Name: McKenna Osterhout

Hometown: West Haven, Utah

Major: Exercise Science

Engagement Track: Creative

 

Start at Home Small Art Business

              Starting an at home art business has been a goal of mine for a while now. The EDGE project program just gave me a push to finally start it. The first step to starting an art business involved creating merchandise that could be sold. I wanted my merchandise to be of something that I truly enjoy creating and not just something to sell. I decided to start with a focus on LDS temples as a painting subject. I later expanded to creating t-shirt designs and painting other subjects.

              The next step was to market my merchandise. I opted to market it over social media and through word of mouth. On Instagram I created a new account (@mcartsdesigns) and advertised it in my personal account. On Facebook I used my normal account so that it would be easier for people to message me. When I started creating t-shirt designs I was able to market them just by wearing the shirts and answering questions and comments about the design.

              The inspiration for this project came from past friends that I keep in touch with over social media. Several of them have started small art businesses out their own homes and advertised over social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. At first, I was doubtful about these businesses because I couldn’t imagine them doing very well. Then after talking to these friends more I found out that their small businesses stay busy enough to keep them as busy as they wanted. I began to wonder if I could follow suit and create a small art business myself.

              This project did not come without any challenges. The challenge that was the hardest for me to overcome was the actual marketing of my artwork. I have never been one to brag or bring up my art, so to be the one to bring it to attention on social media was huge for me. A smaller challenge that came from posting my artwork on social media was the possibility that someone could use the images of my artwork and steal it digitally. I found ways to account for this by only posting photos that didn’t include the entire piece of art or had a watermark over it.

              There were many benefits that came from completing this project. I believe that the best one for me was the overall response people had to my artwork whether they bought it or not. I got so many positive comments about my artwork that I became comfortable to talk about my artwork and advertise myself more. Another more obvious benefit was the extra cash that I received from my small business. As a college student every penny matters so this project benefitted me financially.

 

“I wasn’t expecting the amount of positive comments on my artwork as I’ve gotten. If feels really great.”

“I’m thinking of expanding to do t-shirt designs, but I don’t know if this will do well….so far people love my t-shirt designs!”