“The idea really isn’t new, and it really isn’t mine,” says Judith Dierkes of her five-day Pop Up Art Gallery. She launches the gallery, which is in the Hickory Hill area, on Monday at noon.
On sale are works priced from $5 to $1,000, and Dierkes is having a giveaway each day at 4 p.m., and on Friday she’ll amp it up with a giveaway each hour.
The works range from unframed drawings and paintings to sculptures and quilts. The $5 pieces are based on the art she’s created for the Artists in Cellophane project, which sells cigarette pack-sized works for $5 in repurposed cigarette machines.
Dierkes is using Facebook as her primary marketing tool, posting images of the pieces of each day’s giveaway as a way to build anticipation. “Social media is the way to go,” she says while admitting, “I’m making this up as I go along.”
Of Friday’s giveaway bonanza, Dierkes is keeping mum. “That’s part of the hype,” she says.
She will allow that Friday’s events involve, intriguingly, “nourishment combined with sales,” a strategy she says she picked up from department stores.
“Using department store tactics to sell art is quite scary,” she says, “But these are tough times.”
Pop Up Art Gallery, 3967 Hickory Hill Dr. (795-6777), noon to 4 p.m. through Thursday, and noon to 8 p.m. Friday. On Facebook, search Judith Dierkes Pop Up Art Gallery, or click the above link.