For some galleries, marketing is kids' stuff: two galleries find involving children in their businesses exposes a generation of potential collectors to art

Art Business News, Dec, 2003 by Erika Rasmusson Janes

If the thought of kids running through your gallery conjures images of wiping sticky, chocolatey fingerprints off of your pricey pieces of art, or sweeping up shards of broken sculpture, chances are you're missing out on a growing marketing opportunity.

Increasingly, galleries around the country are bringing children in their businesses as a way to involve families in art, expose kids to art and galleries at a young age and create good buzz within their communities.

Two years ago, Robert Maniscalco's eponymous gallery in Gross Pointe, Mich., began hosting birthday "Painting Parties" for kids ages eight to 12. Groups of up to a dozen children gather at the gallery, receive a tour and then retreat to a reserved room in the gallery to start painting. Each child is asked to bring a favorite object from home (dolls, stuffed animals and the like), and Maniscalco arranges the toys into a still life for the kids to paint. He provides the materials, as well as light instruction--"it's a party, so we're not heavy duty on it," he said--and then the group has cake.

Paintings are left at the gallery overnight to dry, and the parents pick them up the next day in the gallery's framing area. Maniscalco estimates that about 30 percent of parents opt to have their child's work framed. "We put the bug in their ear about framing, but it's a soft sell," he said, adding, "If it turns out well there's a better chance it will get framed!"

Despite the increase in his flaming business, Maniscalco said making money is not the point of the painting parties. The $150-per-party charge to the host parents barely covers the cost of the supplies he provides. Rather, he views the parties as a marketing tool. "If I can cover may costs and get good PR and good word of mouth throughout the community, it's well worth any hit I might take with money," he said. "It beats advertising. There are a lot more creative ways to get your name out in the community." Indeed, Maniscalco doesn't advertise the painting parties; instead, he relies on word of mouth, his 6,000-name e-mail list and the local cable show he hosts each week.

Another benefit of the painting parties is that many of the parents whose children have participated end up bringing their kids back to the gallery, Maniscalco said, which is something he encourages. "I think it's great to be able to expose them to the art and the process of creativity," he said. "Our job, as gallery owners, is to educate our community about line art. If not us, then who? In the long haul, that's just good for business. A community that's hip about art is a community that's going to support it."

Maniscalco's community involvement and commitment to making art family-friendly are already paying off: He said the gallery has captured some market share from its competitors as a result of the community involvement, and business has been steadily increasing 10 to 20 percent despite the economy, "because we're offering something interesting."

He's not the only one. Martin Lawrence Galleries, which has 11 locations, held a "My Kid Can Do That" event this past summer that aimed to draw new visitors into the galleries; encourage families to visit galleries together; break perceived taboos about children in galleries; encourage kids in their artistic pursuits and raise money for the Starbright Foundation.

Invitations were sent to the company's database of customers, and local advertisements were taken out in each market, inviting kids to pick up official entry forms in June. Those entry forms served as the canvas upon which they were to create their artwork, following the theme of "What Summer Means to Me." Once the forms were returned, the pieces of art were framed in clear acrylic boxes and hung in the various galleries, interspersed with the fine art already on display. The culmination was a kid-friendly event held over Labor Day weekend, during which the participants were invited to view their work in the gallery. The framed art was on sale for $7 apiece, and all proceeds went to the Starbright Foundation.

"This event was created with the desire to do something fresh and fun" said Pam Ferraro, a spokesperson for the Martin Lawrence Galleries. It was also an attempt to increase traffic to the galleries during the summer. "Summertime is often family time; visiting an art gallery may not be the first thing families think of to do in the summer, and we wanted to make it an attractive proposition for them," she added.

The benefit to the galleries was overwhelmingly positive. "Families who may have been hesitant about visiting an art gallery now know that we welcome them. The children have had the fun of seeing their artwork hung alongside Picasso and Chagall artwork. We attracted some new clients, and we raised money for a very worthwhile cause" Ferraro said. "Everyone enjoyed it on all sides, and we are talking about repeating this again."

Robert Maniscalco provides light instruction at his painting parties.