As an artist, your studio can sometimes feel like a crowded waiting room. Canvases lean against the walls, finished and ready for the world, yet they remain unseen. It’s only natural to look for every possible “window” to display your work, leading many to consider alternative venues: high-end restaurants, boutique hotels, or luxury real estate staging.
On the surface, the proposition is enticing. You get your work out of the dark and into a beautifully designed space where affluent people spend their time. But before you load up the van, it’s important to evaluate these opportunities through a strategic lens rather than an emotional one.
The Hidden Value: High-End Marketing Assets
The most immediate benefit of staging your work in a professional setting isn’t actually a sale—it’s the photography.
In an era where your online presence is often a collector’s first point of contact, a photo of your painting hanging over a designer sofa in a $2 million home is worth ten times more than a sterile “headshot” of the painting against a white wall. These “in-situ” images provide scale, context, and a sense of lifestyle that helps a potential buyer visualize the work in their own home. Even if the home sells and your art returns to the studio, you’ve gained permanent marketing assets for your website and social media.
The Sales Reality Check
It is important to be realistic: alternative venues are rarely high-performance sales environments. When people are at a restaurant, they are focused on the food and conversation. When they are touring a staged home, they are focused on the architecture and the floor plan.
In these settings, art often becomes “part of the scenery.” Unlike a gallery, where the environment is specifically designed to facilitate a transaction and focus the mind on the art, alternative venues are passive. Without a dedicated “closer” on-site to answer questions about the artist’s process or price, the path from “I like that” to “I’ll buy that” is long and full of friction.
The “Hassle Factor” and Risk
Every time a piece of art leaves your studio, it is at risk. Before committing to an alternative venue, consider the logistical costs:
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Insurance: Most standard studio policies do not cover work once it is sitting in a third-party commercial space. You may need an additional rider.
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Transportation and Installation: High-quality staging requires professional hanging. A crooked painting or a poorly lit corner can actually damage your brand’s perception.
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Opportunity Cost: If your best piece is sitting in a restaurant for six months, it isn’t available for a gallery show or a quick ship to an online buyer.
Strategic Execution: Tips for Success
If you decide that the demographic exposure and the photography benefits outweigh the risks, follow these professional guidelines:
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Demand Professional Signage: Don’t rely on a stack of business cards on a distant counter. Ensure there is a clean, professional plaque next to the work with your name, the title, and a QR code leading directly to the piece on your website.
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Focus on the Relationship: Staging is often most successful when it’s about networking. Building a relationship with a high-end interior designer or a luxury real estate agent can lead to commissioned work long after the initial staging event is over.
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Set a Deadline: Never leave work in an alternative venue indefinitely. Set a 60 or 90-day limit. If it hasn’t generated a lead by then, it’s time to rotate the inventory or bring it home.
Have You “Staged” Your Way to a Sale?
I’ve seen artists find great success with alternative venues, and others who felt it was a drain on their time. Have you ever placed your work in a non-gallery setting? Did it lead to a sale, or did it simply provide you with great portfolio photos? I’d love to hear about your experiences.
I had a showing at our Municipal Building which housed all our city’s offices and where meetings and hearings were held. It was there for six months and didn’t receive a comment even though there was coverage of it in our local paper. It was a very disappointing experience.
I have hung my art in a local coffee shop and sold over 20 paintings in 2 months — sales have come from promoting the show on social media, so people bought from me online, as well as in person in the coffee shop. I’ve also hung shows in coffee shops and received lovely comments and no sales.
I had a solo showing at a well established local wine room/restaurant. I asked if I could conduct an artist talk on a Saturday afternoon and promised to send an announcement to my distribution list. The owner was excited and also advertised the artist talk in her customer newsletter. I hung 18 paintings at the venue, which was a lot of work, I admit. However, both the owner and myself were very pleased with the event. My list filled 3 tables and her list brought in 3 more. Everyone ordered food and/or purchased wine. I spoke for 45 minutes and answered lots of questions for a small but interested group. I sold 3 paintings and the owner donated her commission to a local charity. I really enjoyed the whole event, but probably wouldn’t have sold any paintings if I had not offered the artist talk. Would I do it again? Maybe, depending on what’s going on. There’s a lot of setup and breakdown time, plus 18 paintings were tied up for 60 days.
As a side note for you, Jason. I had just read you book, How to Sell Art, so I decided to work some of your tips about talking to potential buyers into my artist talk. I am positive that your tips helped with my sales. Thank you for passing on your knowledge.
I was asked to stage Steve Wozniaks house that was for sale. I gave them 15 paintings. From that, I sold 3 paintings to visiting house buyers. It was great publicity too. I made a YouTube video of my pieces.
The YouTube video was a brilliant marketing move!!!
In Albuquerque, on Central across from UNM, is a diner which displays mostly student art. It does sell some. However, it has a reputation in the city for having art for sale. Reputation counts.
I have, once, displayed in a bank in Massachusetts. Sold nothing, and have to say that most of the paintings were placed well above viewing level. Most of my out-of-gallery sales have been serendipitous or in sidewalk shows.
For me some important questions are: Does the exhibition put pressure on my inventory that I need for shows and/or galleries? How difficult is set up and take down? How long are my paintings tied up? Does it benefit my community in some way?
Among other things I’ve done 2 displays in local coffee shops owned by friends of mine. Easy set up and take down, close to home, each display was for a month or two, and in each case it was at a time when inventory pressure was light. I was glad to support local businesses, the owners appreciated it, many of my neighbors saw my work, and in each case I sold a painting.
Shows like this are not central to my business but I was happy to do them.
I’m in a fairly rural area of Maine that’s also a tourist destination. I sell mostly through outdoor art shows and gallery space in the area is limited. I regularly hang my work, especially in the winter months, in the town hall, hospital public spaces, doctors offices, cafes, libraries, and our local assisted living center. They lead to a few sales and a lot of visibility, which has been helpful since I’ve been selling paintings now for five years. If they weren’t on display they’d be in my basement. I’m happy they can be somewhere that they’re seen!
Hi Rick, I visited your website. Your work is beautiful.
Hi Rick, Loved seeing your Acadia paintings. You captured it well. I too have painted many of the same scenes and visited the park most every June for at least a decade. Do you live close? I lived about 300 miles away in southern NH.