Artist Communications for Art Festivals: Emails, Drips and Your Artist List

Most festival promoters spend more time writing to artists than they expect. Someone has to confirm every application, chase missing fees, share the results, send load-in details and keep in touch until next year's call goes out. When those messages live in a personal inbox and a few spreadsheets, artists fall through the cracks and the same questions come in again and again.

Brakebee is an art marketplace and event platform where independent artists sell their work and festival promoters run their shows from one dashboard.¹ Promoters can post an event for free, take applications, collect fees and message artists in the same place.¹ This guide covers the messaging side: how your artist list builds itself, what goes out automatically, and how to send the rest.

What goes out automatically, and what you send

Brakebee sends two messages for you, and the rest stay in your hands so the timing and tone are yours:

Your artist list builds itself

Every artist who applies to your show is added to your contacts and tagged with the event, their application status, the year and their medium.² When an artist confirms a booth, they are also tagged for that year's show and for the series. That means a later email can go to this year's lineup or to everyone who has ever shown with you.²

Open any contact to see their applications on your shows, along with the campaigns and drips you've sent them and whether they opened or clicked.² When an artist calls with a question, the whole history is on one screen.

Email artists by status on one show

After your jury, the most common job is telling everyone where they stand. On Applicants, open Email Applicants and choose the statuses you want to reach, such as accepted, waitlisted or confirmed. Preview exactly who will receive it, then write your subject and message.²

You can drop in details that fill themselves for each artist: their name and business name, the event title, date and location, their application status, booth fee, jury score, medium and fee tier.² One message reads personally to every artist. For how the jury and decisions work, see our guide to artist applications and jurying.

Reach your wider list

For news that goes beyond one status, Send email walks you through four steps: compose, pick a template, edit, then preview who will get it.² Filter by tag to reach one show, every year of a series or one status. Leave the tags off to reach everyone on your list who hasn't opted out. You can send right away or schedule it for later.²

This is handy for the messages every show sends each season: the call for artists going live, a deadline reminder, a parking update the week before, and a thank-you after the gates close.

Let a drip handle the follow-up

A drip is a short series of emails that sends on its own once something happens. On Brakebee, a drip can start when someone joins your list, gets a tag, applies to your event, has their application status change, or pays or is comped for a booth.² A ready-made starter confirms the application, waits a week, then sends a follow-up. You write the emails, and the steps and the wait are already connected.²

Acceptance and waitlist notes go out only when you send them yourself or turn on a drip for them.² A drip tied to a status change is a simple way to make sure no artist waits for news. Booth invoices and payment links are covered in booth fee collection.³

Sample acceptance and waitlist emails

Here are two short emails you can adapt. Words in brackets are details you'd fill in, or pick from the list of fields above.

Acceptance. Subject: You're in, [artist name]! Body: Congratulations, [artist name]. [Business name] has been accepted to [event title] on [date] in [location]. Your booth fee is [booth fee]. Watch for your invoice and payment link, and pay by the due date to confirm your spot. We can't wait to see your work at the show.

Waitlist. Subject: Your application to [event title]. Body: Thank you for applying to [event title], [artist name]. Our jury had more strong applications than booths this year, and [business name] is on our waitlist. If a spot opens, we'll reach out right away with next steps. We're glad you applied and hope to see you at the show.

During the show

A Brakebee app for promoters and artists is on the way. Check-in, announcements and on-site messages are already built into it.¹ Artists can check in from their phones, you can push a notice to every artist on the show about opening time, weather, parking or the last hour, and artists can send you a quick note about a booth sitter, load-out or an emergency.¹

Tips for clearer artist communication

• Send results on one day. Announce acceptances and waitlist news together, so nobody hears secondhand.
• Put dates in every message. Deadlines, payment due dates and load-in times answer most questions before they're asked.
• Use the series tag. Past exhibitors are your warmest audience when the next call opens.
• Keep subject lines plain. Artists scan their inbox quickly, so lead with the event name and what changed.
• Invite artists you'd love to have. You can find artists in the Brakebee directory and send a VIP invite. See artist prospecting.⁴

Post your festival

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¹ Source: Brakebee for Festival Promoters, brakebee.com/promoter.
² Source: Brakebee Artist Communications feature overview, Brakebee promoter dashboard.
³ Source: Brakebee Booth Payments, brakebee.com/articles/art-festival-booth-fee-collection.
⁴ Source: Brakebee Artist Prospecting, brakebee.com/articles/art-festival-artist-recruitment.