Historically, galleries have always needed to manage old relationships and cultivate networks in order to stay relevant. In today’s cultural landscape simple process has taken on a more complex approach that requires lateral thinking, creativity and innovation, in order to develop strategies that promote conversations about the Art as well as customer engagement.
Marketing art and artists today requires an approach that fosters resonance and amplification of the art and artists in both online and offline spaces.
A wholesome art-centred approach to marketing lies at the intersection of aesthetics, economics, and emotive storytelling. For a gallery, it starts with the induction of a rich heritage and cultural significance unique to the gallery. That is exactly what Chuck Gallery exudes as the first private art space in the North West England dedicated to the promotion of contemporary African art in Manchester (United Kingdom). As the founder and proprietor Chukwudi Onwudiwe tells me:
As an independent contemporary African art gallery, setting up in Manchester was deliberate – a city of creativity and diversity and a hotbed for radical ideas that influence political and social thinking.
Indeed, the registered address of Chuck Gallery on Plymouth Grove is instructive. This is a street that houses a rich history of local creatives like Elizabeth Gaskell and is in close proximity to prominent landmarks such as the Victoria Baths and the University of Manchester.
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Situating a modern and contemporary art gallery in such a progressive quarter is not only appropriate but also creates a connective link to the continued heritage of creativity of the quarter, city and wider geographic space spanning Africa and the diasporic chords.
Chuck Art Gallery is located at 166 Plymouth Grove, Manchester, M13 0AF, United Kingdom.
This article is excerpted from a recently published book chapter on Arts Marketing in Contemporary Issues in Marketing: Principles and Practice, 388-419. London: Sage.
