Hello RiNos,
After listening to some feedback from art patrons last Friday (First Friday for November), I did a little thinking and wanted to pose some suggestions in hopes of getting a discussion going regarding open studio events. I probably saw 30 people at my event. Several people commented on how surprised they were that so many locations were not open for November’s First Friday (only 11 of us advertised events in The November Crow), in comparison to last month (i.e. Ride The RiNo). My first suggestion is this- for everyone who is participating in a First Friday event, it would be very helpful to have a printed list of other RiNo locations that are open that evening. Because RiNo is spread out more than, say, Santa Fe, this helps patrons plan out their evening, so they’re not wasting time driving to a location that isn’t open.
My second suggestion is for more RiNo locations to consider being open for First Friday events. In my opinion, the artists/galleries on Santa Fe have established quite a reputation for themselves, while we are building ours. That said, I feel like we had some momentum coming off of our events in October. With so few places open for November, I fear we may be inadvertently hurting our efforts. I know we all can’t be open every month (certainly, some months just aren’t worth it for many reasons), but I’m wondering if there’s any way we can get more folks who are sitting on the fence to try more often than not to be open on First Fridays.
Any thoughts as to why or why not this may be a good idea, or other suggestions for consistency in future events would be welcome. I look forward to reading your responses.
Sincerely,
Jared Steinberg
November 14, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Hey Jared, I think this is a great discussion. I was leaning towards not being open for First Fridays, a few months ago – But after being open for the last two, I’m changing my mind. They’ve proved to be well attended and I’ve actually sold some work because of it.
I think folks are seeing us as a great alternative to Santa Fe. It’s gets pretty busy over there and I think people enjoy the breathing room in RiNo ya know. They can focus on actually seeing some art. I would be interested to hear what other people think on this. Especially some of the studios in the group. It really helps when there are more locations open for sure!
Ironton has been open lately for First Friday’s too, Jill keeps it really casual over there. It gives friends and colleagues a chance to hang out and enjoy some good conversation and art.
November 26, 2007 at 10:59 pm
As a “friend” of RiNo, with a somewhat outsider point of view, I agree the recent First Fridays have been good for for RiNo. The crowds have been more diverse, the Art Busians have been very well behaved and I think there is a feeling of relief for those who attend the more active Santa Fe First Fridays. Gallery goers even admit they like the calm of RiNo! Let’s be THE alternative for those who want to enjoy (and buy) art!
December 5, 2007 at 10:26 am
I think that the way for RiNo to become a First Friday destination is for more of us to be open. As the “new kid on the block” so to speak, while I may not want to be open, I have, nonetheless made it a point to be open on First Friday so that Plinth gets noticed and more and more people have the opportunity to stop by. The “other” art district brings in crowds of people and while the logistics of RiNo are different than on Santa Fe, we can become as major a draw on First Fridays if more o us make a commitment to be open. Its only three hours and you never know!
Jonathan at Plinth
December 15, 2007 at 10:15 am
Hi RiNoites!
Jonathan is correct. You never know. When in doubt, keep the doors open. As a fairly steady visitor last year I can tell you all that I dragged several friends from New York down to RiNo to show off a neighborhood that I think is pregnant with opportunity and populated with tremendously creative, hard-working people. They loved the area and artists we met (go team). Unfortunately, I eventually trailed off because frankly it started to become frustrating and embarassing. Finding parking around each location gets awkward, spending more time in the car than on our feet chops the flow of the evening up into frenetic little trips, etc. That’s all easy to overlook if your members all roll out the welcome mat, but in my experience that really was not usually the case. It became tough (when all we wanted to do was relax, enjoy your fabulous artists and soak up the neighborhood’s ambiance) to peer through windows and doorways trying to figure out if we were intruding on the owners or not. So I’d be standing in this insanely great neighborhood trying to convince my friends that it’s an epicenter of creativity, but it’s me, my guests and a handful of dedicated entrepeneurs like Tracy and his hubby whom you can always count on to be warm and gracious hosts. A majority of the studios? Closed, or (even worse) looking closed. Worst yet was entering a studio that had this “inner-circle” thing happening where the owners/artists and a few of their friends look bored to be on-hand. This is not the time to pull up chairs and nurse beers with your attention focused on your close friends. This is your time to shine, to tell visitors your stories, to explain your methodology/craftmanship/viewpoint… basically to focus on selling. You want to beat Santa Fe at their own game? Then urge your members to interact, to push themselves as hosts and hostesses and do everything possible to make sure that visitors feel really welcomed and wanted. Santa Fe’s a no-brainer. You know everyone’s doors will be open– but the viewer/artist relationship in terms of dialogue and the building of artist-client relationships on Santa Fe is nonexistent–that’s where you all can make a HUGE impact.
My New Year’s resolution is to get back into RiNo but until then I hope all of you down in the valley have a prosperous, healthy, happy 2008. Hope some customer feedback helps and I’ll see you all soon. Best, Christopher
January 10, 2008 at 2:00 am
Thanks for the great posting Christopher!!
Happy New Year! Us RiNo’s are plotting our next event as we speak. Probably May!