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Open Studio Weekend Artist Resources

Use this timeline to prepare your studio, promote your participation, and get ready to welcome visitors during Open Studio Weekend. The FAQ below explains the new Passport Experience and answers common questions.

ARTIST PREPARATION TIMELINE

Four Weeks Before - Promote Your Studio and Spread the Word

  • Promote Open Studio Weekend to patrons, friends, family, and supporters through email, phone calls, postcards, and social media.

  • Distribute event postcards and posters throughout your neighborhood.

  • Add the Open Studio Weekend logo to your website and share the event with your mailing list.

  • Pick up an official Open Studio Weekend yard sign from LVA.

  • Let LVA know if you are planning a demonstration, artist talk, performance, reception, or other special event.

  • Email your event details to taylor@louisvillevisualart.org.

  • Exchange postcards with other artists and promote one another's studios.

  • Tag LVA when sharing Open Studio Weekend posts to earn an additional entry into the artist prize drawing.

Three Weeks Before - Prepare Your Studio for Visitors

  • Clean and organize your studio. Consider lighting, temperature, refreshments, and the overall visitor experience.

  • Secure valuable materials, tools, and small artworks.

  • Make your space safe for guests by unplugging power tools, securing hazardous materials, and marking steps or uneven surfaces.

  • Label artwork with your name, title, date, medium, and price, or prepare a numbered price list.

  • Plan how you will handle sales, payments, packaging, and delivery.

  • Have business cards and information about your practice available.

  • Prepare an artist statement, résumé/CV, press coverage, or information about upcoming exhibitions.

  • Set out a guestbook for visitors who want to join your mailing list.

Two Weeks Before - Pick Up Your Artist Packet and Finish Preparations

November 2–14 | Monday–Thursday, 10 AM–4 PM
Louisville Visual Art, 1538 Lytle Street, Louisville, KY 40203

Stop by LVA to pick up your personalized manila envelope, which includes:

  • Open Studio Weekend directory books to distribute to visitors

  • A Passport Experience flyer to display in your studio

  • Your personalized NFC tag, a small circular sticker to attach to the flyer

  • Instructions for participating in the Passport Experience

  • General Open Studio Weekend promotional materials, including a yard sign and poster

Important: Please pick up the envelope with your name on it. Your NFC tag is personalized with your name and studio location, while the yard sign and poster are general promotional materials shared by all participating artists.

Need an alternative pickup arrangement? Email or call LVA to coordinate another location or other accommodations.

One Week Before - Send Reminders and Check Your Setup

  • Email your contact list with a reminder that Open Studio Weekend is next weekend.

  • Continue promoting your studio and sharing event posts.

  • Confirm your Passport flyer and NFC sticker are ready to display.

  • Make sure your studio is ready to welcome visitors.

During Open Studio Weekend - November 14-15 | 12-5 PM

  • Display your yard sign and Passport Experience flyer in a visible location.

  • Set out hand sanitizer and disinfectant as needed.

  • Greet visitors, introduce yourself, and share your artistic process.

  • If possible, have a work in progress available to demonstrate your process.

  • Offer demonstrations and answer questions about your work.

  • Invite friends, family, and neighbors to help create a welcoming atmosphere.

Passport Experience: Encourage visitors to register using the QR code on the flyer. Once registered, they can tap their phones near your NFC tag to record their visit. Each artist has an individual tag, even when multiple artists share a building. Visitors who check in at six or more individual studios qualify for the visitor prize drawing.

Tips for Sales - Make Purchases Easy and Professional

  • Confirm payment or establish a payment agreement before releasing artwork.

  • Remember to collect applicable Kentucky sales tax.

  • Provide a receipt or record of each sale.

  • Set your prices in advance and decide whether you are willing to negotiate.

  • Account for framing costs in your pricing, and consider offering unframed work when appropriate.

One Week After - Follow Up and Reflect

  • Follow up with prospective collectors, galleries, and other contacts.

  • Send thank-you notes to visitors and buyers who shared their contact information.

  • Add new contacts to your mailing list when they have agreed to receive your communications.

  • Review what worked well and what you might change next year.

  • Record how visitors heard about your studio to help plan future outreach.

  • Get back to making art!

Passport Experience: LVA will share visitor email contacts associated with your studio who opted in to receiving communications when they registered. Use these contacts to thank visitors and share future exhibitions or events.

Open Studio Weekend Passport Experience FAQ’s

  • The Passport Experience encourages visitors to explore multiple artist studios during Open Studio Weekend. Visitors register for the experience, then check in at individual studios using the personalized NFC tags displayed on each artist’s flyer. Visitors who check in at six or more studios are entered into a prize drawing.

  • NFC stands for near-field communication. Similar to tap-to-pay technology, it allows visitors to open a link by holding a compatible smartphone near the small circular sticker on your Passport Experience flyer.

  • Yes. Visitors must first register using the QR code on the Passport Experience flyer, or links from emails/website. After registering, they can check in at each studio by tapping their phone near the NFC tag and submitting the short form.

  • Place your flyer somewhere visible and easy for visitors to access, such as near your entrance or guestbook. Attach your personalized NFC tag to the flyer before displaying it.

  • Yes. Each artist receives a unique NFC tag programmed with their name and studio location. Please use only the tag assigned to you. Your Open Studio Weekend yard sign and poster are general promotional materials and are not personalized.

  • Each participating artist has their own NFC tag. Visitors must check in separately at each artist’s studio for each visit to count toward the six-studio prize drawing requirement.

  • Yes. You can still offer a guestbook or invite visitors to join your mailing list directly. The Passport Experience provides a quicker, more convenient way for visitors to check in without manually writing down their information. It also allows artists to receive contact information from visitors who opt in to receiving communications.

  • Visitors who cannot access the NFC check-in can still enjoy Open Studio Weekend, but their visit will not count toward the Passport Experience prize drawing.

  • Yes. After Open Studio Weekend, artists will receive a list of visitor email contacts associated with their studio who opted in to receiving communications. You can use these contacts to follow up with interested visitors and share future exhibitions, events, or artwork.

  • LVA will use the information to better understand visitor participation, learn how people engage with Open Studio Weekend, and identify opportunities to improve future events and visitor experiences.

  • Yes. Artists who participate in the Passport Experience receive one entry into a separate artist prize drawing.

  • Artists can earn additional entries by tagging LVA in Open Studio Weekend social media posts and displaying the official Open Studio Weekend yard sign. Each qualifying social media post and displaying the yard sign earns an additional entry. If you display the yard sign, notify LVA so your entry can be recorded. Posts from private social media accounts must be shared directly with LVA to receive credit.

  • Artist packets are available at LVA, 1538 Lytle Street, Louisville, KY 40203, November 2–14, Monday through Thursday, 10 AM–4 PM. Please pick up the envelope with your name on it.

  • Contact LVA to discuss other arrangements. Staff can coordinate an alternative pickup or drop-off when possible.