Growing into an Art Businessperson Part II:
some thoughts on importing art and
selling it in Southern Ontario.
by Tammy Love.
American born visual artist Tammy Love moved to Canada in 1992. Her
newly opened art gallery Hand Works, in Bloomfield, Ontario, is the result
of a process of working in and thinking about art business in Canada. She
started in a small studio wholesaling her work to a number of galleries
across Ontario. Slowly but surely she has grown into a retail art business
of her own.
In Part I, Ms. Love discussed her view of
the Canadian art system and her reasons for getting into a retail art business
despite her understanding that "no one is buying" in Canada. Here
in Part II, she discusses her thoughts on importing art and selling it in
her part of Southern Ontario.
There is something wonderful about starting an art business in Canada,
or at least in my small part of it: there is great freedom here. In general,
the people I have met along my route to opening Hand Works have been encouraging
and helpful. The art network in my small part of Ontario is accessible to
the newcomer. In comparison, I think, it is harder to start an art business
in the U.S. -- simply because networking is more restricted. I am not sure
exactly why this is. Perhaps it has something to do with the more modest
way in which Canadians perceive themselves -- look at the way Canadians
view the Prime Minister as opposed to the way in which Americans idolise
the President.
In visual art, this cultural difference has pros and cons. Several positives
I have already mentioned. One drawback to this cultural self-image may be
that it discourages competition between artists. Unlike American artists,
Canadian artists rarely think of themselves as businesspeople. They think
of themselves as artists first and then as businesspeople.
Now, this is neither good nor bad unless one wishes to make money at art.
I decided four years ago that I was going to make money at art. Most recently
I decided to import art to Canada and sell it in a new gallery which I call
Hand Works. 50 percent of the art I import is from the U.S. I do, however,
sell work by Canadians but it is a smaller percentage. My reasoning in doing
this (which I explain more fully in Part I) and it is my reasoning alone,
involves two things: my desire to work with businesspeople; and, in connection
with this, an observation that I made on my buying trips for Hand Works
regarding the quality of Canadian art.
I have seen a lot of Canadian art and compared to what I have seen in the
U.S., 'quality' in Canadian art is generally low. Why is this? I think perhaps
that in Canada, there is a general concern about protecting artists. I feel
that this protection must, to some degree, discourage competition between
artists. Competition, I think, is an important ingredient to creating and
maintaining quality in art.
In the U.S., there is a strong sense of competition. For example, at U.S.
art shows artists are very business-like an do as much as they can to encourage
customers. The artists all have buyer packages that include wholesale lists.
The lists include 'reminder' drawings of the products next to their prices.
Colour visuals are available if you want them. The artists' studios are
equipped with business machines, faxes and computers. They value business-mindedness.
In Canada, I have had artists come to me with some interesting work. However,
they are very casual in their dealings. One in particular, did not have
an understanding of the difference between wholesale and retail prices.
So, I decided to import quality art (while not neglecting quality Canadian
art when I saw it) -- as much to secure my own business as to provide artists
in my area with competition. This competition may assist in increasing quality
in art and in business.
When it comes to acquiring art for the gallery, I buy it outright. From
my own experiences with dealers, this practice eliminates a lot of problems
for both sides. The gallery owns it and the artist has been paid -- end
of negotiations.
When I import goods from the U.S. I discovered, however, that pre-paying
the artist confuses the shipping company! There is a question of who owns
the goods in transport, the shipper or myself. I quickly found a shipper
that takes control of this question. They own the goods and insure them
in transport. The shipper is bonded.
When the goods arrive, I broker them myself. There is a port of entry only
a short distance from my gallery. I open the packages myself and declare
values while the customs officer looks over my shoulder. I have been to
the port of entry so many times that I now have a friendly rappport with
customs staff.
Brokering your own goods saves money. UPS, for example, charges brokering
fees of about 19 percent of the value of the shipment. For example, I would
pay a $39. fee for a $210. shipment.
In starting and operating an art business, there is a lot to be learned...
and I have only begun. However, the investment of time is worth the effort.
I hope to be in this business a long time!
