SVOS University

Upcoming Webinars

For Registered artists

If you are new to Silicon Valley Open Studios, attending or viewing Silicon Valley Open Studios Artists Classes is the most important thing you can do to help ensure your success during this event.

LEARN HOW TO PROMOTE AND SELL YOUR ART FROM Veteran Artists and MARKETERS

SVOS University seminars are presented by professional artists and marketing professionals who have developed successful techniques for promoting and selling their art. All of these sessions are FREE to artists who are registered for SVOS 2021.

MISSED THE LIVE CLASSES? YOU CAN STILL WATCH THE VIDEOS ONLINE!

If you’re registered and would like to view the classes, log in to your account and select the link on the left labelled “SVOSU Videos”.

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Classes that are now available online include:

“LEARN HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR ART WITH GREAT PHOTOS”

Program Description
We know that great images in the catalog are why visitors choose which sites to visit. So, having great-looking images is one of the most important things you can do to promote your art business. Join professional photographer, Steve Toll, who will present ideas and tips for taking great, attention-getting images of your artwork to include with your registration package. There are lots of ways to make great art look bad and Steve will show you the pitfalls to avoid. You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment to take great photos, but you do need a solid understanding of what you’re trying to do.

Topics for Discussion:
• Problems with Composition — The collection | The studio | The gallery
• Poor and uneven lighting — Dark on dark | Light on light | The flasher | Shadows | Skylight glare
• Perspective distortion — The trapezoid trap | Missing in action | Hopeless
• Clipped images — Crop out
• Background clutter — Clutter competition | Background distractions
• What’s the subject — What is the subject | Problem with scale
• What you need for your Gallery or Directory images
• Equipment Required — Camera | Lighting | Tripod | Camera Settings | Post Processing (Editing)

PRESENTER
Stephen Toll is a professional photographer and long-time participant in Silicon Valley Open Studios. His primary subject matter is American landscapes, but he has also traveled throughout the world in pursuit of great images.

“MARKETING YOUR OPEN STUDIOS EVENT“

This session is presented by SVOS veterans, Stephanie Maclean and Christine Oliver, who have been exhibiting with Silicon Valley Open Studios for more than 25 years collectively. They will share marketing tips to help make your SVOS event successful.

Program Description
If you are new to Silicon Valley Open Studios, this is a session that you do not want to miss. For many artists, there are plenty of courses to learn about creating art, but very few opportunities to learn how to market that art. SVOS University focuses on teaching artists the business side of art. This session is presented by veteran artists who have been long-time participants in Silicon Valley Open Studios, and they have valuable advice and tips on how you can make the most of your experience. Whether you’re a newcomer or a veteran, this course will have valuable ideas to help you become a better art marketer.

Topics for Discussion:
• Marketing is a year-round project: How to get started
• Build your database early and keep it clean year-to-year
• Attract more customers through social media
• Creatively stage and display your work
• Labeling your work and creating a portfolio book
• How to develop an Artist Statement

PRESENTERS
This session is presented by SVOS veterans, Stephanie Maclean and Christine Oliver, who have been exhibiting with Silicon Valley Open Studios for more than 25 years collectively. They will share marketing tips to help make your SVOS event successful.

“SOCIAL MEDIA: PART 1 – HOW ARTISTS USE SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESSFULLY”
Facebook, Your Online Gallery, Pinterest

Program Description
This is an interactive two-part seminar showing the different types of Social Media available today and Artist Specific ways to use them. Stephanie Maclean will discuss ways to get your artwork and message out to the public and will discuss the pros and cons of each social media tool. Local Artist, Holly Van Hart (still need to confirm her participation), will demonstrate and talk about her successful use of these tools sharing an artist’s perspective on what is possible with Social Media.

Note – we will demonstrate successful strategies and completed pages, blogs and websites during this seminar. We will not discuss the technical aspects of building these but can give pointers on acquiring/hiring them for your art business.

“SOCIAL MEDIA: PART 2 – HOW ARTISTS USE SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESSFULLY”
Blogging, Email, Twitter & other marketing strategies, E-Commerce, SEO

Program Description
Stephanie Maclean and Holly Van Hart (need to confirm) will present this session and discuss how you can use Social Media more effectively, including actual examples of how artists are using these tools to promote their businesses.

Topics for Discussion:
• Pinterest
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Instagram
• Other Social Media Tools

“PRICING YOUR WORK”

This session will be presented by a panel of SVOS veteran artists. They cover a wide range of media – paintings, sculpture, photography, ceramics, jewelry, etc. The artists will discuss how they price their work and answer your questions.

Program Description
Not only is painting an art, but pricing is an art. Getting the right price for your art is a big key to sales. So be sure to attend this session to hear some of the best experts in pricing and selling artwork and get great guidance on how to price your work.

Topics for Discussion:
• Select your best work
• Price your work to sell – Developing a pricing strategy
• Creatively stage and display your work
• Negotiating
• Pricing and frames
• Handling Price Increases

Speakers
This session will be presented by a panel of SVOS veteran artists. They cover a wide range of media – paintings, sculpture, photography, ceramics, jewelry, etc. The artists will discuss how they price their work and answer your questions.

Banner artwork by Stacey Nussbaum