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The Art of Business

Last night, as I sat around a makeshift conference table in the beautiful home/studio of artist and Camano Island Art Association board member, Mary Simmons I was reminded of how much the business world can learn from the art world. After all, artists are business people, too. There were 10 artists at our meeting which was designed to develop key messaging for the 12th annual Studio Tour that takes place Mothers Day weekend.

This is an amazing group of artists. Nowhere that I know of is there such density of truly talented artists. These aren’t hobbyists. They aren’t “arts and crafts” folks. They are serious, recognized, successful artists whose work is collected globally.

They are all attracted to Camano Island for a variety of reasons. The inspiring beauty. The sense of remote isolation so close to two major urban centers: Vancouver, BC and Seattle, WA. And the supportive network of artists here that serve to elevate everyone’s work.

The studio tour is a fantastic example of that supportive network and its commitment to the cultivation of local talented artists, appreciative collectors as well as the next generation of art lovers.

Because the island is, well, an island, people can tour the area easily. The studios of every artist and gallery owner who takes part in the tour are tightly compacted. What’s even more amazing, is that the artists are so dedicated to promoting only the best work that the process for even taking part in the tour is juried. You have to be recognized as having the fine visual art skills in whatever your medium of choice to be deemed worthy of inclusion in this well-known event.

To put it in perspective, in an art community that boasts at least 1,000 local artists, only 30 or so show at the event.

It’s quality..not quantity for these folks.

Not only for the sake of the art, but for the sake of the visitor seeking to view and purchase the art. While there are many events in other cities and countries that include hundreds or more artists, it becomes impossible for visitors to actually see all of that work. It’s art overload.

The Camano Island Studio Tour highlights the best of the best. And because of that, the nearly 4,000 people who attend every year are willing to go to great lengths to get there.

And while the event’s commitment to quality attracts serious collectors, the approachability of the artists, the intimacy of visiting them in their space, doing their thing, makes it an ideal event for the art lover who might become a first-time art buyer.

This is still the pacific Northwest and the laid back nature of the people who call it home extends into the art buying experince. After all, buying art can be intimidating for some. Beyond just “liking” something from a guttural perspective, how do you know if the work is truly well done? For many, shelling out anything from $100 to $40,000 for a piece of art does not come easy.

As the folks taking part in our messaging meeting at Simmon’s studio/home each shared their reasons for taking part in the studio tour and their vision for the future I began to see why they’ve been so successful. First, they are all passionate about what they do. They don’t compromise the integrity of their art, or their island community in anything they do. Second, they know their audience. While they are each at different stages of taking on some of the newest social media tools, they all engage with their customers intimately. They listen and respond. Which is really the heart of any successful social media program. Finally, these artists have fun. They do what they do because they love it. And it shows. The enthusiasm is contagious. And because of that they are long-term in their thinking. Less interested in the “quick fix” to bring bodies to their tour, they want to cultivate relationships and build their brand so that the Studio Tour continues long after they’ve hung up their brushes, pottery wheels, and kilns.

In this down economy, I can’t help but think that if more businesses took a queue from these folks we might just muscle out of the constriction of the past year or so and start to build ourselves into something greater than we were. Its time businesses reconnected with the passion that fueled their early days. It’s time businesses focused on not only identifying but communicating with their core audiences. And it’s time we all lighten up and remember how to have fun at work again.

Passion + Communication + Fun. It might not be an economic formula, but I think it’s a formula for success. Whether that success is art, or business. Or in the case of the Camano Island artists, both.