What a News Article Can Do for Artists

Last week, one of my paintings was featured in the local newspaper. It was a large image of my St. Augustine Bridge of Lions painting, prominently placed at the top of the monthly article about the St. Augustine Artwalk.

Bridge of Lions (c) Mary Hubley

The article came out in the weekend edition, and artwalk was that evening. The result? I sold a print of the painting, and landed a commission to do a larger version. The commission was the direct result of the newspaper article - in fact, the customer walked into the gallery with the article in hand.

The takeaway? Local publicity does work. To sell, we need to get the word out. In this case, the newspaper got the word out for this painting. Behind the scenes, it happened because my St. Augustine gallery owner, Georgia Nick (from the GNG Gallery), sent in press releases and photos to the paper. The newspaper responded.

Papers love to have fresh material. Local papers love press releases and photos from gallery owners and artists because it makes their job easier. It's a ready-made story. They're likely to print it, as long as it's interesting and there's room in the paper.

So, to all of you artists who crave more publicity - go for it. Develop relationships with the local arts editors. Send smart press releases and photos with new material every couple of months. And sell!

Here's a link to my article: Compass Article

--Mary Hubley