Ending My Nomadic Photography Travels to Start “Artists Sunday”, A Black Friday for Art

It’s been a good long time since my last blog post and a lot has happened.

In February 2018 I shut down my Austin-based photography business and my game developer conference business, turned in the keys to my rented condo and put all my belongings in storage to travel the world and take photos.

That all came to a screeching halt in February 2020 with the onset of the coronavirus. 

Fast forward to today. The first annual Artists Sunday is days away and we have more than 400 communities, including city, county and state art agencies participating in this nationwide art-shopping movement. More than 3,000 individual artists, photographers, and makers are also participating.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

From Feb 2018 to Feb 2020 I crisscrossed America, with my car as my camera bag, taking photos, driving more than 100,000 miles, visiting national parks and state parks. I traveled the northern, central and southern highways. I took photos of lightning in Arizona, drone photos in the Florida Keys and wildlife in Yellowstone, and the Milky Way in Hawaii. 

Internationally, spent 3 weeks on a road trip covering a fourth of Australia’s coastline and 2.5 weeks in New Zealand. I toured ring road in Iceland and took photos of the Singapore and Shanghai skylines. I rounded Cape Horn and cruised the Chilean glaciers with camera in hand. I took shots of Paris the day after Valentine’s Day. 

I made it back to the states from Paris at the end of February just as lock-downs were being implemented around the world. With no home to return to I headed to Iowa to stay with family until travel restrictions have been lifted. I’m still here as I write this.

So Now What?

So what does a nomadic photographer and entrepreneur do when travel is no longer an option? He starts a new art-focused shopping movement 🙂

I’m talking about Artists Sunday, which takes place the Sunday after Thanksgiving (Nov 29 this year). Think of it as a Black Friday or Small Business Saturday but for art – and of course photography. 

The inspiration came actually on Dec 1, 2019 – pre pandemic.

Dec 1 was the Sunday after Thanksgiving that year and I saw a bump in photography sales on my website.

The inspiration was simple: There is of course Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. But there’s nothing going on that Sunday after Thanksgiving. Artists should own that day!

The goal is also simple: Help artists of all types sell more of their work during the busiest shopping weekend of the year.

Creating a Unified Message

Big box stores are always promoting their Black Friday and online stores are always promoting Cyber Monday but individual artists and photographers are all out there hustling independently, trying to make sales. There’s no unified voice promoting all the fantastic artists out there.

What if we could create a unified approach with artists and art organizations across the country all championing the same message: “shop art for the holidays” and help artists nationwide and eventually worldwide generate more sales?

And so Artists Sunday, a trademarked but free program, was born. Participation is free to professional artists, the nonprofits that support artists and the commercial firms (galleries and companies) that support artists.

Participation is free and everyone who joins gets a free comprehensive marketing toolkit to help them market and stay on message during this critical holiday time period.

The unified message is simple:

The first annual Artists Sunday takes place this Sunday, Nov 29th, after Thanksgiving. Support your favorite local artists and give personal and handcrafted gifts this holiday season.  

Art offers what we all need right now – a meaningful way to stay connected with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. And by supporting your local artists, you’re also supporting your local economy. 

Corona Virus Impact on Artists

The idea of Artists Sunday came pre-pandemic but of course along the way COVID-19 hit and put the brakes to the livelihood of artists everywhere.

Creating a ‘Black Friday for the Arts’ couldn’t be more urgent now.

A normal year sees 100 million people attending arts and crafts festivals, fairs and art walks in the United States. But pandemic has shut down 96 percent of in-person art shows and festivals, robbing most artists of their livelihood. 

106 festivals across the United States were cancelled in September 2020 alone, according to a review of festivals on website artfaircalendar.com. The economic impact of coronavirus on the arts and culture sector in the United States has topped $14 billion as of this writing, according to an ongoing survey by Americans for the Arts.

Engaging the Consumer

To help consumers connect with artists and photographers in their community or nationally, we’ve created the Artists Sunday Directory where consumers can search for artists by location and the types of craft. 

And since holiday shoppers love a deal, we’ve also created our Sales, Specials, Events and Promotions Calendar which includes more than 250 online and socially-distanced in-person events and promotions, as well as special offers and deals on a wide range of art that fits any budget.  

Creating A New Holiday Tradition

The work is not yet over. Getting the word out about Artists Sunday has been challenging to say the least. Between an election year, a pandemic and race protests and riots, it’s been an effort to get word out about a new art shopping movement. But we’re working it.

We hope that Artists Sunday becomes part of the lexicon and a new holiday tradition every year – pandemic or not. 

While the Artists Sunday movement cannot replace what has been lost to 2020, it does give artists and art organizations across the country an opportunity to champion artists in a unified effort.

I hope Artists Sunday becomes an annual tradition for years to come – even after COVID-19 has been eradicated. 

So when you’re shopping this holiday season remember:

Support your favorite local artists and give personal and handcrafted gifts this holiday season. #artistssunday #shopart

Christopher Sherman is an entrepreneur and photographer. He is the founder of Artists Sunday. His experience spans 25 years and multiple industries and disciplines, almost always focusing on the integration of creativity, media and technology. Prior to creating Artists Sunday, he launched a number of companies, including a drone photography business, a number of conferences and tradeshows and multiple online news services. Photography clients have included NBC’s The Tonight Show, CBS Television, The State of Texas, Fairmont Hotels and more. You can view his work at http://art.cvsherman.com/