40 Things I Know About ... Worcester's creative industry
Juliet Feibel
To celebrate her nonprofit’s 40th anniversary, Arts Worcester Executive Director Juliet Feibel is writing four business advice columns in 2019. Her first one on entrepreneurial artists appeared in the March 18 WBJ and can be found here. while her June 24 column about running an arts nonprofit is here.
Right now, people are talking about Worcester’s future in the arts and creative industries. While most can name a few highly visible arts organizations or projects, few have a good understanding of the big picture. Whether artists, arts audiences or arts organizations are your customers or clients, here are 10 things to help you understand their world better.
20) Worcester’s art scene has been around for years. Artists working here for decades get very prickly when someone tells them what great art Worcester has now.
19) It’s not one art scene; it’s dozens. Museums, galleries, maker-spaces, and tiny DIY operations all inhabit their own worlds. The Worcester world of artists may be the only one in which you shouldn’t assume everybody knows each other.
18) Bigger is not always better. The Davis Art Gallery is an employee project of Davis Publications on the third floor of the Printers Building. This volunteer labor of love shows some of the highest quality, most interesting exhibitions in this city.
17) Know the difference between events about art, and those about the social activity inspired by art. Set your expectations, and you’ll enjoy both.
16) Go to artist talks. These quiet, brief events are where you’ll learn how and why work is made, and will bring you into meaningful conversation with the artists. That sort of exchange is rare in bigger cities.
15) You will like some artworks and dislike others. This doesn’t mean you’re not educated or don’t understand art. You have your own taste.
14) Some artists write statements about their work people can understand. Some write statements no one will ever understand. In Worcester, you get both. If you’re mystified by what an artist says about his or her own work, take from the statement what you can use, and see if you like the artwork on its own.
13) Prices in Worcester haven’t yet caught up to quality. We advise people not to think of art as an investment, especially in the early stages of collecting. But if you’re interested in buying art, now is the time.
12) Buy what you like. And then buy it again, whether it’s the same artist or the same style. Congratulations! You just became a collector.
11) Worcester has little tolerance for divas. Our artists are the least pretentious and most down-to-earth people you’ll ever meet in any artworld. Come out and see for yourself.
For the final column in Feibel’s series on the creative economy, check out the Dec. 9 edition of WBJ.
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