|
Green not always the color of Spoleto for art galleries
Some gallery owners see a big sales spike, others a slowdown
By Matthew French
Staff Writer
With Spoleto less than two weeks away, some galleries, studios and other small businesses associated with the arts are polishing their shoes and rolling out the red carpet.
Spoleto, a 28-year-old festival of the arts that attracts more than 150,000 people to the area, can be a make-or-break season for some smaller galleries, while others claim the annual arts festival barely registers on their sales radar. Spoleto starts March 26 and runs through June 12.
Spoleto attracts people from all over the country to its celebration of art, music and theater. The audience that attends is typically older, with more than 50% of attendees over the age of 50. Nearly 80% of attendees have a household income that exceeds $50,000 per year, with fully half that number earning $100,000 in annual income, according to the most recent Spoleto Festival demographics.
“It’s an older crowd with more disposable incomes,” says Jennifer McPherson Harris, public relations manager for the festival.
Overall, the state’s cultural industry supports about $700 million in labor earnings, 30,000 jobs and $1.9 billion in output, according to a 2002 study of the economic impact of the arts on South Carolina, conducted by the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business. Spoleto accounted for an estimated 153,500 visitors who attended the event and the local, less-costly Piccolo Spoleto in 2000 and who spent $43.1 million in the Charleston area. The largest expenditures were on lodging, food and beverages. In addition to the visitor spending, the festivals themselves spent an additional $3.8 million in South Carolina on salaries, marketing and other expenses.
The Moore School will be compiling updated data for a new version of the report during this year’s Spoleto Festival, the results of which should be available in the fall, McPherson Harris says.
With an older, more educated, more affluent and more artistically knowledgeable crowd in town, some gallery owners say the festival can represent a significant windfall.
“Spoleto definitely impacts us; it brings in a higher class of tourist who tends to be more educated, with more spendable income,” says Sharon Joyce, owner and manager of the American originals Gallery on East Bay Street in Charleston. “These people are interested in the arts already, so they’re a great asset for galleries. They come to take part in the activities and performances, but they are also into arts in general.”
Joyce, who has had her gallery since 1990, says that she has noticed a marked change in the festival during the past four years.
“Before 9/11, I would say Spoleto had a tremendous impact on the galleries,” she says “Since then, it’s changed a bit. I would venture that more of the visitors who come for Spoleto are regional.”
She says a result is that, while people tend to spend more time in the galleries, they may not buy as much as they once did.
“While I deal in paintings, we mostly deal in American crafts, glass objects and jewelry,” she says. “Christmas is undoubtedly a big season for us, but I would say Spoleto is comparable to it. Spoleto used to be bigger than Christmas but that, I think, has changed. We get fewer of the sophisticated art buyers from around the country.”
Janet Susan Meyer, art director of the Richard James Gallery on King Street in Charleston, says that the gallery participates in the annual window display contest but otherwise does no Spoleto-related activities.
“Spoleto is a great support for the art community, so we do what we can to support it in return,” she says. “We hope the display will take some of our products to the public and entice people into the gallery.”
While good for the Charleston area, Meyer says Spoleto does not typically build consistent traffic for the gallery.
“Spring and fall are traditionally our business seasons, and I think Spoleto really anchors that,” says Meyer. “Spoleto opens the art community of Charleston to the nation during that time of year. But the foot traffic ebbs and flows over the course of the festival.”
Other gallery owners acknowledge that the festival can potentially bring its target market into the city but that it offers virtually no bump in sales.
“I’ve only been open a few years, but we’ve not found it to be a principal business period but rather a wonderful exposure time,” says Joe Sylvan, owner of the Sylvan Gallery on King Street. “I think most of the people who come during that period tend to focus on the performing arts. We do good business during Spoleto but not enough to say that Spoleto leads to the business.”
Sylvan says that the “normal” tourists, those who don’t come for the Spoleto performances, tend to have a more relaxed schedule and spend more time in the galleries.
“People are more tied to a schedule during Spoleto,” he says “They pop in and then say, ‘We have chamber music in 20 minutes,’ and leave.”
Sylvan says his situation could be attributable to owning one of the newer galleries in town, having opened in 2002.
“I’ve been here through two Spoletos, so maybe it’s a case of being the new kid on the block,” he says. “We may see (the festival) translate into more direct sales this year, but my gut feeling is that the focus of attendees will still be elsewhere.”
Elizabeth Lyle, owner of the Elizabeth Lyle Gallery on King Street, counters the new kid on the block theory. She has been open for 15 years but doesn’t see any correlation between an artistic Spoleto crowd and higher sales.
“I don’t think it impacts us at all, as far as I’m concerned,” she says. “I’ve never seen a surge of business. We actually usually see more business just before and just after, but people who come for Spoleto tend to be more interested in the theaters and restaurants.”
While Sylvan may not ring his cash register any more during Spoleto than he does at any other time, he acknowledges its attraction is good exposure for the city.
“I think people who come to participate in Spoleto will return because their exposure to the arts and antiques of Charleston brings them back,” he says. “An awful lot of our very best clients had their introduction to Charleston through Spoleto.”
Matthew French is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at mfrench@crbj.com.
|
E-Mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Version