Waltham Open Studios

Studio of Deborah Barlow

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The landscapes of our towns and cities are still settling, disrupted as they were by the bob and weave of the last three years. Like me, I am guessing that some of your favorite neighborhood businesses were able to make it though while others did not. Slowly the shuttered spaces, like missing teeth, are getting filled in with new tenants.

“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Pandemic-induced disruptions have altered many domains of life. The one I have watched carefully is the how art gets seen and sold. The latest Hiscox Online Art Trade Report 2022 highlights how the pandemic impacted the art market: the shift to digital art selling is here to stay; increased comfort and confidence buying art online; an emerging class of collectors buy online but don’t visit galleries.

In addition to these merchandising trends, the report highlighted another finding:

Help and support of the artistic community (social impact) and support for individual artists (patronage) are major motivators for buying art. This is particularly evident among the younger generation–under 35 years old–where 75% say their main motivation for buying art is social impact.

The importance of those issues both heartened and surprised me.

Like most artists, my primary concern has always been on the art itself. I care about the quality of the work and the experience it offers a viewer. Turns out that is just one part of what is a much more complex response.

The importance of those social concerns—social impact and patronage—was elemental to the overwhelming success of Matthew Burrows’ pandemic program on Instagram, Artist Support Pledge. (More about that phenomenon here.) And those same motivators have also been evident from where I have been perched these last few years as the coordinator of several online efforts including Pell Lucy (international artist collective,) Fair Share Art (Instagram platform for selling affordable art,) and Fair Share Art Auction (Instagram-based fundraising through art auctions.)

These initiatives were created to operate in the digital sphere, designed to bring art makers and art lovers into closer proximity to each other at a time when viewing art in person was not feasible. We offered high quality art in a more accessible manner. That enabled the coupling of a satisfying aesthetic experience with the social impulses that matter to people. That’s a win/win.

As in-person art viewing options return—galleries, museums, art fairs—this new dynamic will coexist with the old forms. There will be a demand for more intimacy between artists and viewers, and more freedom for personal choice at a reasonable price.

Interestingly enough, there is a tried and true format that actually accommodates those conditions very well: Open Studios.

While some people view artists as those quirky kids who left home to join the circus (which isn’t too far from the truth!) and are curious to see where they now live and/or work, even more are drawn to the chance to explore new work, talk to artists in a casual setting, find art at an affordable price. Open studios is a great way to blend a rich aesthetic experience with the values of social impact and patronage.  That’s a win/win.

So here’s where this moves to the personal.

My studio will be open as part of the 46^th annual Waltham Open Studios, November 5-6. Over 90 artists are participating. Details about the event are below.

There is much to see and do. Waltham Mills is a longstanding artist community, situated in mill buildings built by Francis Cabot Lowell along the Charles River in the first half of the 19^th century. Creativity and invention are deep in the soil of this site from its earliest incarnations, a history that can be explored at the nearby Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation.

And of course Waltham Mills is located just blocks from the town’s culinary sweet spot, Moody Street.

Everyone is welcome. I am in Building 18, on the third floor. There will be a brochure and site map when you arrive.

I hope to see you then.

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WALTHAM OPEN STUDIOS

INFORMATION

Waltham Open Studios

November 5-6, 2022

12pm-6pm

144 Moody Street

Waltham MA

DEBORAH BARLOW

Building 18, 3^rd Floor