Hope For Another Retreat

Florida Landscape Art

 

 

Notes From My Residency Journal

 

I've been working on the idea of another retreat on the first weekend of November of 2014. The response to last weekend's event has been very positive indeed. Art fans and the artists are interested in the idea. I've been thinking of some ideas that will make it even more of a success. I believe this retreat could be a superior replacement to the Evinston  Paint Out from a few years ago. There is great interest in landscape painting in this part of rural Florida. My idea of a retreat protects the privacy of the artists, allowing them to paint in a relaxed setting with no pressure from promoters. It seems to me that a sales venue could be easily set up as a wet room/sales center separate from the artists location for the entirety of the weekend. There is no real need for the artists to be at the sales venue. That relieves the stress of not selling well for some, while others thrive. I think my art dealer could manage the wet room for a percentage of sales.

 

I would like to extend the retreat to three days, Friday-Sunday, due to the travel time for some of the artists. Two days was not quite long enough. I would need to hire an assistant to help with managing the food, clean up, and needs of the artists. I would need to have more sponsors for more meals. I would need to have a publicist/photographer for the event, so donations or cash sponsors would be important. I would need to be more detail oriented to anticipate artists needs as well as more support for my host.

 

I believe the interest is in place both from artists and collectors which helps tremendously. A lot depends on how much sponsorship I can garner over the next six months and whether the venue will be available again.