- Charity Prize Draw Winners!
- This year's charity prize draw was a huge success and helped raise money for the Archers Charity.
- EXCLUSIVE tour of the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art with Director Godfrey Worsdale for NG Art Fair ticket holders: Friday 30th September. Email info@ngartfair.com for more details
The NewcastleGateshead Art Fair was was a fantastic success. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who visited over the weekend, along with the event supporters, sponsors and exhibiting galleries. Here's some information on the 2011 Marketing and PR strategy...
This year’s marketing and PR activity saw an intensive period of activity across regional, national and specialist media, including online and broadcast media.
In addition to free media coverage there was an extensive national and regional advertising campaign - in press, radio and outdoor. Strategically placed adverts in key national specialist publications helped to raise the profile of the fair.
100k leaflets were printed and distributed to targeted households in the North East along with leaflet drops to locations relevant to the arts and tourism sector, including museums, galleries, leisure centres, libraries, bars and tourism information centres. Press releases were circulated about the event; examples included announcing the Fair, galleries attending the Fair, and case studies of artists exhibiting at the Fair.
The Fair was promoted by key organisations such as Contemporary Art Society, BALTIC, NewcastleGateshead Initiative, Nexus and The Sage Gateshead.
Media relations focused on specialist and regional press resulting in great coverage.
The VIP night for the Fair was a glittering occasion attended by over 1400 guests. One of the main attractions of the Fair was a giant sculpture by artist Ray Lonsdale entitled "Freddie Gilroy and the Belsen Stragglers" commissioned by Artsbank. Visitors to the Fair enjoyed the sculpture made from corten steel which sat pride of place at the entrance to The Sage Gateshead. The figure, if standing, would be 12 feet tall so he is double life size with the bench on the same scale - and he captured the imagination of old and young alike who clamoured to be photographed alongside him.
Over the weekend of the Fair visitors continued to descend upon the Sage Gateshead with attendances topping almost 7,000. Many of the galleries were overwhelmed by the level of interest in the work, with IAP Fine Art, London even considering whether to make a trip back down South mid Fair to acquire more work since they had sold almost all the work on show by Saturday morning.
Below are some comments from galleries who participated in this year’s Fair:
"The last NG Art Fair in 2010 was a great success for us. However, in the middle of a deep recession I never imagined sales would improve on last year, but they did and by at least a third in 2011! Why? Becuase this Fair works very very hard. They employed a super PR to cleverly target regional press, high-end lifestyle press and general media. She kept a perfectly-planned, steady press momentum going in the 3 weeks leading to the Fair. She was also very experienced in placing the right stories at the right time in the right places, and had great press contacts.
The Fair's own targeted marketing was equally brilliiant, bringing in Coutts, investment management companies and high-wealth individuals, as well as a wider public campaign that was relentless and shrewdly targeted. I really cannot fault the Fair's organisers, the excellent PR, and the wonderful venue. It's the most successful exhibition outside London my gallery has ever had, and we look forward to returning in 2012!"
David Tregunna, Director, IAP Fine Art, London
"Beautifully run show with plenty of help during set up and take down. Brilliant venue with wonderful natural light and position. Steady flow of enthusiastic art buyers for my first visit and a nice stand space. Cafe was also to be recommended with discounts for us. Will definitely make the 8 hour trip from Somerset for a return visit next year!"
Alce Harfield, Artist
"The Sage was the ideal venue for this year’s Gateshead Art Fair. The event featured a whole range of contemporary art and was well attended on all four days. The organisation of the Fair was well executed and the atmosphere throughout was relaxing for visitors and show staff. Gateshead Art Fair was adequately supported through advertising and attracted lots of visitors and art collectors. Every day was vibrant and from our point of view it gave a rich opportunity to focus on artwork created by local artists living and working in Newcastle. It was a pleasure to be a part of this."
Rob Bird, Area Manager, Washington Green Fine Art & Castle Galleries
