Today we will be talking about Profiting From Arts. We will be touching the business aspects of every industry at entrepreneurs.ng. We are mostly handicapped because of lack of information which is what entrepreneurs.ng is designed to solve. Information is power!
~Art is broad and cannot be defined in a word. However, I can define it as a creative expression~
Hello, my name is Chukwudi Udoya, graphic artist and photographer. I have been practicing for 10 years after studying Fine Arts in school and majoring in graphic design.
Making money/profiting from art
It is difficult in Nigeria for everyone, inclusive of artists. One important part of profiting for artists is about sourcing materials at wholesale prices to reduce the cost of production for the artist and maximize profit.
There are other ways of making money in art. Art has gone digital now. Paintings are even done on computers these days. A painter or sculptor can infuse his work into people’s everyday lives. Examples will be putting one’s paintings on a ceramic cup, on t-shirts, brand banners and other types of prints.
People want things to beautify their homes and themselves. Clothing companies and modeling opportunities spring up every day. An artist can take advantage of those. If an artist finds a way of bringing his art to the everyday lives of people, he will make money.
One must not limit oneself to the rich in the society; the middle- and low-income demographics can also be tapped into. They don’t usually have access to art because it is expensive. However, bringing it close to these classes, making it accessible to them (even on things as common as textbooks), an artist will make sales and money.
Other areas that artists can tap into
There are a lot. Let’s take a look at the design industry – craft. This area has been neglected. I was talking to someone 3 days ago, and he told me the beads I was wearing sells for an equivalent of about 2000 naira in Malaysia. He encouraged me to make some and send over to be sold. People of other cultures admire and value craft from other regions of the world. Making and exporting craft can make money for the artist.
I once saw a cane chair craftswoman weaving in names into the chairs she made, personalising them. Someone seeing his or her name on such product (just like what Coca-Cola did with their bottles) would be moved to buy. These are some creative ways to make money.
What affects most of us is that we don’t have time to think (contributed to by the bad state of things in the country). If we sat down to think, we would discover a throve of ideas that haven’t been explored. There are also the hesitations to venture into implementing ideas because of lack of sponsorship and uncertainty about their workability in the Nigerian environment.
The education system and arts
At the primary schools, we don’t take arts seriously except one goes to arts school. It is seen as a past time, for unserious students. Because of this, people don’t understand nor value arts. However, the things we do every day is art – from the spoons to cups to every other item we use daily.
What can be done to make people more appreciating of arts and artists
Artists should look more into organising seminars for young people. A lot of children are novices when it comes to art. Music is art, but students don’t know what studios are like. They have not been to art studios before. Students should be made to visit art galleries and studios, not just museums.
A child exposed to art becomes more expressive. Currently, children are not being encouraged to get into arts. I was discouraged also when I was young simply because people thought I wouldn’t be able to feed myself with it.
This was live from Command at ReDahlia Workspaces, 43B Emina Crescent, Off Toyin Street, Ikeja.
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