Art gallery makes it through 2020 on the power of local support

HOW an Alice Springs art gallery learned to survive without the international tourist dollar

• Reflecting on all of the major moments in Central Australia in 2020

THE owners of an art gallery in Alice Springs bucked the trend of 2020 and turned the crisis of COVID-19 into an opportunity for their small business by reconnecting with locals.

Ric Farmer and his partner Karl Bajzik run the Yubu Napa Art Gallery on Hartley Street and feared for the worst when the pandemic struck.

“Back in February, when COVID was really hitting hard, we decided to close our studio,” Mr Farmer said. “We didn’t want our artists exposed, because they’re mainly older Indigenous women, and a lot of them have pre-existing health conditions.”

When Mr Farmer and Mr Bajzik reopened the gallery in May, visitor numbers were noticeably down due to the lack of international tourists.

So Mr Farmer and Mr Bajzik started running a stall at the Todd Mall Markets, which is something they’d never done before.

Karl Bajzik at the Todd Mall Markets

“We wanted to meet locals and promote our gallery to locals,” Mr Farmer said.

“While we were doing the markets, a lot of people would approach us, saying ‘we’ve seen your gallery but we never came in because we thought it would be too expensive or too touristy’.”

“We saw a huge increase in locals coming through the shop because of our interaction at the market. We loved chatting with locals and letting them know we’re more than just a tourist trap, we’re more than just a souvenir shop.”

MORE CENTRALIAN NEWS

Uncles Tavern says bring on the NYE festivities

‘Our sales reflect that there’s a lot more people around’: Grocer sees unusual sales increase in December

Great culture, great Karma finds its home on the other side of the world

With numerous exhibitions cancelled around Australia due to the pandemic, Mr Farmer and Mr Bajzik soon realised the untapped potential of digital channels, too.

The duo started leveraging social media to promote their artists, and also won a $5000 grant from the town council to redesign the gallery website.

“From around August and September we started seeing a lot more sales from our website, both domestically and internationally,” said Mr Farmer.

Mr Farmer said an important goal for the gallery this year was to keep the artists working.

“It’s important for us that our artists can make money, which they often can spend locally. So there’s a knock-on effect if they don’t have money coming in. It’s important for us that we could continue to do that for our customers, for Alice and for ourselves.”

Mr Farmer explained that once he started more actively promoting his artists online, he began receiving commissions for individual artists, putting money back in their pockets.

NT NEWS sizzling new deal: Get all your news for just $5 a month

“The lesson we’ve learned from COVID is we can’t rely on the tourist trade.

“There could be anything that happens in 2021 or 2022 or 2023 that stops people coming to Alice. Getting our product out there in front of locals and online has been the big takeaway for us.”