The Magnetic Pull of “Place”
Locations often help people connect with your work
By Sue Pendleton, Founder
Years ago, I was working in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and my husband joined me at the tail end of the trip so we could stay a few extra days together. One day, he suggested we walk through some art galleries. I asked if he really wanted to do that, or if he was just being nice because he knew I would enjoy it. He said he really wanted to go.
So we went. And I quickly realized something I had somehow missed in the first few years of our marriage: My husband genuinely loved art. Not casually. Not just politely. He was interested, engaged, thoughtful, and far more knowledgeable than I realized.
His mother is an artist (a very talented watercolorist) so maybe I should not have been surprised. But I was.
It was one of those lovely discoveries you get to make about someone you already love.
The Piece We Both Kept Thinking About
We had the best time walking through galleries. At some point, my husband said, “There’s one painting we saw that I keep thinking about.” I realized I had one too. He suggested I say mine first, then he would say his.
The piece I could not stop thinking about was a limited edition serigraph by John Nieto, a longtime Santa Fe artist. It featured Geronimo on a horse, with bold colors and a presence that seemed to command the room. It was not an original painting, but it was still a stretch for us at the time.
I told my husband it was the one I loved. His jaw practically hit the floor. His was the same one. He could not believe I loved it as much as he did.
I loved the subject matter. I loved the color. I loved the power of it. And maybe most of all, I loved that it felt tied to that trip, that place, and that moment when we realized we shared something we had not fully known about each other yet.
So we bought it.
Art Can Hold a Place
That piece has been with us for years now. And when I see it, I do not only think about the image. I think about Santa Fe. And the surprise of discovering my husband’s love of art.
Since then, seeking out local galleries has become one of our favorite things to do when we travel. Sometimes we buy something. Often we do not. But we always look. And when we do bring art home from a trip, it becomes more than décor. It becomes a memory we get to live with.
This Is a Marketing Insight
That experience has shaped how I think about art and place. Because sometimes, people are not only drawn to a piece because of the subject matter or the style.
They are drawn to what the place means to them. It can create an immediate bridge between the artwork and the person looking at it.
That does not mean every artist needs to make “local art” or paint tourist destinations. That is not the point. The point is that place often carries emotional meaning.
And when your work holds a sense of place, it is worth naming.
People Buy What They Recognize Emotionally
I experienced this in my own art practice, too.
I recently painted a downtown scene of Durham, North Carolina, and someone bought it because it was an iconic area of the city and featured a building that was the location of the buyer’s first job.
That mattered. Not because it was a generic city scene. Because it was that place.
That is the power of place. Because the light, colors, architecture, or landscape remind them of something they love.
The artwork becomes a bridge to memories, stories, and a sense of belonging.
