Marketing Fine Craft: Wendy Rosen Presentation continued

wholesale price, If making craft is the way
aperson cams a living, il is Very important
te conduct specific time studies for each
kind or piece of work one makes in order
to price the work accurately, As a tule,
Rosen thinks craftspeople should pay therm-
selves no less than $15 an hour.

Apparently twenty years ago only one or
two galleries in the States curned Cana-
dian craft. Today, Rosen estimates that 60)-
70% of all craft galleries in the US now
feature Canadian work on a regular basis.
Canadian craft is seen as “fresh and new"
and well respected for its design.

Galleries surveyed at a recent Buyers
Market of American Craft stated that they
have a MM increase in square footage
over the last three years. People, it seems,
are looking to craft as a grounding force in
the face of technology and continuing glo-
bal crisis.

Rosen favors selling work through a gal-
lery or shop over retail craft fairs. She
noted thal customers at craft fairs often
think they are getting a ‘deal’, forcing
craftspeople to sell at wholesale prices,
undercutting handmade work in general.

Craft gallenes are often owned by ex-
craftspeople who have a deep respect and
commitment not only to the work, but to
the artist. Theirown experience of making
means they have an understanding of craft
that allows them to sell the work with a
more holistic approach, Rosen emphasized
that craft sells better with a human ap-
proach, engaging the customer with sto-
ries about the artist who made the work
and what inspired them. The importance
of hangtags and/or artist's statements that
invite the customer and Gallery staff into
the maker's world cannot be emphasized
enough. It is always easier to sell some-
thing that one understands and appreciates
than a nameless item with no story.

Wendy Rosen’s talk was both enthusiastic
and thought provoking, but it is clear she
is @ businessperson first. The information,
like that included on americancraft.com
and in her book Crafting as a Business, is
well researched and reliable. According to
Rosen, only those potters who want to go
into business on a large scale, hire a pro-
duction staff and maintain a minimum
inventory of $15,000 are ready to have a
hooth at the Buyers Market.

As @ craftsperson it is important to evalu-
ate why one creates and where one wants
to go with the work. While having work in
galleries across Canada and the States is
exciting, it means engaging on a bevel of
production and promotion that simply does
not interest all people, Do visit
amcnicancraft.com and take a look at Craft-
ing as a Business. As with any field, the
more information one has the more in-
formed one's decisions become.

Kimecha Rajkumar

Vancouver Island

Pottery Warehouse

(reat selection and helpful friendly service.
If you have a ceramic question we ll have gour answer.

Find us ten minutes south of Nanaimo. Take the Morden Road turnoff and turn right on Wellington Road.

#5, 2071 South Wellington Rd, Nanaimo, BC.

Ph: 250-716-9966 Fax: 250-716-9960

September 2002

Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter