Ask an Expert with Jenn Pate and Amanda Witucki
How to create an event for the East Austin Studio Tour
Jenn Pate of Maridad Studios and Amanda Witucki of The Paper Committee organized a popular stop on the East Austin Studio Tours last November, and I wanted to ask them how they pulled it off.
If you were an artist who participated in EAST this year I would like to hear from you. Big events like this really boost the economy of local artists and I think we all would benefit from knowing more. Here is an anonymous survey asking you about your EAST finances. Anyone who has ever participated in the studio tours is welcome to full it out. I know talking about money can be hard, but this information can go a long way to helping other artists. Take a look!
How long have you been participating in EAST?
Jenn
7 years
Amanda
This past year was my 5th year participating.
When did you know you wanted to host your own curated location?
Jenn
For me, it's always the goal but some years are more difficult than others in the sense of having the time, energy, and resources to put on your own event. Sometimes I just piggy-back off my friends or the local resources I have to be a part of another space during EAST. I always get responses from the community about how confusing East can be as a viewer, so as an artist, just showing up and marketing as best as possible is your fair bet at having a good time.
Amanda
I have been hopping around to a few locations the past 5 years, and always tried to pick a spot with heavy traffic. I felt like I had learned a lot about what brings people to a spot, and I was excited at the challenge to create a location that would be busy and worthwhile for the artists.
What was the first thing you did when you decided to host this event?
Jenn
Location. We knew this couldn't happen if we didn't have a space… and could afford it.
How did you decide what artists you wanted to work with?
Jenn
We created a google form with a list of questions and sent it to all our friends and acquaintances in the Austin Art Community.
Amanda
This was the best part of the experience for me. It’s fun to play curator. I reached out to any and everyone that I liked their art. I even reached out to some big dogs, knowing they probably had their own studio and would decline, but it was fun to dream big.
What was on your todo list for the event?
Jenn
It felt so cathartic throwing away the many lists I made for this event over the holidays, lets see what I can remember…
Apply to grants
Sponsors, creating a slide deck, reaching out, picking up products/dropping off at location.
Artist Liaison, constant communication with various artists (we had 30 total)
Create signage/marketing for the event
Budgeting
Swag Bags
Hiring Staff
Amanda
Trying to troubleshoot and anticipate needs for the artists: figuring out logistics of how their display would work best without getting too crowded, and best practices to hang their art; tips and tricks for people who were showing for the first time this year, etc.
We spent A LOT of timing choosing exactly where each artist should go in the space. We placed people based on the size of their art and the size of the specific wall in the room; we thought about what artists would be near each other, and having a variety of mediums represented in each space.
Connecting with the food trucks nearby to make sure they knew about the event and how we can work together for everyone’s benefit. We got the food trucks to send us QR codes for us to have on display at the event to bring traffic down to them. The more you can make your neighbors happy, the better it is for everyone.
What was it like hosting your own event?
Jenn
AMAZING - its the best being in charge and running an event, Amanda and I worked really well together and tackled so much that everything ran -for the most part- smoothly.
Amanda
It was a blast! I like hosting my friends in real life, so this was a bigger extension of that. It felt so great to look around and see people happy during the event.
What would you tell an artist who was considering doing EAST next year?
Jenn
Location. Find a space with good foot traffic and you’ll be solid, perks of showing alongside your rad artist friends.
Amanda
Yes, a busy location is KEY. I always tell people to look at previous year’s stops and find a place that had a lot of artists. Usually the EAST app is still up after the tour and you can find stops with multiple artists showing that way. Then you follow those artists on Instagram and once the time gets close for apps to open the following year (around June I think?), then you reach out to these artists and see if they’re going to be hosting said event again and how they’re choosing artists.
Did you make any money for the event separate from your art sales?
Jenn
No, we wanted to get some grant money to give back to the artists but unfortunately we were denied.
What expenses did you have?
Jenn
Rental fees, hiring staff, miscellaneous extras - cups, ice, napkins, tables, marketing signage, coolers…
Is there anything you would have done differently?
Jenn
I would have made sure the venue had - functioning- wifi so that music and pos systems could more easily be used.
Amanda
Also, get your fliers printed at Vistaprint. We shopped locally with our fliers and could have spent half the money had we gone through Vistaprint.
What was your favorite part of the event?
Jenn
Being in a room/space with some of my favorite Austin artists.
Amanda
I was so impressed with the turnout. We were hoping for about 1,000-2,000 people to come by during the weekend, and we got close to doubling those numbers. With all the work we put into it, it was amazing to finally see that everything went smoothly, and it was the best possible turnout. It was like “ahhh we actually did it.”
You can find Jenn and Amanda…
Jenn Pate of Maridad Studios
Instagram @maridad.studio
Amanda Witucki of The Paper Committee
Instagram @thepapercommittee