Week 11 & 12

Unfortunately I had to attend a funeral in Colorado and was unable to go to 4Art that week. Nevertheless, I was excited to see Robin for my final week of the internship. Due to the fact that it was the last week I would be at the gallery, I had prepared some questions to ask Robin. Some were things that I had never asked Robin, and others were questions to understand something on a more detailed level. One of the first questions I asked Robin was the different ways she supports the art gallery. Her first response was custom framing, followed by graphic/web design, art sales, and membership fees of the collective members. Also, she pointed out that she occasionally rents out the space for various events. My second questions to Robin was, "What are your goals as a gallery owner?" She responded that she wanted to mentor. More specifically, she wanted to mentor artists, as well as the general public about art. I continued to ask Robin about the business side of things and got some interesting responses. 4Art has no marketing plan. Robin simply advertises on sites that are free to use. She also promotes 4Art through Facebook, listings, her blog, and YouTube. Her typical clients include the "average joe," art collectors, and people that she hopes will become a collector of herself or a collective artist. Robin faces many challenges on a day-to-day basis. The first thing is finances, just keeping 4Art in business can be a struggle. Also, getting customers to return, getting people excited about art, and getting people to invest in art are all challenges. The two ways that Robin finds artists to display in her gallery is by word of mouth and by talking to people at openings. I also asked Robin questions about the steps to starting an art gallery, as well as vendors and suppliers of products that she trusts. This week was a great opportunity to really pick Robin's brain to answer things I had been wondering, and to truly understand how to structure and begin an art gallery.