Unveiling Parties

Michele Rushworth · 05-21-2002, 10:19 AM

Has anyone on the forum done an "unveiling" event of any kind? (Either a private party with a client's friends or a more public event such as a corporate gathering.)

I'm going to be planning one soon and was wondering what other experiences people have had. (How you set it up, results that came from it, what you actually did at the unveiling, etc.)

Thanks!

John Bruso · 05-26-2002, 05:17 PM

Hi Michelle,

We had an unveiling for Mara's latest portrait. We didn't have as big a turn out as we had hoped, but still, 25-30 people came out to see the unveiling and I think it went fairly well. Most of the people were family and friends of ours or the people we did the portrait for.

Here's a list of things we did to make it a success:

1. We made sure to have the unveiling somewhere elegant. So, we asked some wealthy friends if they would host the show at their home. It is a beautiful home in a very rich part of Houston.

2. We sent out invitations that we printed ourselves on our HP printer. They were very professional.

3. We sent email invites to contacts.

4. We catered the showing with sandwiches and drinks.

5. There was child care

6. The showing was come and go from 11am - 3pm on a Saturday

7. We had a guestbook at the front door and made sure to get everyone's info before they came in the door.

8. There was Enya music!! Gotta have the Enya!

What would we have done differently?

Get RSVPs! We sent out invitations but when it came time to expect a number of visitors, we had no idea what to plan on because we had no RSVP. So, we planned on having way more people than we actually had.

If you're interested in seeing photos of the show... we have them at Mara's site: http://www.marabruso.com/miller_show.html

Michele Rushworth · 06-12-2002, 09:48 AM

Thanks, John and Mara, for the info!

Michele Rushworth · 03-21-2003, 03:01 PM

Thought I'd bring this thread back up to the top, since I didn't have my unveiling last year, but one is planned for this spring/summer.

Anyone out there other than John and Mara ever had or been to an "unveiling party"?

If you were to do one, how would you set it up?

Leslie Ficcaglia · 03-22-2003, 05:59 PM

When I complete a commission for the NJ Conference of Mayors' Mayor of the Year award it comes with an automatic unveiling because it's presented to the recipient on stage with a lot of fanfare at their annual conference dinner. However, I doubt if that's the sort of unveiling you're thinking of, Michele. And the focus is on the person rather than the painting; attendees are also a lot more interested in schmoozing than in thinking about art. Still, it's exposure of a sort.

A comment about RSVPs while I'm at it; requesting them will probably not get you much farther than failing to request them got John and Mara. People don't seem to pay attention to them the way they used to, and you'll get as many false negatives (no word but they came anyway) as false positives (they said they'd come but didn't show.)

This wasn't an unveiling but I had a studio opening when I built my studio, and I invited everyone I'd painted for as well as people I felt might be potential clients, friends, and other artists. I served mulled cider (it was over the Christmas holidays) and cookies and a cheese and cracker and vegetable tray. Unfortunately it snowed so only the hardier souls came, but it was still fairly successful. Did I get any commissions from it? Hard to tell whether that triggered something that wouldn't have occurred otherwise.

Michele Rushworth · 06-30-2003, 10:11 AM

I had an unveiling party on Saturday night with the client who commissioned the painting of the two teens on the stairs, which you can see below, or in a better photo on my site.

The ultimate test of whether the event was successful will come over the next year or so, once I see if any commissions have come from it, but there was a fair bit of interest at the party.

The client and I discussed the idea when the commission was in the planning stages. I offered her about a 12% discount on the cost of the portrait if she would do an unveiling party for me. This discount also helped her afford a full length painting when she initially planned on only doing a three-quarter.

I printed the invitations myself and the client, who loves to cook, prepared the food. In addition to the client's portrait, I had six other portraits on display and had my portfolio book and business cards out on a table.

The event was held from 7 to 10 pm at the home of the client, who lives in a wealthy neighborhood. We had about thirty people in attendance. I sent out twenty invitations and the client sent out another fifty. I think attendance would have been higher if the event hadn't been held on the first weekend after school let out in this area. Many people were on vacation. As it turned out, the next door neighbor was also having a party the same night, with many neighbors who attended that event instead.

The way I see it, though, even if no immediate commissions come from the people who were in attendance, the fifty people who received invitations from the client are now aware that the the couple have a great new portrait that they will probably ask to see the next time they visit. The invitations had my contact information on the back.

I had a friend go around with a guest book to get the names and addresses of attendees who wished to recieve more information. I will contact each of them this week and add them to my semi-annual mailings.

We'll see down the road if all this paid off or not!

Michele Rushworth · 06-30-2003, 10:43 AM

I draped the painting (which was on display in the livingroom) before the unveiling itself, which we did about 9 pm. The other paintings were in the family room next to the kitchen, where everybody spends all their time at parties anyway!

Michele Rushworth · 06-30-2003, 10:44 AM

The clients (parents of the teens shown in the portrait) are warm and friendly people who were absolutely delighted with the painting.

Michele Rushworth · 08-23-2003, 09:46 PM

I had a meeting today with a woman I met at the unveiling party. She wants to get a full length painting of her two kids. Because of that, I'd have to say that the unveiling party idea was a great success!

Joan Breckwoldt · 04-25-2004, 12:19 AM

Hi Michele,

What a great ending to this thread! It's late Saturday night and I should be in bed but I was browsing the forum and came across this topic. How nice it was to read about your upcoming party/unveiling, then seeing your beautiful portrait of the two teenagers, then . . . a couple of months later you got another commission! And that one will probably generate a couple more. What an inspiration.

Joan