When getting paid is the name of the game this crew certainly doesn’t stand in the way. Making it worthwhile may take some time and effort however. 
As a first-timer to the art show world I certainly didn’t feel at home. Not because of pretentious art hipsters – in fact, everyone was really nice. Rather, my contribution didn’t seem to fit in with the hand painted, abstract, inked, or multimedia work there. My tiny poster sitting in the middle of the wall hanging without color amongst explosive works seemed out of place, I thought.

Nevertheless no one seemed to mind because, as it happened, I think most of us were really nobodies. I don’t mean to disparage my fellow warm hearted artists. I simply mean that the atmosphere was relaxed and easy going.

The Upshot: for a relative nobody without a sense of flair and commercialistic outlook too far outside the more common artist sensibilities, I would say that this was a good first time. Common Click, a shaky-legged yearling barely getting their second show out as of this past weekend, was a collection of youngsters recently employed and scattered across Southern California. They were friendly and completely open and accommodating to the artists. “Put your work wherever you like,” thanks to the bar hosting the event.

Downside?: this band of merry-makers is still cutting their teeth as organizers of fundraising art shows and there was a punkish laissez faire feel seasoned with a bit of breathless exasperation. The crowd picked up about halfway but no one seemed interested in my work, let alone buying art. Perhaps my Jekyll and Hyde print didn’t quite hit the mark with the Pomona and Los Angeles youth, but not even a peek at internet resources makes me think that even though the art was affordable, it was probably something else that distracted people.

But then maybe this was all due to the fact that the primary intention of the event was raising money via drinking adult beverages.

Rumor has it that another Common Click event is coming up in the gladiatorial arena of artists known as Los Angeles and when contemplating the continuance of my relationship with Common Click I’m torn between business savvy, ethics, and opportunity affording to a ridiculous person such as myself. I don’t know yet if I’ll go but if you decide to let me say this:

Get a feel for the location and who is coming. If you want to sell something, know your crowd and present the thing they crave. Otherwise you are there to hang out and meet people which could be valuable in and of itself, but not really helpful for keeping food in the belly. Especially if you like beer as much as I do. In that case you might actually loose money, albeit while helping the less fortunate.

What’s an artist to do?