Image (c) An Xiao, Hunger Memorial. (From the Street Haiku series.)
You wouldn't necessarily think of having an art show at an ice cream store, but that didn't stop An Xiao. She writes:
I was recently invited to show at an ice cream store, and, per your recommendation, I of course jumped at the offer. It's a local, East Village-based homemade ice cream store, so I asked them if they'd be interested in (1) having an opening, (2) providing a 10% discount and (3) naming a flavor after my work ("streethaiku").
The result was fantastic. We had a crowd of some 30+ people attend, many of whom tried the streethaiku flavor, which prompted them to ask me what streethaiku is, and how it relates to my photos. Since I've said my spiel dozens and dozens and dozens of times before, I was ready to address their questions and talk up my work. I then asked if they'd like to add themselves to my mailing list.
The result was that I came home w/ over a dozen new folks for the mailing list, and the show is up for the next month, where I'm sure people will be asking about the strange streethaiku flavor, and then feeling compelled to pickup my business card! Friends who couldn't attend the opening are now eager to hit up the ice cream store just to try the new flavor and see my work in person.
I love it! Thanks for sharing your story, An. I love it that you got an ice cream flavor named for your exhibit. What a terrific idea! (Here's the pic from An's blog.)
4 thoughts on “She got an ice cream flavor named after her art!”
love the work , love the idea , what’s inside the street haiku flavour ? ( I want some) …
I appreciate your coments and take them on board. Thanks for helpful insights. I think that artist we tend to ignore the business side of things – “build it and they’ll come” – dosn’t really work thankfully there is information out there.
Hey thanks for the mention! Streethaiku is a kind of chocolatey mix – my favorite flavor 🙂
What a great story!