HELP US MAKE YOUR ART EASIER TO BUY!
SAAG Marketing is introducing two new ways Gallery artists can give shoppers more information about their work—and make it easier for customers to say YES!
Participation is optional.
The First Way: TELL THE STORY BEHIND YOUR ART
We often say that people don’t just buy art—they buy the story behind it.
Starting November 1, Gallery artists may select a piece of artwork to feature with a QR code that allows shoppers to learn more about the piece and the artist who created it.
The Gallery sign will say:
SCAN TO DISCOVER THE STORY BEHIND THIS ART
For 2D artwork, a small square card can be displayed next to the selected piece on the wall.
For 3D artwork, a small tent card can be displayed next to the selected piece.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
There are two ways to participate, depending on whether you have your own website.
OPTION 1 — YOU HAVE YOUR OWN WEBSITE
If you have a website with a page containing the Art Statement for the piece you want to feature, you will create your own QR code.
First, what is a URL?
A URL is simply the Internet address of a particular webpage. It is what appears in the address bar at the top of your browser and usually begins with: https://
For example: https://www.myartistwebsite.com/desert-sunset
We need the URL for the specific page containing the artwork and its Art Statement—not simply the address of your website’s home
page.
How to Create Your FREE QR Code
1. Go to the Adobe Express Free QR Code Generator.
2. Copy the URL of the webpage containing your Art Statement.
3. Paste that URL into the box in the QR Code Generator.
4. Generate your QR code.
5. Download the finished QR code to your computer as a PNG file.
6. TEST IT! Open the camera on your phone, point it at the QR
code and make sure it takes you to the correct page.
7. Send the finished QR code image to SAAG Marketing along
with:
Your name
Title of the artwork
The QR code PNG file
Please do not send Marketing your URL and ask us to create the QR code. Artists with their own websites are responsible for creating and testing their own QR codes.
OPTION 2 — YOU DO NOT HAVE A WEBSITE
You can still participate!
SAAG Marketing will create a special, non-menu page on the SAAG website for your selected artwork.
Please send to saagmarketingcommittee@gmail.com and put in the subject line “My SAAG QR Information” Then give us:
Your name
Title of the artwork
A good-quality photograph of the artwork
Your Art Statement for that specific piece
Marketing will create the SAAG webpage and provide the URL needed for the QR code.
We will then give you instructions for completing your QR code.
A FEW IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER
Choose the right piece.
Pick artwork with a story worth telling—something that gives a potential buyer a reason to feel more connected to it.
Keep your Art Statement fairly short.
A shopper standing in the Gallery is much more likely to read a few interesting paragraphs than an entire page.
The QR code belongs to that particular artwork.
It should take the shopper directly to information about the piece they are standing in front of.
Always test your QR code before submitting it.
SAAG Marketing should receive a finished, working QR code—not one that still needs to be created or corrected.
Do not change or delete the webpage after your QR code is created.
The QR code points to that particular URL. If the Internet address changes, the QR code may no longer work.
OUR GOAL IS SIMPLE
We want Gallery visitors to do more than look at your artwork. We want them to discover its story, make a connection—and perhaps decide they can’t leave without it.
QR CODE ART STATEMENT SIGNS BEGIN NOVEMBER 1. If you need marketing help, then get this information to us by October 15.
The Second Way: LET SHOPPERS KNOW YOUR ART CAN BE SHIPPED
Visitors to the SAAG Gallery don’t always live in Tucson. A customer may love a piece but wonder:
“How would I ever get that home?”
Let’s answer the question before they even have to ask.
Artists who are willing to arrange shipping of their artwork may request a sign that says:
YES, THIS ART CAN BE SHIPPED!
If you choose to participate, you must be willing to handle the shipping arrangements for the customer and provide SAAG
Marketing with the information needed for Gallery staff to explain how the process works.
The shipping sign can be displayed with artwork that you are willing and able to ship.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
Our goal is simple:
Remove as many obstacles to buying art as possible.
A shopper who understands the story behind a piece may feel a stronger connection to it.
A visitor who knows a piece can be shipped home doesn’t have to worry about fitting it into a suitcase or carrying it on an airplane.
These are small signs—but they can help answer two very important questions:
“Why is this piece special?”
and
“How can I get it home?”
Let’s make it as easy as possible for our Gallery visitors to fall in love with local art—and take it home!
All Gallery Artists are asked to let Marketing Know, do you ship your art or not? Here is how you can participate. Starting in October, marketing will have tags at the register. If you do offer shipping and you have put in the binder about shipping the form for this, then you can take the sign and put it right next to you name tag on your wall or next to your art, when you are working your shift. By the end of the month, each artist will have the opportunity to put up their sign or not.
Any questions, email marketing and we will get back to you with answers.
WHAT IS AN ART STATEMENT — AND HOW DO I WRITE ONE?
For the SAAG Gallery QR Code Program, an Art Statement is a short explanation of the story behind one particular piece of art.
It is different from an Artist Statement, which describes you, your overall body of work, your artistic philosophy and how or why you create.
Think of your Art Statement as answering the question a Gallery visitor might ask if you were standing beside them:
“Tell me about this piece.”
Your statement doesn’t need to sound scholarly or complicated. In fact, it shouldn’t!
It should help the viewer understand something about the artwork that they can’t learn just by looking at the price tag.
NOT SURE WHAT TO WRITE? START WITH THESE QUESTIONS.
You don’t have to answer all of them. Choose the questions that fit your artwork and use your answers to tell its story.
THE INSPIRATION
What inspired you to create this piece?
Was it inspired by a particular place, person, experience, memory or moment?
What first caught your attention?
Why did you want to turn this subject into art?
Is there a story behind the piece that a viewer wouldn’t otherwise know?
WHAT YOU WANTED TO CAPTURE
What feeling or mood were you trying to create?
What attracted you to the colors, shapes, light, textures or subject?
Was there a particular moment you were trying to capture?
What do you hope someone feels when looking at the artwork?
Is there something you hope the viewer notices?
HOW YOU CREATED IT
What medium or materials did you use?
Did you use an unusual technique?
Did you experiment with something new?
Was there an interesting challenge in creating the piece?
Did the artwork change direction while you were making it?
THE PERSONAL CONNECTION
Why is this piece meaningful to you?
Does it remind you of someone or someplace?
Does the subject have a special significance?
Did creating it bring back a memory?
Does the piece represent something larger to you—joy, solitude, resilience, humor, nature, family, adventure or another idea?
THE TITLE
Why did you choose this title?
Does the title reveal something about the artwork?
Is there a story, meaning or bit of humor behind it?
NOW PUT IT TOGETHER
Don’t write your answers as a questionnaire. Instead, choose two or three of your most interesting answers and turn them into a short story.
For example, instead of:
“This is an acrylic painting of the Catalina Mountains. I used purple, blue and orange.”
Try:
“Late one summer afternoon, I watched the Catalina Mountains turn from their familiar desert browns to brilliant shades of violet and blue as the last light of the day moved across the peaks. I wanted to capture that fleeting transformation—the few magical minutes when the desert seems to completely reinvent itself.”
The second version gives the shopper something more than information. It gives them a reason to remember the artwork.
HOW LONG SHOULD IT BE?
For the QR Code Program, aim for approximately 75–150 words. That’s enough room to tell an interesting story without asking a Gallery visitor to read an essay on their phone.
Most importantly:
WRITE LIKE YOU TALK.
You don’t need impressive art-world vocabulary.
You need your story, in your voice. Because when someone falls in love with a piece of art, knowing the story behind it can make that connection even stronger.