[TheForge] Public art project

[RIES NIEMI]

> 
> 
> I think it's true that there are many areas of the country where there
> simply does not exist the market for top end items. Even if someone does top
> end work it comes down to being able to market it in areas that do hold a
> potential client base. Having the talent to produce impressive and flawless
> work does not equate  to having clients beating down your door.
> What are some ways that folks can find clients who are willing to pay for
> top end items?
> T. Clark

I think its true that depending on where you live, you cant depend on
getting work from your neighbors. Depending on what kind of work you do,
there are different ways of marketing.

If you make small items- knickknacks up to furniture- you can consider
wholesale or retail craft shows. Some people just cant stomach the fact that
the retailer will double your price, and so they only sell retail, other
sell wholesale to stores. There is a whole circuit of high end craft shows
around the country, mostly in the eastern half, which are wholesale, and
another set of retail ones, and some that are both. Most of the people who
show in these shows are not local- they pack up a van with a booth and
product, and sometimes drive all the way across the country to do them. I
knew a guy from southern california who had his own hicube van, and he would
drive to the east coast for a month, every winter, and do about 4 or 5 craft
shows, and make his whole years income. He went to Coconut Grove, in
florida, and I think the smithsonian show in DC, maybe one in Philly, the
ACC show in Baltimore. He had sculptural metalwork that ranged in price from
pricy to really pricey. But if you dont make some of those higher ticket
items, you sure cant sell em. The largest blacksmith shop in the country for
most of the 80's was in rural Arkansas- I dont think they sold much of their
output in their home state- it was all shipped around the country.

For sculptural work, there are galleries all over the country, as well as
shows that pay to display your work like the one in San Diego I mentioned.
Many of the galleries go to the higher end craft shows, looking for one of a
kind work. 
There are public art programs all around the country, and they are often
open to the idea of ornamental iron. Check for state, county and city arts
commissions or cultural affairs offices.

For high end ornamental work, you need to contact architects and
contractors, as well as interior decorators. Whenever you have finished
work, take pictures, and send em out. A variety of magazines will publish
your work, if its good- the blacksmith magazines, but also depending on the
details, American Craft or MetalSmith, architecture and design mags,
metalworking industry mags such as the nomma mag "fabricator". Most
magazines are always looking for things to publish. Depends on the style of
your work- anybody from "country home" to "metropolis" might print your
work. Go to the library or newstand, look at magazines, write down the
addresses of the ones that might be good.

Basically, you have to work at it. You need to get good pictures, you need
to research who is building high end houses nearby, or not so nearby- I have
shipped finshed pieces across the country. I know lots of others who do too.
You need to do your homework, make phone calls, and put up some cash for
photos, although with digital cameras and computer printers, it is really a
lot cheaper and easier than it used to be to make quality portfolios.
As I said before, you also need to make work, have things to show.
I really wanted to get into building bridges, so I found a public art
program that was looking for temporary projects. They thought they were
looking for everything from poetry to performance, but I built a model and
did drawings of a pedestrian footbridge, and they went for it. They paid me
to build my first bridge, and now I am a bridgebuilder. That bridge is
getting me inquiries about more bridges. No one would have ever thought I
could build bridges if I hadnt built that first one.
You gotta scheme, and you gotta dream. Then you gotta work, a lot.