January 19, 2012
The Wichita Eagle – Have You Heard
Carrie Rengers
Arts Council teams with city and Wichita Downtown Development Corp. to create new Final Friday campaign to boost art sales
WICHITA — Final Friday is a popular monthly art crawl for some, but the Arts Council wants to make sure it makes business sense, too.
Final Friday attracts about 4,000 people monthly, which the Council says boosts area restaurants and retail shops, but that doesn’t always translate to support for artists.
“We know there’s already a lot of attention out there for Final Friday, but we want to take it to the next step up,” says Ann Keefer, who sits on the Council’s board and is vice president of marketing for the Wichita Downtown Development Corp.
The Council, the WDDC and the city are teaming for a new campaign to help increase art sales.
“One of the things we see as far as helping to develop downtown … has been the creative industry,” Keefer says. “It actually is an economic driver in some respects.”
If people only tour galleries and don’t buy art, though, artists won’t be able to stay, Keefer says.
“We don’t want that to happen. We want them to stay and flourish.”
The campaign will be led by a new logo that Sonia Greteman agreed to have the Greteman Group create pro bono.
“Bless her heart because I don’t know what we would have done if she had not,” Keefer says.
There will be 12-by-12 window displays of the logo on the outside of all Final Friday stops, which Keefer says will make them easier to find.
“Some of the galleries are pretty tucked away.”
There also will be T-shirts with the new logo and rack cards with 10 tips for appreciating and buying art. For instance, Keefer says many people don’t know they can often purchase art on layaway plans.
There also will be monthly drawings for $100 in art bucks to be spent at any of the galleries.
Keefer says in addition to hopefully helping artists, the campaign might also help some people begin to collect art and enjoy it in their own homes.
“Art makes everything better.”
© The Wichita Eagle, 2012
