Advice and information about selling your art via Open Studios

This page covers:
  • What are Open Studios? Plus where they can be held and what they involve.
  • Advice about Open Studios - before and during + Guidelines about how to hold Open Studios by different groups
  • Open Studios in the UK - a developing list of open studios in the UK - to compare how you do to others
The open studio tour is an event in which artists invite the public to visit their workshops and display spaces. It’s an excellent opportunity to talk first-hand to the artists and to view their work in the environment in which it was created, or to just enjoy ‘having a nosey’ through the various venues.
Wirral Open Studios website
Note: This page is a work in progress

What are Open Studios?
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Open Studios can be
  • held in a variety of venues
  • large or small
  • very local or county wide
  • initiated by an artist
  • organised by a local arts group
  • very successful or a complete washout - it's up to you (and the weather!)
Range of places to hold Open Studios:
  • an artist's home
  • purpose made studio
  • work room 
  • gardens / in tents / under awnings
  • public venues e.g. Church Halls (for those who are unable to open their homes for practical reasons)
Picture
Claude Monet in his home at Giverny - with his paintings hanging on all the walls
Open Studios involves:
  • opening up your studio or your house to strangers so they can buy your art
  • a lot of organisation before, during and after - so not for the faint-hearted or those who don't like hard work
  • photographing your artwork for the brochure/website
  • thinking about how best to present your artwork - in frames, matted, matted in clear envelopes etc
  • working out how to price your artwork
  • making sure you have adequate publicity
  • erecting signage to get people to the right venue and through the right door - and to the loo!
  • taking payment for your art and not getting ripped off
  • taking responsibility for your liability for the safety of people in your studio/home (i.e. if they have an accident on your property you are liable)
Open Studios can involve (i.e. entirely your choice):
  • belonging to a Group - participating in an event organised by a local community of artists.  This will take place over a specific time period. You need to (1) pay a fee for registration; (2) observe their code of conduct and (3) benefit from general publicity (and support if your local organisation is well managed)
  • sharing an event with friends in your area
  • sharing a venue with other artists
  • interviews with local newspapers
  • a lot of posting of flyers about your event in the local community (check the bye-laws first to see where you can post without attracting a fine!)
  • a lot of work on social media

Advice about Open Studios
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If you want to sell art from your studio at home or from exhibitions held in your home, you first need to read Selling art from home.
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LIST OF GUIDELINES from various Open Studio events
Before Open Studios - Summary Guidelines
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  • you will need Public Liability Insurance; you MUST check what your house insurance says if selling from home. (See Insurance for Art and Artists)
  • organise / photograph content for the website and handbook - which means decisions need to be taken early.
  • identify dates for being open; events; etc
  • have a rota for who covers at all times - including while you "ablute"
  • setting up takes time - both in terms of what needs to be cleared away and put out of sight and what needs to be hung or positioned and have a label or price sticker prepared
  • how many visitors you get depends on how much publicity you generate e.g. send invites - with personal notes; create a press release; distribute flyers, brochures, postcards, be active on social media within your community (see How to write a press release)
  • think about how best to use social media - and how to avoid the downsides (don't invite thieves!)
During the Open Studio - Guidelines
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  • make signage effective - how do you tell people they've found the right place?
  • make sure your venue is completely safe - no trip or other hazards; no risks to health or safety
  • have a private view for previous buyers or big fans - make people feel special; (see The Private View Invitation)
  • attract more visitors by having a practical event where the public can "have a go" or watch you demonstrate
  • Keep people from leaving - offer food and drink!
  • ​taking payments can be risky - look at the pros and cons of different options (remember most artists won't have the option to take credit cards and a lot of visitors won't necessarily have enough cash)
  • Use a visitors book - then you can send publicity next year
  • provide directions to other artists' studios - and they will do likewise

Open Studios in the UK
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This essentially is an opportunity for artists to check out how others go about it!

Check out how others present their Open Studios and
  • provide information for the public - some have well designed and free downloadable guides to what's on offer - and some do not! Some have well thought out and well designed websites (with responsive templates so they work on mobile devices) - and some have clunky ones which do not!
  • provide advice for artists - some provide very little; some hide it behind a password controlled members area; some are very transparent and helpful to those thinking about participating
Check out
  • how different Open Studios promote themselves on Facebook, Twitter and via a newsletter - or if they continue to rely on local publicity. 
  •  how customer oriented the websites and downloads are
  • where links to their social media sites are placed on their websites? (Do they catch your eye?)
  • whether they have a fast and easy download to where studios are - which works well on a mobile device?

Open Studios in London

  • Bow Arts Open Studios - across East London
  • Cockpit Arts - Open Studios - an an award winning social enterprise supporting craft practitioners
  • Crouch End Open Studios - includes a Group Exhibition as well as open studios
  • Hackney WickED Open Studios - 100+ practitioners across 20+ buildings in Hackney Wick. In 2017 there's a series of smaller scale curated events, focusing on each of the key pillars of engagement: Art Exhibitions, Open Studios, Performance, Music, Film and Development
  • N22 Open Studios - based in the Chocolate Factory and the Wood Green Cultural Quarter

Open Studios - East of England

Open Studios - North of England

Open Studios - South of England

Open Studios - West of England

  • Open Studios Cornwall - 293 artists, craftsmen and designers opening their studios for 9 days; provide a downloadable event guide as a pdf; organised in four areas of Cornwall