Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene Create!

Eugene Report September 2013

Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene B.E. Hanifl and Associates

Create! Eugene Overview

Create! Eugene is a project of the Arts & Business Alliance of Eugene, ABAE, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit charitable organization. Create! Eugene is an annual month-long creative arts festival of workshops held every August showcasing existing and new events. Create! Eugene 2013 featured 195 art workshop opportunities comprised of 148 unique events and 50+ participating artists and organizations. Create! Eugene workshop partners sold $87,911 in workshop bookings to 1239 participants throughout August 2013. ABAEs vision was to incorporate a variety of visual and performance arts workshops, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, dance, music, theater, fashion, textiles, jewelry-making, writing, cooking, and all things creative. In addition to arts organizations and individual artists taking advantage of the Create! Eugene platform to promote existing workshops, established and emerging artists and organizations were invited to create new workshops as a preview of their cultural arts courses and programs. Galleries, wineries, breweries, and restaurants were also invited to organize or host events. Create! Eugene sought to provide an immersive cultural and creative experience in the Eugene-Springfield area, centering on downtown Eugene. Workshops were predominately held in artist studios and rented facilities throughout the Eugene area. Create! Eugene included the Plein Air Paint Out Competition and Gallery Show, in which artists competed for $2,000 in prizes, attracting 77 artists (69 adults, 8 children). 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-place prizes for both categories (cityscape and landscape) were donated by Oregon Arts Supply. Oregon Art Supply also provided a grab bag containing a variety of art supplies to the first 50 sign ups. American Easel, based in Salem, OR, donated 100 10x10 panels for first 100 plein-air participants. The event, which featured participating artists from Oregon, Washington, and California, culminated in the Summer in the CityDowntown: Art Alfresco & Plein Air Showcase. Create! Eugene and the Plein Air Paint Out Competition were marketed to established cultural audiences within a variety of creative disciplines, including regional plein air artists, fiber arts groups, and various arts-related blogs using direct email, ad exchanges and one-on-one interactions. Create! Eugene targeted patrons associated with arts organizations within a

300-mile drive radius while using already-identified national and international avenues, and sought to incentivize participation through partnerships and packages with local hotels. Create! Eugenes largely on-line marketing plan dovetailed with Travel Lane County's and Travel Oregons growing efficiency in generating overnight stays through targeted on-line communications. In addition to extensive use of social media and on-line targeted email lists, prospects were targeted with support from Travel Lane County, which helped drive earned media and tourism marketing through its existing programs. 300 intern hours were utilized throughout the program from April 2013 to August 31, 2013. Create! Eugene was funded by the Lane County Special Projects Grant ($10,000) and the Oregon Arts Commission ($8,000). An additional $1258.00 was collected through website sponsorships and plein air competition fees. Hanifl & Associates, an independent contractor, oversaw coordination of workshops on the web, marketing, in-festival support, and post-event measurement, evaluation, and reporting. Measurements included artist/instructor satisfaction, workshop registration counts, participating hotel satisfaction, hotel room booking counts, and short term goals. Short Term Goals Goal: 100 workshops Actual: 148 workshops (195 events) Goal: 500 workshop registrations Actual: 1239 workshop registrations Goal: 150 room nights Actual: 4 packages were tracked by accommodation providers (Note: Create! Eugene only had the resources to track participating accommodations at the Travel Lane County package website.) Long-term success will be measured by growth in number of overall participants, room nights, estimated economic impact (EEI), sponsorship, earned media, year-round use of EugeneAGoGo.com for workshops, festival reputation, and general awareness of Eugene as a cultural destination over time.

Part 1 The Website / createeugene.com / pg 4 Part 2 Hospitality Participation / pg 4 Part 3 Create! Eugene Workshops Survey / pg 5 Part 4 Recommendations: Create! Eugene Workshops / pg 6 Part 5 Create! Eugene Plein Air Paint Out Survey / pg 8 Part 6 Recommendations: Create! Eugene Plein Air Paint Out / pg 9 Part 7 Sponsors / pg 13

Part 1 The Website / createeugene.com

Create! Eugenes website (createeugene.com), was created as a supplementary event platform for Eugene a Go Go and was utilized as a platform to create direct connections between visitors and artists. Since April 2013, the Create! Eugene website has attracted 16,955 visits and has been directly linked to $10,612 in workshop sales. Create! Eugene promotes creative tourism experiences through web-based marketing, including link building, content creation, calendar listings, direct email mailings, and utilization of social media platforms. As of August 31, 2013, the website listed 148 unique workshops (195 total events), exceeding the original goal of 100. Participating artists creative-experience offerings ranged from the performance arts of theatre, dance, and music, to visual arts including painting, assemblage, and fiber arts. Class prices vary with medium and duration, with tuition ranging from free to more than $500. All class reservations are booked directly with the artist.

Part 2 Hospitality Participation

Create! Eugene participants enjoyed special rates on accommodations at participating locations. Promotions included a social-media driven photography contest, in which the winning entry received a one-of-a-kind, art-inspired getaway to Eugene.

Part 3 Artist & Organization Survey

Note: Collected information was given on a volunteer basis. This summary represents 29 reporting individuals and organizations participating with Create! Eugene, representing 46.7% of

the 62 artists and organizations. The Arts and Business Alliance and Create! Eugene are working to find ways of supporting artists, craftspeople, and organizations offering workshops and creative experiences. This survey was created to help understand the potential for building more cultural and creative tourism experiences in the region. 29 participating artists have taken this survey as of September 20, 2013. Below is a summary of responses about workshop offerings, space issues, participants, and demographics of participants. The complete survey questions can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/createeugene, and a copy of the survey data can be requested by email at behanifl@gmail.com. 15 respondents reported that workshops were created, scheduled, and/or offered more frequently specifically for Create! Eugene. Of 26 respondents, 17 (65.38%) reported that workshops were offered one to three times during August, and six (23.08%) offered workshops four to six times throughout the month. 12 out of 24 respondent reported one to nine participants took their workshops, with three reporting 50+ participants throughout August. Workshop participants came from Eugene (City), Springfield (City), Oregon (Outside Eugene & Springfield) , Washington (State), California (State), Colorado (State) Florida (State), and Arkansas (State). Oregon cities included: Klamath Falls, Bandon, Toledo, Warrenton, Dallas, Coos Bay, Florence, Cottage Grove, Newport, and Midland. Workshop were taught in studios and rented facilities. The majority of respondents reported a willingness to offer workshops in a downtown location. 14 out of 26 respondents (53.85%) reported that they dont know whether Create! Eugene helped participants find their workshops. 12 of 18 (66.67%) artists and organizations responding reported that it would be fair of Create! Eugene to charge workshop vendors a participation fee based on a percentage of workshop

tuition. 19 of 26 (73.08%) stated they would participate in Create! Eugene, again with another six (23.08%) stating maybe, depending on time, fees, and other variables.

Part 4 Recommendations: Create! Eugene Workshops

Target Audience Where do they come from? 14 out of 26 respondents (53.85%) reported that they dont know whether Create! Eugene helped participants find their workshops. When asked Where did your workshop participants came from? comments included We did not gather this info and We did not ask this, so we don't know. Collecting this information should be encouraged for future participants and the Create! Eugene informational meeting may stress the importance of collecting this information. A more in-depth survey on how individual organizations and artists track this information may be developed to further understand workshop participation and the creative tourist in Eugene and surrounding communities. This addition will help Create! Eugene track room nights associated with workshop participants. The Create! Eugene Platform & Business development for workshops Workshop providers should be encouraged to understand the concept of Create! Eugene as an effective "umbrella" for these diverse and independent workshops. One possible means of achieving this would be offering one or more creative tourism and marketing workshops for participating artists. Possible titles for such workshops include Understanding the Audience for Creative Tourism: Travelers, Visitors, and the Creative Tourist, and would focus on assisting artists in developing multiple messages, ex. targeting local residents vs. targeting tourists who travel to participate. Fee Participation Create! Eugene 2013 was fully focused on participation of individual artists and organizations and did charge workshop participants a participation fee. Such a fee will need to be implemented for Create! Eugene 2014. As reported, 12 of 18 (66.67%) artists and organizations responding reported that it would be fair of Create! Eugene to charge workshop vendors a participation fee based on a percentage of workshop tuition. 19 of 26 (73.08%) stated they would participate in Create! Eugene again, with another six (23.08%) stating maybe, depending on time, fees, and other variables.

Testimonial: Create! Eugene Workshops Praise Excellent exposure, very professional staff, easy to access and download info to website! Great effort! I hope it's bigger next year! Great idea and well done! So happy to see our local area promoted for its actual and unusual strengths: participatory, hands-on creativity. The name is perfect and together with the website, worked as an effective "umbrella" for these diverse and independent events: great concept. The website was beautiful, appealing, and easy to submit info to. Thank you! Great job organizing and promoting workshops. I enjoyed doing the workshop and having the extra support from Create! Eugene. Thanks very much. This was a wonderfully fun community event that focused on so many variations of art and creativity. I really appreciated all of the background support and build-up by C!E -- very professional and thorough. It got us off our duffs to create and launch some workshops. Very good exposure and collaboration. Thank you for bringing this to Eugene! Thank you for putting this on. It was a fun event and I loved all the awareness it created for myself and others of the available events.

We saw great results from Create! Eugene beyond workshop attendance. We were able to create new relationships with arts organizations and artists by offering free admission to Create! Eugene attendees. We have had about a dozen guest passes redeemed to date but with no expiration date, we except to see them for some time. Improvements Too many workshops, too competitive. Appreciated the advertising but don't think Create! Eugene was the kind of targeted draw I was hoping for and didn't have the turnout I was hoping to get either. Not sure if it was because it was first time working with Create! Eugene or just not right fit.

We were generally pleased with Create! Eugene. I'm not sure how much business it actually drove towards us, but Create! Eugene was very attentive and easy to work with. Since it was a music event, it didn't get a lot attention from uke players, but we did get some good general publicity. Create! Eugene seems like a really great media source. Perhaps in the future, we can offer workshops that are geared toward the general public.

Part 5 - Plein Air Survey

Artists were invited to participate in a one-day Create! Eugene Plein Air Paint Out Competition to paint a plein air landscape or cityscape in or around Eugene. Completed artwork could be entered later that day in Eugenes Kesey Square. Contest submissions went on display at Kesey Square, and winners were announced during Eugenes Summer in the City Downtown: Art Alfresco & Plein Air Showcase. Artists competed for $2,000 in cash and prizes and the opportunity to display and sell their art at a reception and show at the DIVA Gallery in downtown Eugene from August 23 31, 2013. Plein air fine artist Eric Jacobsen of Portland served as the competitions juror. A youth competition for painters 17 years and under was held in conjunction with the Plein Air Paint Out, judged by popular local artist Ellen Gabehart. A special evening was dedicated to the Create! Eugene Plein Air Paint Out and Competition as part of the City of Eugenes Summer in the City event series. On August 21, from 5:30 to 8:30 P.M., artwork created earlier in the day for the Plein Air Paint Out Competition was displayed in Kesey Square. The public was welcome to meet the artists and watch plein air painting demonstrations. Children could make and take home projects created at a do-it-yourself art station. The event featured live music by Soul Jazz and a wine bar. Winners of the Plein Air Paint Out Competition were announced toward the end of the evenings activities and cash and prizes were awarded by Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy. 30 participating artists have taken this survey as of September 20, 2013. Below is a summary of responses about the plein air event. The complete survey questions can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/createeugene and a copy of the survey data can be requested by email at behanifl@gmail.com. The majority of respondents (60%) initially discovered the competition through a Create! Eugene partner, Plein Air Painters of Lane County.

56.67% reported that they resided in Eugene and surrounding communities. 10% reported that they lived outside of Eugene but drove home. Four reportedly stayed in local accommodations (hotel/motel) with six staying with friends and family, with a combined overnight total of ten. Artists from 16 Oregon communities participated in the competition, including Elmira, Aloha, Springfield, Phoenix, Grants Pass, Portland, Medford, Cottage Grove, Tualatin, West Linn, Philomath, Oregon City, Junction City, Creswell, Gresham, and Beaverton. Two artists attended from Seattle, Washington, and Vero Beach, Florida, respectively. When asked Overall, how would you rate the event? 51.72% rated the event Very Good, and 34.48% chose Fairly Good. Good and Excellent each received 6.9% of respondents votes. Out of 30 respondents, 66.67% stated that they would participate in the plein air event again, with 33.33% choosing Maybe. Maybe factors included timing, place to stay, competition rules, and a clearer event schedule.

Part 6 - Recommendations: Create! Eugene Plein Air Paint Out

Rules and Regulations Participants expressed concern over the clarity and fairness of competition rules, specifically regarding the number of stamped canvases allowed. Contest rules stated that each contestant was allowed only one officially stamped canvas per category (two categories: cityscape and landscape), meaning that contestants had to decide what size canvas, etc. they would need before knowing exactly what they would be painting. Future contestants should receive unlimited stamps on multiple canvases, which would allow participants to choose the appropriate canvas once in the field, as well allow for the opportunity to complete multiple paintings and choose the best to submit for judging at the end of the day. Participants also indicated the need for more specific categorization beyond landscape and cityscape, with specific categories for amateurs or professionals, as well as divisions according to medium, style, and size. The Plein Air Committee may consider recruiting more plein air artists to advise on this component for future competitions.

Schedule of events Other concerns included schedule of events specifically the Summer in the City Downtown: Art Alfresco & Plein Air Showcase, which took place Wednesday, August 21, 2013, from 5:30-8:30 P.M. A physical schedule was absent during this event which caused some participants to miss the awards ceremony and the full display of art work at the site (Kesey Square). Future competitions should have hard copies of the complete schedule available as handouts in addition to online version. Judge participation The juror, Eric Jacobsen, was on-site for the presentation of the awards and spent time at the event visiting and speaking with various artists about the contest. Participants expressed interest in having a formal Q&A with Mr. Jacobsen about his own experience, his judging criteria, and process when picking winners. The plein air committee felt that the Q&A session for future competitions could be a sit down breakfast with the juror the following morning. This would give participants a chance to interact with the juror while creating the potential to extend stays in the Eugene area. Online registration / In person registration Pre-event registration was only available online with some participants finding the online format difficult to complete transactions (77 category registrations took place online). Registration the night before and morning of the competition was only available in-person at Oregon Arts Supply and DIVA, which caused confusion for those visiting artists who had to seek out multiple locations. Future competitions could include an informational meeting for Oregon Art Supply employees and pre-event registration at Oregon Art Supply. Designating one location for registration, canvas stamping, and gift bag pickup should be encouraged. Painting drop off & parking During the Summer in the City Downtown: Art Alfresco & Plein Air Showcase artists had to drop off finished, ready-to-hang paintings at Kesey Square by 4:00 P.M. Due to the setup of childrens activities, Willamette Street was closed to vehicle traffic, which according to participants made submitting in time for the deadline much more difficult. Artists were provided a parking pass for multiple downtown parking garages, but most suggested a short-term parking area specifically for participants to drop off submitted work and alleviate congestion around Kesey Square. This problem could be eliminated in future competitions if relocated to another

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site for exhibition and should be considered year by year. Sales at Summer in the City Downtown: Art Alfresco & Plein Air Showcase Many visitors to Kesey Square asked about purchasing artwork directly off the rack on site. Future competitions should consider a point-of-sale system for this purpose and to increase earned income for Create! Eugene. Opportunities for Children Visitors to Kesey Square expressed interest in a structured plein air competition for children. Since most children require adult supervision, some felt that having one location (local park) with supplies provided would be the ideal situation for parents and children. Artist Reception and Show at DIVA Gallery / Fees Participants had a choice to participate in a one-week show at DIVA Gallery (24 pieces were submitted) by paying a $5.00 entry fee. Entries from the Plein Air Paint Out Competition were displayed at the DIVA Gallery from August 24 31. Proceeds from art sales benefited DIVA and continued programming for Create! Eugene ($250 in art sales). Artists located outside Lane County stated they would have participated in the gallery show if the show had been longer in duration, since they did not want to come back to Eugene just seven days later to pick up their work (30 days was suggested repeatedly). Artists also voiced confusion regarding the extra fee associated with participating in the show since they had already paid to register in the plein air paint out ($10 per category). The Plein Air Committee has suggested having an all-inclusive fee for all activities of the plein air paint out no matter if the artists participate in all or a few of the activities available. Testimonial: Create! Eugene Plein Air Paint Out Praise / Improvements I thought that for the first time it went well, it was a learning curve for me also. In general I think it was a great event, and next year will only be better. As I have expressed already, the awards ceremony needs some ironing out and some consideration to the judging, but those things will become more clear as we all learn more about competitions. Good job! I thought it was quite fun and well organized. I would have liked to be able to stamp more than one canvas per event if only to have compositional choices when I found my place in the field. It felt too limiting to have to choose.

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Website was too busy and confusing. Very good for a first year event. Thanks! Next year, I would let people paint city and/or landscape for just one fee and date stamp at least four canvases. Also, photograph and post winners and encourage them to show in group show too. A bit disorganized at the end. The plaza awards did not connect the winners to their artwork. Unless the piece was signed (which I was asked NOT to do) there was no way to know who did what. Smart folks had a business card taped to the back of their work so you could know who did which painting. Would have been nice to have the judge at hand to discuss the work too. Amazing first year event. Quite organized. I think the communication/information-sharing between the event organizers and Oregon Art Supply could have been a tad better. (OAS never seemed to know exactly what was going on.) I felt that there were not enough categories for different levels of painting expertise. There should be 3 tiers: Professional, Intermediate and beginner. Perhaps different theme categories for winners - best sky, landscape, cityscape, water and peoples choice awards. Great volunteers! Thank you! Liked the night before "stamp-in". It was relaxing. A get together dinner the night before would be nice. Maybe a prepaid during registration buffet at a restaurant? or a simple wine and cheese gathering. This promotes good relationships with artists and volunteers Please tag winning art pieces immediately after awards are given. Everybody loves to see the winners! Thanks again!

Part 7 - Sponsors & Thanks

Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene Eugene A Go-Go Travel Lane County City of Eugene DIVA Oregon Art Supply

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American Easel Oregon Arts Commission Plein Air Painters of Lane County Eugene, Cascade, and Coast Kids' Adventure Club Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Hilton Eugene & Conference Center Silvan Ridge Winery Sweet Cheeks Winery Gamblin Oil Paint M. Graham Paints Golden Acrylics Paint Mabef Easels Art Alternative Canvas Connoisseur Brushes Valley River Inn Turell Group Eric Jacobsen (Juror) Ellen Gabehart (Youth juror) Fred Crafts (Announcer) Kitty Piercy (Mayor)

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