Green Island Shack and What is an Open Studio Tour?

6"x6" oil painting titled "Green Island Shack", awaiting a new home...
Painting can be purchased for $100 plus $6 s/h: from the artist, Jenny Floravita

It's that time of year again and I'm preparing for my Spring Open Studio. Actually, I'm part of a group of artists who are all part of an Open Studio Tour. If you are like most people, you may be asking 'What is an Open Studio Tour'? If you are an art collector, then you probably know a lot about this sort of thing already...but let me tell you, it's one thing to tell people I'm having an Open Studio event at my studio/gallery but it's another trying to explain what an Artist Open Studio Tour is to people who probably don't spend much time thinking about art.

Some people just don't 'get it' if they aren't interested in art. You probably do, as you are interested in fine art.

Communities that have a strong pool of working artists tend to have what is called an 'Open Studio Tour' at least once a year. It is a highly organized event where anywhere from 10 to over 200 artists get together, produce postcards and a catalog with a sample of each artist's work and a map of all of the various locations and then they distribute the information to their clients and to the community. Often these events are held on one weekend but sometimes they spill over onto two weekends if the area has enough artists. Also, there is usually a gallery that will host a reception with one piece from each artist. This allows the public to preview artwork in person so that they can better decide which studios to visit.

What is the purpose of an Open Studio Tour? There are many benefits to this event. Working artists have an opportunity to show their collectors their studio work space and all of the work that they have on hand. Demonstrating their creative process helps to show collectors how they create their work. The public hopefully understands a bit more about an artist's life and their work from this experience and perhaps a few of these people even walk away with a treasure or two from the event. That is the heart of the Open Studio Event.

When I lived in Santa Cruz, the Open Studios spanned three weekends because the working artist population is that big. Marin County has a two or three weekend Open Studio as well. Again, lots of working creative people live in the scenic hills outside of San Francisco. Generally the San Francisco Bay Area counties are rich hubs for artists and most areas have an organized Artist Open Studio Tour. Hope to see you at mine!

Next Show: Jenny Floravita's Spring Open Studio, May 22 & 23, 10am to 6pm...see my website for more details.

To see more, please visit my websites: www.floravitalights.com
and www.floravita.com