July E-News
POST DAW 2012 ISSUE
NB – see office summer closure notice below.
DAW 2012
THANK YOU ARTISTS
Thank you to all the near 1000 artists taking part in DAW 2012. In particular, the 365 of you opening your homes or organising the alternative studio and exhibition spaces that made this year’s event special in many different ways. More visitors than ever have contacted us to say how enjoyable the event has been.
P.S.
And, thank you too for the appreciative messages we have received from many of you.
HOWEVER: HOUSEKEEPING NOTICE
SIGNS
Please, please take down the last of the DAW road signs – several are still up. Most Local Authorities are happy for us to push by-laws to the limit but leaving them up unnecessarily does test the goodwill.
THANK YOU VISITORS
Some reading this brief post DAW E-News will be Art Weeks visitors that have signed up to follow Dorset Visual Arts. Thank you for all your positive and constructive feedback which will be used to inform future activity.
We welcome you to the start of a much more ambitious programme for the organisation. This will ‘roll-out’ over the next eighteen months. You are very welcome to join our new Friends scheme in order to take a more active part in events. If you wish to join please contact the office in August.
Email: admin@dorsetvisualarts.org
DAW PRIZE DRAW
This year’s DAW Post Card Prize Draw has been a resounding success. Just over 1000 cards were posted to the office. Encouragingly it means that 1000 people would like to buy an artwork and know more about what we are planning to do in the future.
The Winner!
The one hiccup is that we have been waiting to announce the winner since the 18th June, Unfortunately the winner has not responded to the several emails sent notifying him of his success and we have no other means of contacting him. We have now notified him that the offer must be accepted by the 15th July or it will be forfeited. In this eventuality, a new winner will be drawn on the 21st July. We will keep you posted!
DAW FIRST REFLECTIONS
It is clear Dorset Art Weeks 2012 has been different for many reasons; not least the weather, the economy and the Jubilee! From our own observations, the virtual group diary that Facebook and Twitter became, the many conversations we have had with artists, recent meetings with Area Coordinators and our first reading of the data returns, the event can best be summarized by two things. Firstly the greater sense of community it has generated. Secondly, its contradictions.
Whilst some artists had fewer visitors others had more, whilst some reported lower sales others report better sales than 2010. Indeed, there is an emerging paradox that fewer visitors can equate to better sales. A fact reported by one artist from their own analysis may yet prove a pretty accurate one-line overview of the whole event: that if it proves as in hjs case that visitor numbers are down slightly – it appears it may be by about 14% – the average ‘spend’ per visitor is the same.
As many artist’s stress, this is not the only way of thinking of DAW. For many artists and makers sales and commissions continue to be accrued as a consequence of taking part and the longevity of the brochure. Also, that many take part not because of sales alone but from what they gain from concentrated interaction with the public.
At this point, the information you have provided on the returns is already mostly entered on the database. It will take another week or so to complete the task. We can then start to properly analyse the information, collate the observations and stories and form a proper DAW report. This will be up-loaded to the website by mid-September and used as a key ingredient in the autumn feedback events being planned.
The two simple statistics that need almost no further interpretation are that 80% of venues were satisfied with visitor numbers and 61% are firmly committed to taking part in DAW 2014.
Autumn Meetings
We are minded to run four rather than thirteen as we have in the past so that we can make these much more of an occasion. They will include discussion of our forward programme and other plans for the organisation and provide a test the concept of the art forums we have wanted to introduce for some while now.
The outline 2012 -2014 programme will be announced in and linked from the August E-News and up-dated further at the beginning of September.
OFFICE HOLIDAY
Suzy and I are taking a break and the office will be closed for the rest of July. You won’t be surprised that we have a huge amount of time in-lieu to claim back! Nevertheless, its not quite as black and white as that. Even though the office is closed, discussion, research and forward planning is on-going behind the scenes. Included is the lead-in work to a much needed, new, DVA website – Hooray!
When we return to normal hours in August you should find as usual that the office is staffed on a Monday and Wednesday. At all times, Email is the most effective means of requesting contact, otherwise, but if we aren’t at the office on these days due to other DVA commitments, please leave an answer-phone message and we will call-back as soon as possible.
WE SEND OUR BEST WISHES FOR YOU TO ENJOY THE SUMMER TOO.
jem
+
suzy
03 July 2012
DVA CONTACT DETAILS
EMail: admin@dorsetvisualarts.org
Tel: 01305 853100
Blog: www.dorsetvisualarts.org/blog
PS
We will send a special notice regarding the ExLAB Visual Arts project that features during the Cultural Olympics in a week or so. In the meantime, please see the page notice in the DAW brochure so you can begin to get in touch with the project.
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