The Business of Art & The Art of Business
The Business Plan
August 22, 2011
It occurred to me one day that the business plan for Dixon Studio consists of selling luxury products to a charity. Try explaining that to a bank loan officer --during a recession! But, after 21 years, our longevity has proven that our business model works --at least for us and our clientele; it would be hard to emulate and impossible to franchise. It works because we love what we do and we offer great quality and value to people who love what they do and have never left us with a bad debt. Yeah: find that in a Wall Street business plan!
We may never get rich (we've certainly given up on the get-rich-quick model) but we'll always be busy. And while that is no small accomplishment in these times, just being here after all these years is a success story! Check out these sobering facts:
Every year, over a million people in this country start a business of some sort. Statistics tell us that by the end of the first year at least 40% of them will be out of business. Within five years, more than 80% of them --800,000-- will have failed. And finally, more than 80% of the small businesses that survive the first five years fail in the second five! (Quoted from The E Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber.) So, more than half our business life ago, we were in the top 4% of our class; today, we're still here, still busy...
Church Antiques & Vintage Items
Two publications (one focusing on international art & antiques, and one emphasizing ecumenical art & architecture) have asked me recently about the market for vintage items coming out of closing or renovating churches. I am intrigued by but also have significant reservations about this market and its value to today's church, which needs to ensure that salvaged items are quality artwork, and appropriate to the architecture and liturgy in which they are to be placed.
That said, I have been watching this trend for the past decade; we do get some requests for antique or vintage items and so have established a network of brokers and diocese offices with which we work to source these, usually sending inquiries and buying only when we have a buyer in waiting. Once in a while, we will find something in unusually good condition, which we think our clientele will appreciate, and we will buy it and hold it in our inventory.
The main problems I see with vintage pieces are:
* Some are just old; they never were great works of art.
* Buyers sometimes assume that the quality of century-old work is better and less expensive that new work being produced today. Not necessarily.
* Some pieces may seem like a bargain compared to commissioning new work -until the costs of dismantling, shipping, warehousing, restoring, and installing are factored in. This is especially true with large or heavy items like a marble altar or reredos.
* Ethnic parishes may have statues or stations which are beautiful -but with the wording in Polish or Romanian, they are hardly suitable for the average American suburban parish.
* Many of the architectural elements are hard to relocate unless a new building is designed specifically to accommodate them, such as the window openings and framework for stained glass.
There is currently a glut of vintage pieces and I have seen the cost of most items decrease over the past few years. Although, when something truly lovely comes on the market, it usually demands a good price and finds a home quickly. But I think there will be warehouses in which chipped plaster statues from the early 1900's and contemporary crucifixes and monstrances from the 1960's will languish for a long time. (Purgatory for liturgical art!)
In summary, the antique/vintage church market is fascinating, if a bit unfocused. Buyers on a bargain or treasure hunt will quickly be disappointed but, with some effort, patience, and a discriminating eye, can find a few special pieces among a lot of old stuff.
My Personal Color Palette
Our work is an unusual combination of fine art and construction. Original compositions are created in detailed scale designs, then move to execution in a variety of materials, and finally installed, often on construction sites, even atop scaffolding. It's hard to keep track of tools of the trade, what with favorite pens, rulers, and various gizmos moving from the design desk to the pattern table and back to the fabrication area. But I have found the secret to keeping track of my own hard hat. Something to do with color, no matter where I leave it, the guys just don't borrow this one thing!
