Is there anybody out there?
Herring Island was a success! The sculpture was great, we had great visitors - some of whom bought your work - we sold nine works over the nine days. The weather was kind and the main lack of numbers was due to the very quiet opening and non event Australia Day.
Sales are a very crude measure of success - plus for our sculptors who have shown not-for-sale works what does that even mean?
Engagement: The online exhibition ran in conjunction with the physical exhibition. Visitors were able to view sculpture details on their smartphones by scanning individual QR codes on the plinth labels. They could also vote for the people’s choice award, view the sculptor’s profile page and even purchase the work - all contact-less and in their own hands. The web analytics tool showed the great leap in engagements with the website during the exhibition - also a decline immediately the physical show finished. Still this gave us a tool to enhance engagement with our sculptors - so keep your profile page up to date - it links to the exhibition and it can help you!
The other big push for engagement came with our social media team - here is a report from Aukje:
“Last October three members started a team with the aim of promoting the ASV and its shows more on social media. The idea being that it is a free /cheap way to get the word out, and we would reach a different cohort than with printed media.
Well, we are finally breathing after having done daily posts on Facebook and Instagram for almost the whole 6 weeks that the Herring island exhibition lasted! (Including the online show)
We were hoping that we could see the effect of our efforts in visitor numbers, and sales, but it has been hard to judge this with covid happening and the loss of the Australian open as a visitor event. What did happen was that the longer we posted, the more followers we gathered, and the more comments we get- which means that people are getting more involved. Which is a good way of getting people to visit shows.
Another thing we have done is start a closed group on Facebook (ASV members group) for private conversation, questions and chats amongst members. Already a few topics have passed on here, like insurance, sales % at shows, etc. it has been interesting to see what things come up and who knows answers, or who was also struggling with the same questions! Hopefully in the future this will be an invitation for knowledgeable members to write a bit on this topics to share their knowledge.
You are all invited to join this group. It is a great way to get members involved, especially the regional members, who find it hard to come to the physical meetings.
Also, for the members who use Facebook, It is a good way to gather momentum for our shows if everyone shares the event we create in obnoxious amounts on their own page/ personal accounts. This way your friends and followers see it a lot of times and people have to see things 3-7 times to remember them! So share away. I will put instructions on the ASV member group.
Sadly our team numbers are now down to 2, as Andre got very busy with sculpting and other things. It would be wonderful if someone would want to join our team- to make plans, and to help with creating posts. Don’t worry- this is not an every day job! We have a program so can make posts at one time and plan when they get published. So, you can create 2 weeks of posts worth in an hour or so. Anyone who likes writing and has a bit of experience with IG and FB, is very welcome to join us!
Chris and Aukje”
Thank you to all. We are looking at an effort to support engagement with sculpture and sculptors - via the website, exhibition invitation list, social media and most of all - online and physical exhibitions.
Our next exhibition is in June - the Annual and Awards Exhibition at the Victorian Artists Society galleries, Albert St East Melbourne.
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| Marija Patterson’s “Across the Sea to a New Beginning” Won the people’s Choice Award at the Herring Island exhibition |
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| Betty Knight’s “Reverie” was runner up in the People’s Choice Award at the Herring Island Exhibition |
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