How to Make the Most of Entering Exhibitions Like the Incognito Art Show

by | 15 Mar, 2024 | ATT Exhibition, Best Read, Skills Sharing for Artists | 0 comments

Making the Most of Exhibiting in Events Like the Incognito Art Show

The Sydney-based Incognito Art Show is now Australia’s largest annual art show. It is open to any artists intersted in taking part.

It is an event where artists anonymously donate postcard-sized artworks to be sold to the public at an affordable fixed price with proceeds being donated to Studio A, a North Sydney arts company providing professional development for artists with intellectual disabilities, as well as We Are Studios; a fully disability-led, inclusive studio that empowers artists with disability.

Image shows a background of a botanical illustration of green leaves with the text reading How to Make the Most of Entering Exhibitions Like the Incognito Art Show Skills Sharing Art Trails Tasmania

The Twist of the Incognito Art Show

The twist is that the identity of the artist behind each artwork remains hidden until after the purchase is made.

This concept adds an element of mystery and excitement to the event, as buyers have the opportunity to discover hidden gems from both emerging and established artists without being influenced by the artist’s reputation.

The Aims of the Incognito Art Show

The Incognito Art Show aims to support artists, raise funds for charitable causes, and make art accessible to a wider audience. 

It provides a platform for artists to showcase their work, grow their artist profile, gain exposure, and connect with potential buyers and collectors. 

A New Buyer’s Gateway

Importantly, it is a gateway for those who have not previously bought original art work to become art buyers, opening up an entirely new and supportive customer base for artists from across the country.

Additionally, the event fosters community engagement by bringing together art enthusiasts, collectors, and supporters of the arts in a unique and interactive setting.

Image has a background of Jaclyn Poke painting of trails to Cradle Mountain in gentle colours with the words You're Initiated to be Part of the 5th Annual Art Trails Tasmania Exhibition

The Incognito Art Show Brings Innovation

Overall, the Incognito Art Show offers a fun and innovative way to appreciate and purchase art while supporting Australian artists and charitable initiatives in the Sydney area.

While artists are not paid a commission from the sale of their work, nor do they pay to enter the exhibition. The funds raised from the sale of the works go to covering the costs of the exhibition and, importantly, to art related charities.

Participating in the Incognito Art Show does, however, give artists the opportunity to promote their work to a wider audience, not just in person in Sydney, but very importantly, online in the digital world via blogs, Facebook and Instagram.

How To Be Part of the Incognito Art Show and Significantly Enhance Your Artist Profile

Participating in the Incognito Art Show in Sydney can be a significant opportunity for Australian artists to enhance their profiles. Here are five ways they can make the most of it:

1. Exposure and Networking with the Incognito Art Show

Utilise the platform provided by the Incognito Art Show to network with fellow artists, art enthusiasts, collectors, and potential buyers, whether online or in person if you can get up to Sydney for the exhibition itself.

Make sure you engage in conversations, exchange contacts, and build relationships within the art community, in person or digitally. Online, this can be done via Facebook and Instagram comments, likes and shares.

Networking can lead to collaborations, future exhibition opportunities, and word-of-mouth promotion. Plus buyers like to feel a connection with the artist and to feel like they are being part of a supportive arts community. This is also the very premise of digital platforms such as Patreon.

2. Showcase Diverse Artworks

Display a diverse range of artworks that showcase your artistic versatility and creativity with your entries in the Incognito Art Show.

This allows you to appeal to a broader audience and demonstrate their skills across different styles, mediums, and themes. 

Artistic Variety

Variety in artwork can attract varied interests and increase the likelihood of making sales.

It is also an enjoyable way to test out the new creative ideas and mediums that you are exploring.

3. Be Part of the Art Show in Person

As with any exhibition that you are part of, if you can get to the opening or during the show itself, it is worth the effort, both in terms of making the in person connections, but also for sharing on your blog and social media platforms.

While a trip to the mainland can be expensive with transport, accommodation etc etc, if you tie it in with three or four other rewarding activities it can be well worth the costs.

Great Social Media Content to Build Your Artist Profile

Social media posts showing the artist in front of their work at an exhibition always make great content as followers engage strongly with likes, comments and shares. And that is exactly what you want to achieve to grow your digital artist profile. It gives you credibility, demonstrates authenticity and builds connections.

It is always easier to get to the exhibitions being held within Tasmania, especially if you and a a couple of your art group friends are entering a group exhibition, then you can travel together and make it a valuable social and creative trip, especially if you add some sketching time!

A Gallery Rich City

But a trip up to Sydney can include visits to a plethora of galleries, art supply shops, world class sketching locations (what other city can complete with Sydney Harbour?), musicals as well as shows at the likes of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, The Sydney Opera House, NAIDOC Week celebration events, stunning National Parks and much more.

4. Create Engaging Digital Display of Your Work 

Invest time and effort into creating an attractive and engaging digital display for the artworks that you’re sending up to Sydney. 

Seven Plus Themed Posts

This can be done over a series of seven or more themed posts, featuring your journey from registering for the Incognito Art Show, receiving your package, drafting your ideas for the entries, the different stages of working up your entries, the finished results and the show itself. 

These can be timed to coincide with the exhibition and the media attention around this popular event.

Popular Behind the Scenes Story Posts

Behind the scenes story posts like this are always interesting for your followers and make idea blog and social media posts.

Link to Your Email Newsletter

Be sure to provide links to your email newsletter signup page in your blog and social media posts so potential buyers can keep learning about your work, exhibitions, workshops and progress.

This is a very powerful way to build lasting connections that can result in new opportunities as well as sales of your work.

Remember, you own and control your email newsletter subscriber list where as Meta owns and controls your Facebook and Instagram followers and page, and they have been known to blow away pages.

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5. Use Relevant Hashtags in Your Social Media Stories So You Are Seen

Hashtags are the perfect way to categorise your posts, get in front of your ideal supporters and be seen.

12 Hashtags To Promote Your Involvement in the Incognito Art Show

Here are the top 12 hashtags that you can use in your Facebook and Instagram posts related to the Incognito Art Show:

1. #IncognitoArtShow

2. #SydneyArtScene

3. #ArtForACause

4. #SupportLocalArtists

5. #HiddenArtGems

6. #ArtCollectors

7. #AnonymousArt

8. #ArtCommunity

9. #ArtExhibition

10. #ArtistsOfInstagram

11. #AustralianArtist

12. #AustralianArt

Reach a Broader Audience with Hashtags

These hashtags can help you reach a broader audience interested in art events, support local artists, and engage with the Incognito Art Show community on Facebook and Instagram.

Include Location Specific Hashtags

The location of the event will also have 2-3 relevant hashtags that should be used, such as #PopUpArt.

A Tasmanian example would be for exhibitions held at Salamanca, #SalamancaArtCentre #SalmancaGallery could be two space specific hashtags to include in your posts for Hobart events held there.

Additionally, you may consider using location-specific hashtags such as #SydneyArt or #SydneyEvents or #DiscoverSydney to target audiences in the Sydney area.

Include Your Specific Hashtags

As always, be sure to include your own specific hashtags with each of your posts.

For example, all Art Trails Tasmania Facebook and Instagram posts have #arttrailstasmania, just as our Art profile stories have #ArtistProfile.

6. Capture Feedback and Follow Up

If you are up in Sydney for the exhibition, take advantage of the opportunity to gather feedback from attendees and potential buyers. 

Actively engage with visitors, solicit their opinions, and listen to their insights about the artworks. 

Constructive feedback can provide valuable insights for artistic growth and future exhibitions. 

Additionally, follow up with interested individuals post-event to nurture relationships and explore potential sales or collaborations.

This follow up process applies for both the real world connections made in Sydney as well as the digital world connections made on the socials.

Image shows paper work for entering the Incognito Art Show for the skills sharing story called How to Make the Most of Entering Exhibitions Like the Incognito Art Show by Art Trails Tasmania

7. Promote the Incognito Art Show

Make sure that you tag the @IncognitoArtShow in your blog and social media posts as every link works in multiple ways to benefit you and the organisers.

Tagging the exhibition organiser makes your post visible in their notifications, giving them the opportunity to engage with your post (which is exactly what you hope for).

Meta Rewards You

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, rewards the Pages, eg. your artist page, for linking, tagging to another relevant page.

In turn, both YOU and the tagged page are given Brownie Points by Meta with the reward that they and they show both of the pages to MORE followers, which is always the goal for the effort you put into posting.

For example, when you publish a post about your involvement in the exhibition on Facebook and Instagram, be sure to tag @IncognitoArtShow, Meta will see that your artist profile page is linking directly to another artist page. This tells Meta that your audiences are shared and they reward you with showing your art relevant post to more art interested followers: to more of the Incognito Art Show followers – exactly what you want.

This delightfully simple strategy works for all the art exhibitions, workshops, galleries, groups etc that you tag, including Art Trails Tasmania.

Will the Incognito Art Show Tag Artists?

The Incognito Art Show social media team will tag exhibiting artists after the opening. So the best way to make it easy for this very busy team is to clearly write your Facebook and Instagram page name, for example, ours would be https://facebook.com/arttrailstasmania  (this is a vanity username url,  click here to set this up and find out how to use Facebook to grow your Artist Profile) and https://instagram.com/arttrailstasmania. 

If you don’t write it clearly and easily for the person doing all the work with temperamental Meta/Instagram/Facebook posting then you may easily miss out on this vaulable promotion by them.

And remeber, this is also for your buyer, so if you want the buyer to follow you, make sure your handwriting is clear and easy to read.

The Incognito Art Show does attract some very big names in the art world, eg. Julia Gutman and Reg Mombassa, and in 2023 had over 2,000 artists enter over 5,000 art works. 

Share Your Own Joy, Create Your Own Success

The best approach is to also share your joy of being part of the Incognito Art Show and share stories about your participation via your blog and posts on Facebook and Instagram. Be sure to tag the @IncognitoArtShow and make good use of the hashtags.

Image shows the different levels of membership available with Art Trails Tasmania with the text reading Join our Artist Community Today, Art Lover, with it's details, Artist Profile, with its details and Artists Ensemble with its details.

Maximising Your Participation in the Incognito Art Show

By leveraging these strategies, you can maximise your participation in the Incognito Art Show to elevate your artist profile, expand your networks, and create opportunities for further success in the art world.

These strategies can be adapted for any art exhibition, show, trail, project, workshop series that you are part of, so you can flourish.

Plus, the sale of your work contributes to the game changing charities Studio A and We Are Studios, similar to  our own Hobart Artosaurus community art spaces.

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We operate a home based picture framing business and recently joined Art Trails Tasmania as a means to giving us exposure to the wider artist community. We have almost immediately seen increase in activity thru our online sites, which I am certain will lead to more opportunities to grow our business.

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