Shows, Internet key to selling art outside N.M., experts say.

Byline: Small business Nancy Salem nsalem@abqtrib.com / 823-3675

Art is a business for thousands of New Mexicans whose challenge is not only to create but to sell their work.

"Artists have to eat," said Rafael Gutierrez, president of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.

Artists also have to look outside the state for buyers.

"There are tens of thousands of artists in New Mexico with tons of material sitting in warehouses, studios, houses and garages," said Pamela Michaelis, editor of Wingspread Guides of New Mexico, an art collectors' publication. "We have enormous potential for exporting those goods."

Gutierrez, Michaelis and Cheri …