October is National Art & Framing month

Art Business News, Oct, 2003 by Amy Leibrock

DEAR READERS

It's not often that I'll use this column to point out an advertisement in this magazine, but this month is special. October is National Art & Framing month, and the Art & Framing Council's newest promotional effort is announced on page 49.

In an effort to promote art and framing to consumers, the AFC teamed up with actress and artist Jane Seymour to produce an advertisement that will run in consumer publications throughout the year. In the ad, Seymour tells consumers that buying art and having it custom framed will help support young artists.

Here is how it works: Participating art publishers and framing manufacturers donate a percentage of their sales to the AFC, which in turn supports the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a national art and writing competition that provides more than $1 million in cash and scholarships to talented high school students.

The consumer ads are designed to drive more people into art and frame shops so more money will trickle down to the AFC, the awards program and--most importantly--to you, the retailer. Since some of this industry's major suppliers participate in the program, it's more than likely that a portion of your gallery or frame shop's sales are already part of the program--without you even knowing it. Pretty pain less, right?

Customers who hear about the scholarship program will feel good about shopping in your stores. Mad we all know that someone who feels good about their shopping experience is likely to come back again. Galleries and frame shops can help promote this campaign by downloading a copy of Seymour's ad to use as a counter display or window promotion.

To download the ad, visit the AFC Web site at www.artandframingcouncil.org. For more information on the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit www.artandwriting.org.

This month's issue is dedicated to photography. We hope you enjoy it and we invite your feedback.

AMY LEIBROCK

Editor