About Starting and Growing an Art Group
As a member of small art groups and larger nonprofit art groups, I've enjoyed learning more about how they were started, how they work, and how they are maintained along with the various types of groups that can be created. This post will help the interested learn more about getting art clubs and nonprofit art organizations off the drawing board.
Decide on the Type of Art Group
So you want to start an art group? What type of art group do you envision? Or maybe you'd like to know more about the workings of your area art org and what may have gone into the building of it. Here are the basics on decisions, considerations, options, and planning behind the scenes that are the makings of most any group.
A decision could be made early on if you want to start a nonprofit artist member group as the process will take time for approval depending on the complexity of the application and form(s) used. It could take as little as 2-4 week or from 2-12 months.
Or if you start out as a simple small group, you have the opportunity to move into a tax exempt status later on. But you need to understand the differences, pro and con of doing either type, and have a general idea of where you want it to go in future, be it a year out or five years from now.
PROS: Nonprofit status is a good way to go if your group wants that federal income tax-exempt status, accept tax-deductible donations, might be interested in grants, and prefers the formal organizational structure - as well as a number of interested members, potential sponsors, and patrons that will support the group.
CONS: There a a LOT of paperwork in creating and maintaining the nonprofit status. Meticulous records are kept on your groups finances, budgeting, by-laws, policies, etc. The fees and other expenses can be challenging as well.
Nonetheless, there are various options available depending on where and what you want your group of artists to start off as or to become.
Art Group, Artist Group, Artist Collective
A few friends with a passion for making art might meet weekly, or monthly, but the group should meet 'consistently' to hold the interests of those involved.
Do you want a group of artists that leans more toward a social get together?
Have you ever joined a book club where the book may or may not have been read, the group is mainly meeting to socialize and drink some wine? Nothing wrong with that at all, and they are fun, its just that it explains the type of group it is. Perhaps a social art group is what you and a few of your artist friends are happy with!
The great thing is that no one needs to have an art degree, certainly the artists can be self-taught or a mixture of artist backgrounds - which is ideal, there may not be any "strict rules" as such for most art groups. The willingness to BE a part of a good art group should be the norm. Consider these group activities and ideas:
- Will the art group be more like a workshop? Artist get togethers include working on an art project at each meeting. (Picture a quilting club)
- If the group meetings include creating, consider the space and requirements necessary, like water for cleanup. Or spills - basically, mess making. (Ban glitter projects immediately!)
- Will the members specialize in a specific medium? Will everyone be watercolorists? Acrylic artists? Mixed media?
- Will the group meet in person or be virtual?
- Art Collective - an initiative of artists working toward a shared goal, shared intentions, a more serious group.
- Collaborative Art Group, Partnership Group, Subgroup to an Art Organization
- Exclusive Art Group - a limited member art group of individuals based on specific criteria, outlined by their core group. Consider invitation only.
- A few friends may get together and collaborate on a small group art show with the intent to sell their artwork.
- Everyone may be responsible for their own POS (Point of Sale system)
- Each person would also be responsible for their own taxes and reporting, potentially licensing, insurance, etc.)
Your art group can be whatever you want it to be, as casual or informal or as uncomplicated a club as your members like, but do know that an art group is not necessarily an art class. A world of difference there!
Nonprofit Art Group Organization
An art organization is a different kind of monster, although most of the steps are similar. The biggest difference will be the more complex tax-exempt mission of the group with a higher calling in rules, roles, and requirements.
There are costs to set up the Articles of Incorporation and to maintain a nonprofit 501(c)(3) group. The cost to apply to the simple IRS Form 1023-EZ may begin at about $275 and go up to $600 for the standard Form 1023. There may be additional costs for state incorporation fees and for legal and consulting fees, which could range to a few hundred to several thousand dollars based on the complexity or your organization and the state your org is in.
Annual costs of operating the nonprofit org may include insurance fees, legal counsel and accounting fees, operational expenses, state filing fees, federal tax-exempt status fees, and state tax fees.
See this page on state fees https://nonprofithub.org/the-cost-of-starting-a-nonprofit-in-every-state/
It is also true that a small art member group may eventually grow into a nonprofit art group over time. On the PWAS Artistry Spin Blog, I wrote Understanding your Nonprofit Art Group here https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/2024/06/post-470-understanding-your-nonprofit.html
Art Organizations are often found with names like Art Society, Art Guild, Arts Alliance, Arts Council, Art League, Art Club, Art Network, Artisans, Plein Air Painters, and more - great for finding art groups near you! Who knows, you may find a group near you that you could join!
1. Art Group's Purpose
Put it in a document. What do you want your art group to be, to achieve? What is the purpose, the meaning, the vision, the goal of your group? Specifically define what your art group is all about by identifying if its just for casual get togethers and socializing, or if it will be a full-fledged art organization. Set these ground rules to define the group's direction and member expectations.
- Will the group fill a void in your local art culture that is missing?
- Is your group supporting a cause? Or have a scholarship?
- How will the group fulfill the needs of its artist members?
- How will the club collaborate within its community?
- How casual do you want the art group to be?
- Are you gathering to create, to paint, to draw, to learn, to share?
- Are the members crafters? Is the group fine artists?
- What will your group be mainly focused on?
- Will your group be a specific medium?
- Do you want to focus on watercolor painting only? Or only on acrylics or oils?
- Are you interested in an exclusive, or a high-level, perhaps a high skill-level art group?
You would want your artist members to understand what the plan is for the group so that their expectations are set.
Consider the Financials
The art group could certainly be built where everyone shares the costs of their potential goals. Everyone should be able to pay their own way but a consideration should at least be on the back burner for the group.
- Will your group need a budget? Probably...
- Consider if you will need to collect a membership fee to help offset potential art supplies, venue rentals, promotion, etc.
- Will there be a commission on art sales to help support the group?
- Will insurance be needed for your art show?
- How will you raise funds to meet that budget?
- Will everyone bring their own art supplies?
- Will there be any equipment that needs to be purchased and shared?
- Will there be snacks and beverages?
Whether a solo artist or an art group, there are entry fees to be paid to answer most calls for art, to display in some locations, to show at art festivals, etc. Often, a nonprofit art group may get a discounted (or occasionally free) space that the solo artists may have to pay full price for.
Planning long-term success includes budgeting the needs for the art group. What are the expected expenses, what are your potential revenue streams, and how will you allocate the necessary funds for a 'Plan B', contingency plan?
2. Art Group's Target Members
Knowing your purpose and who your members will be decide the rest of the points following this one. You will need at least a few people to begin, of like-minded artists that will share your core values, your creative goals, and definitely have the willingness and passion to help grow the group. - Starting small is always highly recommended.
Decide who your members will be:
- What is the age group of members?
- Will the members be students, hobbyists, and/or professionals only?
- Will the group accept adults only, retired adults and seniors, and/or those under 18?
- Would you include any and all artists, mediums, skill levels - beginners, intermediate, and or advanced artists? Anyone and everyone interested in art?
- How many members do you want to include? (How many people will your meeting place accommodate?) Is there a top number of members?
After deciding these (or at least, a starting place...), now the establishment of the group's structure can be built.
Taking a survey gives you a nice idea of direction and interest, so check the Survey on this page https://hobbywomen.com/how-to-start-an-art-club/
3. Art Group's Name and Identity
According to the above criteria, your group's name and who you will be serving shapes the vibe, the tone, the feel, the target(s) you want to present your group to and for.
- Name Selection, and its acronym
- Tone - experimental, underground, luxury, academic
- Logo - colors
- Theme
Check your name to see if it is already in use. Domain Names
Consider the shared responsibilities and potential projects, mission statement to help align your group member intentions, potentially in the name and the image your create. Important too is to look at the acronym that your group's name spells out.
Local Artists Mixed Easels is LAME - point taken, right?
4. Art Group Meetings
Your group will want an easy to maintain meeting format that works best for the members you want to enlist. Whether your group begins as a very small group or launches with a firm number of artists interested in your proposed art meetings, an agenda with a brief outline works well and helps the group stay on track.
Start off simply, don't overcomplicate any of your logistics too early. Let the group grow naturally but have an idea of the options available to your group.
- Where will you meet?
- In person - a tight group of friends might meet in someone's home or rotate who the hostess is each month.
- Meeting location options include coffee shops and cafes, in a restaurant, in a library, in a studio, or a community building or a church. A local Wegmans with the upstairs space works great.
- Online meetings have various options available like Zoom video calls or Group Chats. Some of these options may have a fee to subscribe for longer sessions.
- Hybrid meetings - depending on your techie abilities, you may be able to offer both.
5. Art Group Meetup Scheduling
Consistency is the key (isn't it always?) for maintaining interest, enthusiasm, growth in purpose, your momentum. Your group will function better and become a routine if you manage the expectations of your members. People lose interest quickly if the group is haphazardly thrown together and doesn't have a reliable schedule.
- Do you want to meet weekly, biweekly, or monthly?
- Do you want to meet during the day, same bat time, same bat channel?
- Are evenings better for your members because of 'day jobs' and/or family responsibilities?
6. Art Group Startup Core Members
Once you have the first few decisions made, you'll need to start recruiting your core group which can be family members, art friends, neighbors, classmates, or your social media "friends" and followers. You'll need a very strong circle of artists as your core group.
Recruitment might begin with posting on your local community boards, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram or Meetup by sending out an invitation and gathering people that are interested in being a part of your group, or at least your core group of decision makers. Two or three and up to five is a good base to begin with.
A. Establish Any Necessary Roles
Do you want to be the one that selects, manages, and performs every duty you want to accomplish? Define what the necessary roles of the core members, at a minimum, that the group will need to coordinate on.
- Event Coordinator
- Treasurer
- Secretary
B. Delegating Responsibilities in Your Art Group
For the sanity of any group of people, whether friends (or even family) or a gathering of neighbors and other interested parties, the delegation of tasks, duties, projects, roles - responsibilities - is so very important for the sustainable success and growth of the group.
True, it is great to find members that are all passionate about art, but finding those that have strong organizational skills (or at least the willingness to learn!) goes a long way in building the engagement and ownership, of collaboration and accountability that are so needed in any group setting.
- Clearly define each role and responsibility
- You'll need to understand the skill sets of your core group and your members as you proceed to know who has the best talents in many areas.
- Track progress and report on progress
- Address issues as they arise
- Provide resources and support
- Clear lines of communication
7. Art Group's Startup First Meetup
Structure your meeting to keep it on schedule and engaging...and doesn't go off the rails. Especially if you art group is unknown to each other, you will need to begin with quick introductions.
- Have an artwork prompt or activity planned
- Share and discuss work
- Decide what will be done at the next meeting
- Definitely avoid overplanning
Insert "Fun" here. Even if your group is a nonprofit, people want to get something from being a part of the mix. Having fun, learning new things, having their art seen, or the opportunity of selling their art are all reasons why people join art groups.
8. Art Group's Communication
Your group will need a way (a central place) to communicate with each other for updates and news and there are many ways to do so. Establish a main place or means that will effectively work for your core group and for your entire group.
- Group chat like Discord or WhatsApp
- Video conferencing or chat - virtual meetings
- A private page or Facebook group, social media
- Shared calendar
- Email - we find that artists don't necessarily check email regularly, so perhaps test out your method
- Text messages - quickest and effective
- Smoke signals - kidding, but you need to have a way to contact everyone when things happen. Like meeting cancelled for bad weather, important calls for art or other deadlines, any necessary reminders, meeting location changes, etc. Sometimes a quick decision just has to be decided on immediately.
Nonetheless, set up at the start HOW you will keep team members informed and on the same page. It is imperative to maintain concise methods of communication and to get feedback, suggestions, and have discussions to help build a thriving body of members.
9. Art Group Guidelines
Even if the group is an informal social gathering, we all need some basic and easily understood structure that work toward the success of the artist club.
- Always be respectful, especially if its an art critique!
- Consistently show up!
- Don't just observe, participate!
The more exclusive or high-level the group or nonprofit, the stricter the rules can and should be. Many art groups, well, any formal type of group works on the Roberts Rules of Order guidelines to help meetings stay on target and orderly.
Also consider:
- How your members will join?
- How will your members pay any fees for participation or add-ons?
- What are the groups attendance expectations?
- Will artwork be curated instead of open entry?
10. Art Group Growth
After a few get togethers, understand what will work best, what should be added, what should potentially be changed. Refine and adjust as the group grows / develops.
- Grow slowly with a focus on building a great reputation first.
- Ask for feedback from your members.
- Adjust the activities, the format, anything that suits the membership so that the group stays cohesive and maintains its quality and vibe.
- Is it still FUN?
- Educational activities - 'learn something new everyday' (or meeting) is a growth model.
- Maintain a record of your art group.
- Start up dates and names and places
- Document activities, events, and take pictures (social media LOVES pictures!)
- Finances
- A place to archive and keep a history
No group is perfect and flexibility is a must in some items but what works for the many is to be considered.
11. The Art Group Taking it to the Next Level
Once your group has stabilized and the members have built up an understanding, friendship, comradery, and trust, the group can start planning where and what they want to add on their dance cards.
Let it Grow, Let it Grow! Some ideas to consider:
- Recruiting new members
- Art guest speaker for art talks, art topics, art tutor, showing their art techniques, etc.
- Collaborate on group community art projects
- Review each other's artworks and share feedback
- Public murals
- Art workshops - children, adults, seniors
- Plein air painting
- Collaborative art installations
- Field trips, historical art walks, studio visits, gallery hopping
- Inspirational trips - photography for reference photos
- Run themed challenges
- If you are creating artwork in your club, find a way to show off what you do and what you created!
- Skill Shares - each member teaches something they excel at - and it could be a computer skill too!
- Occasionally throw out the agenda! Play art games, design a t-shirt, learn to tie-dye. Do a collage.
- Share New Finds! New art tools, paints, resources, gee...calls for art!
- Brainstorm ideas on hosting exhibitions and/or showcases
- Hold art shows in various venues, in various and out-of-the-box ways
- Library shows, online show cases, gallery shows, cafe or coffee shops, craft shows and festivals, art fair booth, etc.
- Art competitions with prizes.
- Host an annual end-of-year exhibit - best art club creations
- Consider a Christmas party at the end of the year instead of a regular meeting.
- Suggestion Boxes, surveys, focus groups - get feedback.
- Consider taking the summer off, as vacations tend to make schedules wonky.
- Consider the assignment or elect any necessary roles for your group as needed:
- President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer
- Curator, coordinator, marketing lead
- Add on any temporary or permanent committees toward a goal.
- Fundraising, sponsorships, grants, crowdfunding.
- Alliances or joint ventures with other art clubs can enhance the reach of your group.
- Build an online presence for the following:
- A website
- A blog
- A newsletter
- Social media with regular updates
- Post your online and in person art events
- Highlight member achievements - a Success Board
- Create a Facebook Group for your art group
- Promote shows in online area news and events outlets.
- Use online events and activities websites to promote the group (often free)
- Celebrate the groups progress, successes
- Celebrate member achievements - awards and ribbons, successful show entry and sales - any and all good news!
12. Art Group Common Issues and Pitfalls
If an art group doesn't have some conflict at some point, are the members even human? Here are some common things that spring up:
- Starting too big too fast
- Lack of clear guidelines
- Inconsistent scheduling
- No clear purpose
- Inability to resolve conflict
- Inability to self-manage
- Stagnation - letting engagement drop - the commitment and enthusiasm of the members wanes over time
- Divas - art groups should inspire and elevate each other, with every member being equal. No man or woman should be a diva, ever.
- Similarly, don't let anyone be too dominate and bulldoze the whole membership and meetings.
- One person (or the same couple of people) do all the work
- Lack of motivation
- Insecurity and fear
- Too difficult; laziness
- Confusion
- No sense of ownership
- Have a back-up plan if only a few members show up for the project you had scheduled!
Art Members not participating seems to be a very common issue across all art groups, leaving the core group managing every role within the group and that's a shame. Over time this impacts the group as burn-out stresses the support dynamics. Communicate better understanding, build stronger collaboration, and foster clear guidelines. Encouraging member participation is a must.
We need to leave this post on a high note, so here is the final section.
The Benefits of Being in an Art Group
When joining or creating a collection of like-minded creative artists, you will quite often go and grow beyond your potential as a solo artist. Often, in many valuable ways and potentially a much faster track. The art world can be an overwhelming business to learn how to be a part of, and an art group can be a good door opening in helping to learn the ropes.
Benefits Art Groups Can Provide
- Learning art tips and techniques unfamiliar to you from other artists. There might be a better way to get that light just right.
- Experienced artists are a TREASURE - there are so many tips that can be learned from them, sometimes just by listening and watching.
- Build friendships that nurture and feed your talents - a sense of community, emotional support, artistic experience.
- Relief from the loneliness often lived by the solo artist.
- Networking opportunities with people in your area's local art culture.
- Potential to explore other mediums you have always wanted to learn.
- Be inspired, rejuvenated!
- Experiment, innovate, learn to express yourself, promote personal growth.
- Learn about the art business and art practices.
- Learn about upcoming art shows, exhibits, Calls for Art that you may not know about.
- Share the costs AND the work of hosting art shows.
- Share in the art drop offs, art pickups, art travel.
- More opportunities to get your art "out there" because of group posts, news, and events - exposure.
- Making a name for yourself locally.
- Occasionally people and businesses contact an art group to ask their membership for certain art services!
- Access to shared resources - be it knowledge or equipment, promotion or support.
- Potential opportunity to teach what you do.
- Potential chance at being the "featured artist, "artist of the month", or voted "best in show" which always look great on the art resume.
- Volunteering is good for the soul! You can learn a lot at art shows, galleries, exhibits and more. AND meet potential clients.
I love being a part of the art groups I have joined. I have met some outstanding artists (I'm in awe of so many of them) and made some wonderful, and I hope lifetime friends. Although there are MANY artists in the area, the art world around me here in Northern Virginia isn't all that huge. I definitely am seeing artist names and styles that I'm starting to recognize because so many are in the same art shows I get into too.
So if you enjoy being a part of the bigger portrait of the art culture around you, consider the art group opportunities that you can grow into. Paint that door, open it, and walk in. And that's if you start a group or join one.
Your thoughts?
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Author: Donna Liguria is the Blogmaster for Donna's Cave Paintings and the PWAS Artistry Spin Blog and an artist member of the Prince William Art Society (PWAS) in Woodbridge, VA. Donna specializes in acrylic paintings of landscapes, seascapes, historic locations, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com and her Donna's Esty site to shop her art.
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