Alex Colindres helping map out the art market.

It is time to craft my final paper in my Gallery and Art Market Management course.  My final project is to identify a trend that I believe will have a major impact in art market management during the next five years.  I am to discuss the management implications of these trends.

I will be concentrating on how interactivity has become increasingly important in the art experience.  Since I am more concentrated in music business I will be comparing the two industries and how interactivity has affected management and the art experience.

The written report is to be around 10 pages single-spaced.  However, I have learned that length is just a guideline.  I would say the majority of my papers go over the recommended length– however, some are shorter.  It is about making your point and having research to back it up.

This will be a research heavy assignment, and finals generally are.  I just finished my Strategic Planning final, which was very research intensive.  I had to find an organization and analyze their business, commenting on current strategies and then providing new strategic recommendations.  In addition to papers for classes, we are generally required to present our findings to our fellow classmates.

In addition to my research paper, I will also be designing a twenty-minute presentation.  The presentation will be interactive (in lieu of my paper topic).  Since our class is so small, we can take advantage of group discussions.  Having such a small group has allowed us to really engage in discussions about our readings and classmates’ research.  It has also created a much more intimate experience with our guest speakers.

Lanscape painting by Megan Williamson.

Last week, we had three different entrepreneurs share their experiences in starting their arts businesses.  Only having eight students in the classroom allows us and the guest speakers to further engage.  One of my classmates, Sarah Newby, has even landed a part-time position with one of our guest speakers that came earlier in the semester.  She will be working for Megan Williamson.  She will be helping Williamson organize and market her works.  Williamson’s style is similar to that of Fauve painters such as Matisse and Roualt.

Williamson is also participating in an on-going project that she has started called Please Respond.  This is a collaborative effort in which she works with other artists who respond to poems, drawings, paintings or sketches of each other’s works.  Check out some of these works here.