The first rule of ‘Art Club’ is DO talk about ‘Art Club’.

How does a physical art box work in conjunction with an online community though? Susan Brown at the State Library of NSW worked with her team to create an ‘Art Club’ during lock down. The Art Club helped to inspire families and connect them with their collections. This started out with a freebie (always a great way to get people engaged); they offered 50 free ‘Art Club’ packs to early registrations, this helped spread the word about the club and resulted in another 450 subscribers!

So, how did it work? Each fortnight there was a call with the members where they would discuss part of the collection and set a task for each person to make that part of the collection in artwork from. Their subscribers then sent their artwork via email.

The ‘Patchwork’ project was a particular standout; each subscriber took a different part of the painting and made a collage. As a result, the community felt part of something bigger and connected with other ‘Art Clubbers’.

How to encourage engagement?

For anyone who has presented to a huge number of people on Zoom, you’ll know it can be challenging to keep people engaged or know they are listening! The team used features like Q&A to help people stay focused and interested. It’s always important to make calls as interactive as possible to help with learning and makes the information you’re telling people far more ‘sticky’.

Most of the people who engaged with the club were not unsurprisingly primary school children, but parents got involved too. During a period where people found themselves with more free time, it was a welcomed challenge for adults too to learn a new skill and possibly draw for the first time since school.

Key take aways

Whilst digital has broadened the audience reach, there is still an appetite for physical experiences. Sending physical boxes was a way to engage people and get those first few subscribers. This project combined both digital and print in a way that encouraged creativity, exploration and fundamentally a more engaged audience in their collections.

We have worked with some of our clients for decades and there’s a reason why they stick with us. We want to get to know you, your business and your pain points to make creative that you not only love, but helps solve problems! Drop us an email, we’d be delighted to chat.