Transition of Physical Gallery to Online, In this age of pandemic
In March 2020 most of Europe & all across the globe people realised that they were facing a big problem with the new virus, Coronavirus, and countries started to enforce lockdowns, closing all non essential activities and forbidding any gathering of persons. It was a surreal situation that slowly but surely expanded, to a bigger or lesser degree, across the whole world.
And there we were, facing a global pandemic, such as had never been experienced by anyone alive yet. And everyone suffered with this situation, with no exception.
And now, at the end of 2021, we seem to be facing the same problem again with governments considering travel bans and maybe more lockdowns because of new variants.
So we thought about the watercolour artist, who up to that moment made his/her living through exhibitions in galleries, art fairs, art competitions, giving classes and workshops. All of this was cancelled from one day to the other!
No more exhibitions, no more classes and still he/she has to continue to earn enough to live.
How can this artist survive?
What options does he have when faced with the impossibility of selling his art or teaching as he used to do?
One way to do this is through the Internet , through online galleries, and that is what we want to talk about here.
We want to discuss the how’s and why’s, the advantages and disadvantages, your experiences in dealing with these galleries, any tips we or you can give to help fellow artists to navigate through this virtual marketplace.
This is a great topic and I'm sure it would be helpful to us all to hear how artists are dealing with pandemic restrictions. I have found being a part of a local artist association to be very helpful, as they already have a solid base of followers on their social media platforms, and if anything, social media has become more important than ever for promotion of art. Due to the lockdowns experienced in my area over this past year, my art association hosted virtual exhibits. They had themes like a real exhibit does, but the paintings could only be viewed online. While not the same as in-person exhibits, one advantage is that more people viewed the paintings because it was more accessible in the online format.
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