PRESENTATION:
Be organised: hold planning meetings with your artists – invigilation rotas, decide on ways of payment by buyers and to artists, commission, money float, when pieces of art can be taken. Agree hanging and curation people, when works to be delivered and taken down, agree hanging system, wrapping paper/bubblewrap. Be clear.

Welcome visitors: banner, signs, arrows, art in the front garden, keep the Front Door open if possible, or have a clear welcome sign on it; greet people as they enter, clear or tidy personal belongings

Have a name or a theme: make your house stand out, have a name to remember, see Brighton Open House lists (Google: Artists Open Houses)

Learn from others’ experiences of running Open Houses see websites: www.aoh.org.uk, www.artistsopenhouses.com, www.fivewaysartists.com

Use Estate Agents ideas: have flowers, nice smells – coffee, bread, jug of water for visitors, offer a glass of wine sometimes or have tea and cakes

Labels, pricing, artists statements/info

Talk to visitors, tell them about the art and the artists

EVENTS – to attract people to visit your house:
get people interested, talk to each other
private view
Opening Party/Closing Party
Music/recital
Poetry reading
Artist talk, slide show,
Demonstration
Food/tea party/themed food
Workshops
Tour of house/studio
More things to do:
Create a trail of Open Houses in your area
Know your area and what’s on – help and support each other
Organise a committee for Open Houses in Eastbourne
Insurance: remember if you subscribe to AN Artists Newsletter at £34 per year you automatically are insured through AIR

Notes from the workshop led by Jenny West and Judith Alder at the BMPD “Preparing For Eastbourne Festival” event held at Eastbourne Town Hall on Thursday 31st January 2008. These bullet points are intended as a reminder of what was discussed at our event, or if you weren’t able to make it on the 31st, as a suggestion of things to consider when planning promotion for your event.

Jenny West is organiser & co-ordinator of Gallery North in Hailsham & Hailsham Arts Festival

• The importance of promotion – spread the word – word of mouth – get people talking

• Set your budget – your promotional material doesn’t HAVE to be full colour & glossy – but it does need to be accurate, carefully thought out and well produced.

• What sort of promotional material? – postcards, fliers, invitations… perhaps your promotional material can be something which people will want to keep – a souvenir postcard?

• Plan ahead – your material needs to be ready for distribution about 2 weeks before your event. Don’t forget, if your printer needs a week to print your material & you need a week or two to design, refine, check and re-check your material, that means YOU NEED TO START NOW!

• Practicalities – essential info to include: where, when, who, opening times, contact info, address, map or directions, cost(?) or “free entry”, any special events, private view, artists talk etc

• Proof reading – double check or, better still, get someone else to double check your information (you never spot your own mistakes!) – make sure your information is correct and you haven’t missed out anything essential

• Printing – where, how much, how many? Shop around for good deals. Work out how many you need to send to your mailing list & add some more – say 200? to pass on to visitors & distribute by hand.

• Using online resources - many organisations offer free online listing services – see sites such as: http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/leisureandtourism/whatson/ http://www.artwatchnews.co.uk/ and http://www.artsinsussex.com/events.aspx although it is worth bearing in mind that organisations such as Artwatch News will only be able to promote Open House trails or artists groups, rather than individual artists.

• Sponsorship? It is often worth approaching local businesses who may be prepared to help distribute your material or pay for advertising space. Remember though to be sure to check exactly what is expected from each party before you make a firm agreement.

• Writing about your event – press releases, entries for listings, etc – remember to highlight what is unique about your event – what makes your event special? Don’t forget to include the nuts and bolts facts as well – opening times, entry fee, venue address and contact info for editors at the end of your press release. If in doubt there is lots of information on writing for press release on the internet – try Googling “How to write a press release” or see http://www.pressbox.co.uk/contpr1.htm

• Send an image - perhaps a picture of you and your work or of an event or workshop you have run previously

• Don’t forget to document your event – photograph everything – then you will have material for future promotions & press releases

Download more tips for running your event from the Eastbourne Festival website http://www.eastbournefestival.co.uk/participants-info/tips

Another useful site is Artquest - full of information about all aspects of professional practice, but especially useful is their “Checklist for an exhibition” at http://www.artquest.org.uk/manage/mememe/using-the-promotional-pieces.htm

Scroll down for more useful links

On Saturday 18th August we donned yellow waistcoats, hard hats and boots for our tour of the new Eastbourne Cultural Centre. The event was organised by The Towner Art Gallery in partnership with Blue Monkey Studio. Matthew Rowe, Artistic Director, took us round the spaces of the new building – some for showing the Towner Collection, other spaces large enough for huge international shows.

Hannah Chiswell’s public walk from the old Towner to the new site; Samuel Dowd’s “The Visible and the Invisible” installed at The Congress Theatre, and Amy Cunningham’s “Light Music”. Photos by Rob Walker.

Afterwards in the adjoining Congress Suite, we listened to members of SpRoUt, an interdisciplinary collective of artists, talk about their year-long project with Eastbourne schools as part of The Space Between project. SpRoUt were commissioned by The Towner Art Gallery to develop this ambitious public art project in partnership with local schools as part of the Building Sights programme, a series of ongoing events to raise awareness of the Towner’s relocation to Eastbourne Cultural Centre.

The SpRoUt artists showed a slideshow of the work they had produced including “How to begin” by Hannah Chiswell, “The Visible and the Invisible”, by Samuel Dowd, “Light Music” by Amy Cunningham and “Right of Entry” by Hayley Skipper.

We completed the afternoon by serving wine and giving everyone the opportunity to talk to each other.

See www.newtownertrust.org.uk/news and www.sproutart.co.uk

This first of two events to support artists during their preparations for Eastbourne Festival was well attended by over 50 artists. Visiting speakers Joanna Sancha, Sue Barnes, Barbara Burns and Elda Abramson brought a wealth of knowledge to share.Eastbourne Open Houses organiser Julian Sutherland-Beatson and Eastbourne Festival Co-Ordinator Marie Thompson answered questions put to them by the audience on a range of subjects including the geographical extent of Open Houses.

Marie Thompson has confirmed that Open Houses can take place in Eastbourne and the surrounding villages of East Dean, Jevington, Filching, Wannock, Wilmington, Polegate, Stone Cross, Hankham, Pevensey, Westham and Pevensey Bay.

Many people are now planning their Open House events and getting ready to register their Open Houses. DON’T FORGET THE REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS 2 JANUARY 2008. All registration forms must be returned to the Festival Office, 68 Grove Road, Eastbourne, BN21 4UH by that date.

Registration forms can be downloaded from the Eastbourne Festival website or from the Open Houses website. Alternatively please call Michele Montieth on 01323 415441 to request a posted copy.

Blue Monkey Studio held an Artists’ Professional Development and Networking Evening on 19th June 2007 at The Underground Theatre, Eastbourne. The event provided an opportunity for over 90 artists to hear guest speakers and network with each other.

We were very pleased to welcome

• Polly Gifford, Head of Education, De La Warr Pavilion
• Matthew Rowe, Curator, Eastbourne Cultural Centre
• Lisa Maddigan, Artist Resource Manager, Fabrica
• Annabel Tilley and Sarah Kimber, co-organisers of artist-led peer critique group “Talk
• About the Work” at Claremont Studios, Hastings

The speakers introduced the resources that are available to artists through their organisations.

Julian Sutherland-Beatson, organiser of Eastbourne Open Houses, announced the launch of a new website at www.eastbourneartists.co.uk where people can see information about how to register for the Open Houses which are planned as part of the Eastbourne Cultural Festival in March 2008.

Thanks to all who came and supported our networking event. Artists, arts managers, organisers and curators travelled from across Sussex and, judging by the feedback, the evening was a great success. Good to see everyone who came – hope to meet you again sometime soon.

“Thank you for a lovely, interesting and networky evening. Well done!”
“Congratulations on organising such a buzzy evening ”
“Friendly atmosphere and lots of useful information. When is the next one?”

Thanks to Arts Council England (South East) for supporting our event.