The event I went to was the Pomona Art Walk, which is hosted in Downtown Pomona every month: https://www.downtownpomona.org/artwalk. The event was similar to a flea market or a festival where local vendors came out to sell their products and the art galleries showed off their collections. There was a variety of artists, from people who made crafts to commercialized work to gallery art.
Honestly, I felt pretty overwhelmed at the event because of all the activity. I talked to a few vendors and walked into a few galleries, but I didn’t have many long meaningful conversations. Also, there were a lot of people already in conversation, and I didn’t know how to initiate my own conversation.
I did, however, connect briefly with Geo Esparza, owner of the Alley Gallery. The gallery was hosting an outdoor painting event during the art walk where artists worked on their own pieces. I asked one of the artists, Victoria, how she applied to be part of the gallery’s event and she told me how she reached out to the owner, Geo. I found him at the event and mentioned being interested in his gallery as a whole. He said he likes connecting with other local artists and told me to reach out or stop by whenever.
This happened February 8th, and I ended up emailing him on February 15th for our research assignment to possibly meet up and talk about the gallery. He hasn’t replied.
Overall, I think the experience was a little helpful in connecting with people more locally. However, I think next time, I would opt for an event that is much less market-centric. While the casual setting was nice, it was difficult to initiate conversations because everyone was in “business-mode” and was focused on selling their work more or less. While there were a lot of galleries open, the owners seemed preoccupied connecting with people they already knew.
Going to this event helped prepare me for other events. I think I’d feel slightly more comfortable talking to people now that I’ve familiarized myself a bit with networking. I’ll also try reaching out to Geo again, possibly visiting the gallery in person.
Asher Perez 