Success at Surtex
I have learnt so much about the process of licensing art, from the nuances involved to the market as a whole in such a short time. 
And the artwork created still doesn’t fail to amaze me.
What helps to inspire and educate me is of course our contributors and our reader’s - who gave us great feedback about our January issue.
The general feeling was that it worked well with it being released at the right time, before the Licensing Gallery in New York.
Regina Molaro Cooper who interviewed artists about how the recession affected them in 2010 within the issue, received several emails from artists who were inspired by the article and are now taking steps to get into the art licensing market themselves.
It is this kind of feedback that shows us we are certainly doing something right!
Once again Surtex was our main focus for the spring/summer issue.
Around 300 exhibitors attended this year, which is certainly a significant rise compared to last year where 225 companies exhibited - plus 83 of those 300 were new to the industry.
That is an incredible 23% rise, which Penny Sikalis, show vice president, feels demonstrates the economy’s uptake.
The demand for the show was even evident within Art Buyer, where last year we featured 32 companies - this year we have 46 in our preview.
The trend forum and conference programmes were inspiring. I can now safely say that I understand the concept of art licensing from all angles, from the artist right through to the retailer, as the discussion panels were diverse with representatives from all sectors.
For its quarter of a century birthday Surtex also featured a “Spotlight on Surtex”, which was an on-going multi-media presentation of designers’ artwork, their successes and latest developments.
All in all though, the best part of the show was meeting with the artists that I have been corresponding with throughout the past year.
Not only did Art Buyer manage to get to meet nearly all the exhibitors at the show, we also got to see some fantastic artwork and hear about all the latest deals that the artists and agencies had been making.
I look forward to next year's show and learning more about the industry, meeting new and existing clients and seeing all your great artwork in the flesh!
Rachel
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