Community Over Curation: Instagram Tips with Superfair Founder Alex Mitow

Toy or tool? How artists can use Instagram to build real community, meet collectors and find opportunities, without the hacks.

Alex Mitow, founder of Superfair, is back on The Create! Podcast, and this time we're talking about the app we all claim to be tired of and still open every day: Instagram. Alex has been on it since 2012 (his handle still carries the ghost of a Lower East Side hot dog restaurant), and I've been on it since 2014, back when it was photos with filters. Between us, it has brought collectors, galleries, jury opportunities and most of the friendships that built our careers.

So is it a toy or a tool? Alex says both, and that you get out of it what you put in. We share how to use Instagram as a front porch to your world, why your 2,000 real followers can matter more than someone else's 70,000, and the simple things that build trust faster than any trend.

In this episode

• Toy or tool: reframing the frustration and remembering what Instagram has actually given us
• Why the platform is favoring authenticity again, and why that's good news if you've never "gotten" the tricks
• "For what purpose?" The one question to ask before you chase views
• Followers versus prestige: the artist with 2,000 followers and a museum show
• Alex's in-person funnel: trade Instagrams at fairs, openings and coffee shops, and let your community snowball
• What to share beyond your art: what genuinely fascinates you, what you're proud of, advice you've lived, and opportunities for your peers
• Mixing personal and professional on one account, and why nobody has ever cancelled an art sale over a mindset post
• Instagram as the front door, or front porch, to your newsletter, studio, book, course and booth
• Best practices: fill the frame, use the back camera, pick one orientation and stick with it, keep text simple, and never post a flyer
• What's next for Superfair: Houston in February, Boston in September 2027, and Philadelphia, where I'll be showing with Alicia

Alex's list of what to share

1. Your art, your process, your inspiration
2. The things that genuinely fascinate you, even if they don't fit the grid (stories are perfect for this)
3. Achievements, big and small, including the study you're proud of
4. Real advice from your own experience: how you set up your booth, how you found your gallery, how you got published
5. Opportunities for your community, shared as you come across them

Links

• Superfair: https://www.thesuperfair.com
• Interested in a Superfair booth? Book a 15-minute discovery call with the Superfair team and mention Create! Magazine to save on your booth: https://calendly.com/d/cqt2-fkf-54v/15-minute-discovery-meeting
• Call for art, Create! Magazine: https://www.createmagazine.co/call-for-art
• The Create! Magazine Substack: https://createmagazine.substack.com
• Alex on Instagram: @alexmitow4real