Art is made to be on display. Whether it’s mounted in a museum, prominently displayed on a coffee table or hung over a fireplace, the beauty of your artwork is meant to communicate with others. Securing exhibition space in a gallery could take your artistic expression from a lifelong passion to a viable career. Art Training Schools has talked with art galleries and artists around the country to come up with a few recommendations to securing successful gallery showings.Before you go any further, you must understand how mainstream art galleries work. They are in the business to make money. If you decide to go with a mainstream art gallery, you must accept that these art galleries will take a share of your profits. Most art dealers make 40-60 percent of retail prices. If you can deal with a lower profit margin in exchange for third-party pitching, an enhanced resumé, increased visibility and greater financial security in the future, mainstream art galleries can take your art career to new heights. Alternatives to mainstream art galleries are non-profit galleries, art organization exhibition spaces, artists’ galleries and studio space. Any of these spaces are a great place to start displaying your work while you wait to get a showing at a mainstream art gallery.
Pitching Your Work to Galleries
Before you begin soliciting art galleries for exhibition space, you must decide your primary objective. Do you want to sell your artwork or just show your artwork? Once you decide what your goal is, you can begin planning your art exhibit strategy. Here are a few things that you must do before contacting potential art galleries:
- Get slides of your work or very good prints. Make sure you put the originals in a safe place.
- Get duplicates made, label them and put them in slide sleeves or sheets.
- Write a compelling cover letter that introduces you to your audience.
- Write an artist’s statement about your ideas, your work and your techniques.
- Update your resumé with all contact information, awards, art education, art organization memberships and affiliations and places your artwork has been exhibited.
- Make sure your portfolio is updated, too.
Once you have completed your pitch materials, you are ready to start contacting art galleries to set up a showing. Begin by visiting the locations you are interested in. Pay attention to how they display the art. How is the lighting? Is the work protected? Does the space look tasteful and appealing? Remember, you are seeking exhibit space for the purpose of selling your work. Contact key people to start the negotiating process. Present your pitch materials. If they reject you, remember to thank them for the meeting and stay in contact with them. Art galleries often book shows up to a year in advance. Send slides of new pieces periodically to keep them interested and familiar with your work. A rejection today can very well be an acceptance tomorrow if you keep the right attitude. If your work is accepted for a showing, get ready. Putting together an art showing in a mainstream art gallery is a lot of work.
Creating a Successful Opening
For a successful art opening, you must create anticipation in advance. You want as many people as possible to attend your art gallery opening, which means your pre-show opening must include an aggressive public relations campaign. Make a list of contacts who you want to attend. This should include art collectors, art critics, friends, faculty and fellow artists. Combine a well written press release with a promotional announcement. Publicize the opening on community bulletin boards, in newspapers, on the radio and on public access television, in local and regional visual arts publications and through e-mail. Plan to have enough food to keep people at the art gallery opening. Finger foods work best as this allows guests to mingle with each other while discussing your work. You will need to practice your presentation before the art gallery showing to make sure you speak with confidence and clarity. You are your best salesperson and no one understands your art better than you. Let people arrive at their own conclusions about your artwork.Make yourself available to speak with potential buyers. The more people understand your work, the better connected they feel to you and the more likely they are to purchase a piece of art. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t sell a lot of your artwork during your art gallery showing. Building a reputation as an artist is just as important as making sales. If enough buzz is generated surrounding your art, your chances of being asked to do art shows in the future, or even being contacted for commissioned artwork, increases. You want to sell your artwork, but you also want to develop a following. When your art show is over, evaluate how it went. Was the publicity strong enough to get people in the door? Was the environment conducive to mingling and conversing about the art on display? Did guests understand your explanations of your work, or were they confused? Was the gallery pleased with the way things turned out? Did you make solid contacts and connections with those in attendance? How can you improve next time? Regardless of how things turned out, pat yourself on the back. You survived and that is something to celebrate. Work on making necessary improvements for your next showing. The more exposure you have, the more successful your art career will be.
Tags: Art Jobs. Applying to Art School, Art School, Portfolio
