Sept. 6, 2024

A free monthly workshop series for visual artists launches next week.

The Watering Can was founded by business coach Claudia Dail, who will lead the series beginning Tuesday with artists Alex Lunstra and Julie Dent. 

“Ten years ago, I was invited to speak at Falls Foundry. They asked me to speak and wanted the topic ‘artists as entrepreneurs,'” Dail said. “The artists were just soaking up what I was talking about. I had coffee with many of the artists afterward and realized there was a need for understanding business to help them be successful.”

Since then, Dail has put together a curriculum with other artists to teach business skills.

“I have quite a background in business, and I’ve trained as a certified business coach,” she said. “It helped me have the confidence to work with these artists.”

After receiving multiple grants from the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation and Sioux Falls Arts Council, The Watering Can is in a position to do something more serious, Dail said.

“I heard about the Springboard for the Arts in St. Paul in the last few years,” Dail said. “They put together a wonderful, free, PDF workbook for artists. I applied for an extensive trainer event and went there for a week.”

Dail said she came back ready to help artists.

“Using that information and what I’d put together myself, we put together a six- to eight-session curriculum,” Dail said. “COVID dried up classes for a while, but recently I heard about The Underground from Jerry Cook.” He’s the former owner of Rehfelds Modern Fine Art & Framing who started The Underground event venue and secondary gallery space when the business — then called Rehfeld’s Art & Framing — moved to 431 N. Phillips Ave.

The Artist Toolkit for Success workshops will occur on the second Tuesday of the month from September through May at The Underground by Rehfelds and virtually via Facebook Live. Workshops will run from 6:30 to 8 p.m. 

“We’ve had an ongoing level of interest from artists in the Sioux Falls area,” Dail said. “There’s an emerging number of artists who say, ‘OK, I’ve been producing art, so how do I make money now?'”

Dail said artists Lunstra and Dent both come from the corporate world, and “they understand the reasoning behind the need for these skills.”

“One thing I’ve learned is that visual artists tend to be introverts,” Dail said. “We present information and then split into small groups to digest it.”

Most of the artists at the sessions have part-time or full-time jobs already, so the workshop series is adding secondary sessions to review the content, Dail said. 

“We’re working with the downtown library to truly collab and come together the third Monday of the month,” Dail said. “I don’t want them to walk away from the workshop and think ‘what did I actually learn.'”

At the review sessions at the library, the group will begin to apply the material, and someone will be there to answer more questions, Dail said.

Each session will be broken into different subjects, beginning with marketing and building social capital. 

“At the first session, we will identify the target market for the artists,” Dail said. “Social media is inexpensive and useful, but we need to make sure we’re focusing it in the right direction.”

Dail gave the example of artists who do pet portraits and said they need to hone in on a specific market to successfully sell their work. 

“They need to check in with places where pet owners are or work with stores that sell animals, etc.,” Dail said.” We’re going to talk about that and focus on who is interested in your art.”

The second session will center around branding and what image the artist wants to present to the community.

“November is on pricing,” Dail said. “‘How do I know how to price my work?’ We want to help people come up with a formula to get started.”

The December session will cover the portfolio, artist statements and ready marketing materials.

Moving into the new year, Dail said the workshop series will teach artists how to engage with customers and start conversations with more serious customers. 

“Alex and I talked about this recently. Learning how to recognize potential customers at an art show is important,” Dail said. “If you start conversations with certain people, you can gain info if they’re able to actually buy your work.”

Dail said other topics include battling ‘shiny object syndrome,’ working on goal-setting and understanding legal considerations. 

“This can be a downfall for many artists. Record-keeping and accounting is vital.”

Dail said the community has been more than supportive, and she is excited to collaborate more. To learn more, click here.