell

9 Years Ago

Tax advantages came to mind.

I'm just not wrapping my head around what it is [unrelated to art] sponsors actually provide, if any, for art exhibitions. What ever is agreed up, I suppose.

For example; the sponsor places adverts of the exhibition at their business, and the art center attaches the sponsors name to the advert bill. Scratch my back, I scratch yours, comes to mind.

Would it not be wonderful to secure a sponsorship from a major corporation? We see it in many aspects of sporting events, yet I have never seen for individual artists when an [unrelated] sponsor attaches their name.

It's got me thinking now.

 

Greg Jackson

9 Years Ago

Jeffrey,

When I was teaching, I was also the coach of the orienteering team for 15 years. One year we acquired a sponsorship from a major hydration backpack company. Their "sponsorship" provided us with the equipment at a discounted cost.

 

Jeffrey Campbell

9 Years Ago

Greg,

I remember playing little league baseball and we had the same. I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate a sponsor into my artwork, for example. A link for link exchange on our websites?

 

Greg Jackson

9 Years Ago

Jeffrey,

Are you thinking of an "affiliate" type of deal, where you put their clickable logo on your site, and they do the same for you? Something like that?

 

Bill Swartwout

9 Years Ago

I would love to see FAA have an affiliate program similar to that of ImageKind. My daughter's corporation has a fairly large "beach" travel website that refers visitors there for "beach" art. The Beach Store section of the site displays "Beachy" art pieces there and links (through an affiliate network) to the products on IK. The site doesn't "set the world on fire" but does refer several sales a year.

~ Bill
~ USPictures.com

 

Mary Ellen Anderson

9 Years Ago

It's basically advertising. We sponsor all kinds of things from sports teams, pto, habitat for humanity.

From an artist's (or athlete, charitable cause, etc) perspective it's a commercial endorsement.
--mary ellen anderson

 

Jeffrey Campbell

9 Years Ago

I'm not sure, Greg. The e-mail just got me thinking on how I might get a sponsor for my artwork without actually doing an exhibition. I've never been down this road before.

 

Cricket Hackmann

9 Years Ago

Jeffrey -- I belong to a very small local artist group. There are maybe a dozen of us in the group, and the population of our community is maybe 8000 or so. Each year we do a summer art show, accepting artwork from the public (as well as from our group), and it is displayed in a gallery in the lower level of a local bank. The bank is obviously one of our sponsors, but we also recruit a few other corporate sponsors. A local flower shop provides the centerpiece for our reception, and a local winery provides wine for the reception. A couple of other businesses make donations that help cover advertising costs and costs associated with the show (prizes, honorarium for the judge, etc.). This year, one of our local businesses offered a "purchase prize," in which they agreed to purchase one of the works of art in the show.

All in all, I believe that the local businesses like to have their name attached to our event, and also like to support the arts in our community. Of course, we include the names of our sponsors in all of our advertising and any PR that goes out. It's advertising for them as well as engendering good will in the community.

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

Art is big business and art exhibits are so expensive to mount these days that they require sponsorship money. Look at the sponsors behind the Whitney's Koons retrospective:

-------------

Leadership support for this exhibition is provided by Gagosian Gallery


The exhibition is sponsored by

H&M
Bank of America
Hanjin Shipping


Opening Dinner sponsored by Christies

------

Companies sponsor culture in order to reach their target market.

 

Jeffrey Campbell

9 Years Ago

Cricket,

Thank you for the feedback. It's wonderful to learn businesses are supporting the artist.

 

This discussion is closed.