The Business Of Art Licensing

Surtex 2011 is over.  277 companies and individual artists participated in the show and in the process exhibited the works of over a thousand artists for viewing by almost 6,000 visitors representing manufacturers, retailers and developers of products destined for retail sale in every level of retail outlet from high end to low.

This year’s edition of Surtex had 23% more exhibitors than last year, and Surtex is projecting the total number of exhibitors in next year’s show, which is scheduled for May 20-22, 2012, to rise to 325 exhibitors.

Surtex is the heart of the art licensing industry and is the largest art licensing show not only in North America but the world.  While there are other licensing shows, they generally focus on brands, movies, music, characters, personalities, television and cartoons.

There are also some very small art licensing adjuncts to major gift and craft  shows.

A Unique Venue for Artists

Only Surtex focuses like a huge rainbow-colored laser beam on art.  Its uniqueness makes it a powerful venue for artists, and the licensing agencies that represent them, to show their work to an extremely-diverse international array of potential licensees.

The show occupies the same main floor of the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City as the National Stationery Show (NSS), and there’s considerable interaction, as you might imagine, between the exhibitors in both shows.

Extra Synergy When Teamed with the National Stationery Show

Surtex exhibitors and visitors wander through the aisles of the NSS looking for new trends, new licensees  and new art directions, and in return, NSS exhibitors and visitors come to Surtex to locate new sources of compelling artwork for their products, meet with existing artists and licensors, and check up on the latest directions in commercial art.

It’s a symbiosis made not in heaven, but in the minds of clever show sponsors who put those with strong, compelling art together with those who need that art if they wish to grow their companies.

This creates a strong synergy that can be exhilarating and extremely productive.

The Single Best Place To Be

With the Licensing show in Las Vegas re-branding itself as the Brand Licensing Show for 2012, that makes it clear to everyone that if you want a single show that gives you the most exposure to American and international licensees, Surtex is the place to be.

Be sure to connect with Porterfield’s Fine Art Licensing at Surtex 2012! This year’s show will be bigger and better than ever!

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(c) Lance J. Klass.  All Rights Reserved.  This posting may not be reproduced with the expressed written permission of the author. 

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