S2E4: Can You License Your Art for Hotels as an International Artist?

Hi! I'm Patricia Vargas, and in this episode of the Quietly Thriving Artist, I'm answering a question I recently got on my Threads: Can you license your art for hotels, even if you're an international artist? The short answer is yes, but let's dive into how that works.

00:00:28 The global hotel market

00:01:11 Highlighting the local culture with art

00:03:41 Global opportunities for artists

What's next

• Listen to the first episode of the season, "Licensing Your Art for Hotels"
• Curious to know more about licensing your art for hotels and working with art consultants? Get the beginner's guide here. International artists, click here for the guide.
• Follow me on Threads @thequietlythrivingartist and join the conversation.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the Quietly Thriving Artist. I'm your host, Patricia Vargas. And today I'm gonna answer a question that I've been getting quite a bit on, on Threads, which is: Can you license your art for hotels, even if you're an international artist? So I'm in the US so a lot of things that I talk about are US-based, and so some of my audience who lives outside of the US has been wondering if this is an option for them.

[00:00:24] And the short answer is yes, but let's dive into this. Okay, so did you know that according to Google, there are roughly 187,000 hotels in the world? That is a ton of hotels, so that is also a ton of opportunities for you as an artist. And I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but when typically you go to like a mid to high-end hotel, you'll notice that there's a central theme.

[00:00:53] There's a story that they're trying to tell with their lighting, with the decor, with the textures, with the [00:01:00] food, with the smells. Like everything, right? You immediately feel like you're being transported somewhere else, and it's kind of what makes a vacation feel like a vacation. And so, hotels tend to have this central theme, and I feel like this happens a lot more in really touristy areas, but sometimes that theme centers around highlighting the local culture.

[00:01:22] For example, let's say that there's like a charming hotel somewhere in Ireland that wants to highlight the Irish culture. So they really want their guests to feel immersed in the art, in the textures, the food, the colors, the foliage, like everything that makes up the Irish culture. And so the hotel will then relay that desire to whatever art consultants they are working with.

[00:01:47] It is then the art consultant's job to scout for local Irish artists. And typically they look for either just artists that are local to the area, or native to the [00:02:00] area, and or they are looking for local or native artists, but whose work also really speaks to the Irish culture, in this example, or whose work is about the city or the region or the area that they're in.

[00:02:16] But the point is that sometimes they are really focusing on people that are locals. And so you can apply this example to any part of the world, which means that there's plenty of opportunities for artists, no matter where you're located. And like I said, sometimes they are only considering local artists for their projects.

[00:02:38] In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I reached out to an art consultant about a call for art that I saw for a hotel in the Cayman Islands. And I read the brief, and I was like, this is so perfect because my artwork is really colorful, and I can really see it working with the vibrant theme that they're going for.

[00:02:58] You know, the Cayman [00:03:00] Islands, they tend to have this really bright, vibrant color palette. So I thought it was a good fit. However, I must have completely missed the part where it said that they were only considering artists in the Cayman Islands. And so I like submitted my thing, thinking that it was gonna be a really good match, and then they very kindly emailed me back saying, you know, thanks for submitting, but we're only considering artists in the Cayman Islands,

[00:03:29] but we'll keep you in mind for future projects. I was really embarrassed by the fact that I totally missed that part, but that goes to show that sometimes they really only want people from a very specific area. That being said, you don't have to limit yourself to just finding art consultants or hotels in your region, so you can absolutely work with anyone in the world.

[00:03:52] For example, I have worked with art consultants in London, and I've also been in contact with consultants in Canada, and I believe also [00:04:00] the United Emirates. So art consultants don't only exist in the US. This is very much a global industry. Similarly, our consultants have clients in other parts of the world, so a hotel in Italy may hire art consultants in the US or the UK or somewhere else, or vice versa.

[00:04:19] Those consultants will look for art that best fits the space, no matter where they are in the world, if being a local artist isn't a requirement. For example, I have some of my art in several suites in a hotel in Brussels, and I am not a native to Brussels, and I've never even been there before, but they chose my art because it best fit the space.

[00:04:43] So at the end of the day, you really have a ton of opportunities, whether it's somewhere near you or not. You really do get to work with people around the world, so you're not limited to just your region. If you have an internet connection, then you'll easily be able to [00:05:00] license your artwork to art consultants around the world.

[00:05:03] And if you're ready to get your art into hotels, I have a beginner's guide that walks you through the process, and there's a link to it in the show notes. Okay. That is it for me. And next week's episode is about how art consultants can help support artists with chronic illness or artists that just have low energy.

[00:05:26] So you're not gonna wanna miss that. That's coming out next week. Okay. So I hope you have enjoyed this episode, if you have, considered subscribing or sharing it with a friend. Thank you so much for listening, and I will see you over in the next one.