This article is by Keith Bond, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews.  You should submit an article and share your views as a guest author by clicking here.

As I write this article, I am in the California wine country of Sonoma.  I'm here for a plein air painting event.  Once in a while I get other artists asking my advice or opinion about such shows.  My thoughts today are a bit more generalized to be applicable to many different art venues for all types of artists.

Does the Opportunity Fit

Firstly, you must determine if the event is really beneficial to your overall goals as an artist.  I am going to assume that you have goals and know what direction you want your art career to go.  Is your work a good fit for the event?  Let's assume that you determined it is.  What is the next step in evaluating the opportunity?

Benefits

Determine what the benefits of the event or opportunity really are.  They may include possible sales, name recognition, potential new clients, new subject matter for your artwork, networking, resume item, and the list could go on.  What are realistic benefits for you?  Which are the most important benefits?

Evaluate All Your Costs

Now let's look at the other side of it.  What are the costs associated with the opportunity?  All opportunities have related costs.  There are travel expenses.  Some opportunities require a monetary commitment or a fee.  Sometimes there may be pressure to perform that disrupts your creative flow.  There are time commitments.  You may miss out on other sales or opportunities.  You may need to put some projects on hold for a while.  These last couple examples (opportunity costs) may even result in burnt bridges.  There are of course other potential costs relevant to your situation and/or the event or opportunity.  Thoroughly evaluate ALL costs of participation.

Now that you know the benefits and the costs, then you can determine if the opportunity is right for you or not.

Best Case Scenario

What is the best case scenario?  Will you realistically sell all your work?  Will the right collectors really be there?  Will you be able to find the muse you may be seeking?  Will you realistically gain any or all of the other benefits you identified?  What is the likelihood of realizing the best case?

Worst Case Scenario

What is the worst case scenario?  Maybe nothing will sell.  Maybe you won't find anything to feed your muse.  Maybe the event draws people who aren't interested in your type of art.  Perhaps you sink a bunch of money and the opportunity is a failure.  What is the likelihood of realizing the worst case?

Can You Live With the Worst Case

So, now you have the best and worst case scenarios.  Is the best case scenario good enough to justify all the costs?  Sometimes it isn't and therefore doesn't make sense to participate.  What about the worst case.  Suppose that scenario plays out.  Are you willing to accept that risk to participate in the opportunity? 

Often times the realistic outcome is somewhere in the middle.  But if you cannot justify participation in the best case, you shouldn't even consider it.  If you cannot live with the worst case scenario, you need to give it very serious consideration before participating. 

My Example

Let's look at my own example.  I have spent money traveling to this event.  There was a small fee for the jury process.  Though my ticket to the gala was free, I brought my son with me and his ticket costs a fair amount.  There is food and other expenses while we are here.  We will be on the road for 9 days, so there is a fair amount of time involved.  And while here, I cannot work on other projects nor will I be able to do any online marketing.  Maybe the pressure to perform will result is sub-par paintings.

The potential benefits include: sales, new clients, great subject matter (some of which will be helpful for 2 unrelated projects), networking, resume item, and even an opportunity for  some father and son bonding (this was not part of the original evaluation process, because I only recently decided to bring him).  Who knows, I may even win an award.  There may be a few other benefits, but you get the point.

I don't do very many of these types of events for several reasons.  But in this case, I have a couple projects in the works that are unrelated to the event which justify the trip.  For both projects I could go elsewhere.  But with this trip, I can kill two birds with one stone.  And that is even true if the worst case scenario plays out.  So, it still made sense for me.  I could live with the costs because I knew that certain benefits were likely.  But hopefully, I will also gain some new clients and make some sales.

Recap

In short, know all your costs.  What are the likely benefits?  Know the best and worst case scenarios.  If it still makes sense with the worst case, or if you can live with the gamble, then go for it.  And of course, this is assuming that it supports your long term goals as an artist.

Best Wishes,

Keith Bond

PS.  Since being here, I have determined that the father/son bonding has quickly moved to the top of my list for benefits.  If nothing else, this made it worth the trip.