Art Historical Narrative & Audience Segmentation
Artists are asked to explain their work constantly, in studio visits, applications, press conversations, and sales, and few have a clear, consistent way to do it. The Art Historical Narrative and Audience Segmentation gives you one.
It is a written document built around your practice, designed for artists who are building toward representation. If you’re interested in PR but aren’t yet exhibiting regularly, this is the place to start.
The document moves in two directions: inward, through an art historical narrative that identifies the themes at the foundation of your practice, and outward, through an audience segmentation that identifies the terms on which different audiences might approach your work.
In the art world, we tend to talk about art by teaching the public what it engages with. Strategic communications starts from the other side: How does your audience think? How do they make sense of the world? And how can you say what you want to say in a way that connects with them?
Referring an artist? Get in touch.
What themes persist across everything you make? Which historical artists and artworks inform your work, and how does their practice enrich the story of what you do? And what language can describe your vision specifically enough to communicate concretely, yet flexibly enough that you keep full artistic liberty?
You receive: 3–4 key themes with detailed descriptions that capture your artistic vision.
Who are the audiences that matter most to your work: curators, press, collectors, other artists, the general public? How does each one think, and how should your key messages adapt to each? How should the narrative unfold across your website and social media?
You receive: 4 key audiences with custom key messages and communications strategies.
Prepare for studio visits and conversations with a clear framework for how your latest work builds on what you’ve already made and shown.
Give collectors a short didactic text with each purchase, so they can speak confidently about your work when guests see it on display.
Fold small, consistent details about your practice into the studio, work-in-progress, and exhibition images you already share.
Adapt a summary of your key themes to each application instead of writing about your work from scratch.
Artist statements, website text, exhibition proposals, grant applications, and press releases all draw on the same ideas. Starting from your themes keeps the language consistent across them.
The art historical record is built from other people’s words about your work. You can help them understand it better, and so influence the terms on which they evaluate it.
The segmentation covers the four largest categories of people who will shape the record. You have other audiences, and any audience can be divided further.
Take it under advisement, and let the work evolve according to its own logic.
Where a curator’s or collector’s reading differs from the framework, that difference is useful information, not an error to correct.
“I am very glad I am doing this with you and look forward to the future.”[Attribution, once approved]
“Overall, I think you’ve captured a great deal of what I’m trying to do, and I’m excited to see where you take it.”[Attribution, once approved]
Book a free consultation and we’ll talk through whether this is the right starting point for your practice. Referring an artist? Get in touch.