Fourth Street Gallery & Artisan Market
The Project
The Fourth Street Gallery & Artisan Market is a small art gallery in West Branch Michigan operated by the West Branch Creative Arts Association. The group uses the gallery to display and sell their work and as a home base for the organization's other activities. The members wanted to build a stronger voice in the community and to increase the traffic and sales in the gallery. I provided my full range of services to help modernize the gallery's operations and expand their web presence.
Social Media
The first step was to analyze what was already in place and determine what was and wasn't working. While conducting this analysis I began managing their social media presence by becoming an administrator on their existing Facebook page and creating an Instagram page for the business. Initially the group would post 3 or 4 times a week at sporadic times about anything they believed was interesting. I elected to standardize the upload schedule with 3 posts per day divided into several specific themes, such as promotional posts, calls to visit, and posts highlighting specific artists. These are scheduled semi randomly throughout each week to prevent the frequent posts from becoming overly repetitive. I also provided basic instructions in social media etiquette and constructing effective posts to several members of the organization and encouraged them to add their own posts to the pages.
Connections
Additionally, I've used the gallery's social media to connect with the member's accounts and assisted many of them in connecting with the gallery in turn. This has allowed posts to be shared across account. It also allows the pages to tag each other to expand their overall reach with a minimal cost. To date the Facebook page has gained approximately 250 followers and a large portion of the gallery's visitors and the organizations new members have sited the social media presence as what attracted them to the gallery.
Branding
By the time the social media was operating as expected it had become clear the the gallery's logo and signature burgundy color were not appealing to potential patrons. The logo was somewhat generic and wasn't memorable and color tended to look similar to blood and darkened any area it was used. After some experimentation the organization reached out to their members for logo ideas. Melinda Bylow, a long time member provided a wonderful design that was accepted by the entire board. I took the logo and paired it with a set of colors that highlight the design and accentuate whatever colors they are connected to. I also made use of a similar font to the one she selected for the logo and a complimentary font that's easier to read. In their entirety these elements serve as a brand library for gallery.
Website
Finally it was time to develop a website to represent the gallery and serve as a central hub for the web presence. I made use of the branding and information I had previously gathered to create an attractive and functional site that allows the organization to present themselves to the wider world in a way that can grow with them.
Technical Support
While I was doing all of that I also began updating the gallery's technical infrastructure. Previously they were operating with a nearly 2 decade old desktop computer, ineffective internet service, and an extremely antiquated PoS system that was unable to grow with their business. I worked with them to invest in a pair of laptops, a tablet, and a smartphone as their primary technological tools. We purchased these for the lowest prices possible, focusing on certified refurbished and previous generation items. The goal was to complete this entire upgrade for less than $1000 which was the total amount the organization could afford to invest in these upgrades. The final price was approximately $700
Continued Support
I also facilitated upgrading the internet connection to a highspeed connection through Spectrum Internet and discarded the previous PoS system in favor of Square. This allows the gallery to operate on any or all of their devices simultaneously and stores their entire system in the cloud to allow for easier future upgrades. It also removes the standalone credit card processing system that carried an additional cost. To make this possible I built the PoS database and implemented more consistent systems for inputting, removing, and monitoring inventory. I continue to maintain these systems and manage the gallery's web presence, as a regular service.
The Results
This has been a major undertaking where every solution seemed to create more problems, not least of which was convincing an organization set in their ways that change was necessary, That said, I've learned a lot about my own abilities and have expanded my skills significantly through this process. I even gained some additional training specifically in art organization management. The results are a steady growth in online engagement, consistently increased sales, and a far more focused and determined group of members working to improve the gallery. While there's still more work to be done, I believe the gallery's on track to grow and improve for years to come.
