Learn to… Art!

5 Practical Tips to Get Your First Gallery Show

Feb 2, 2011 Art General

Does this sound like you?

• You’ve been working on your art for a couple of years.
• You have accumulated a body of work, or about 12 pieces based on a related theme.
• You have a fairly good understanding of where you’re coming from and what you’re wanting to accomplish with your work.

If so, you may be ready for your own art show, but what’s the next step?

Don’t be too intimidated by a lack of experience or education to put yourself out there and apply for shows. Galleries look for good art; your CV isn’t the be all and end all. Spring is when many galleries have their submission deadlines, so don’t miss out! Here are some tips to help you take that next big step.

1. Research

Find out what galleries there are in your area, but don’t limit yourself to one location. Expand your search and see what is available elsewhere. Galleries often focus on bringing in talent from out of town, making it easier to get your first show in a city you don’t live in.

Stay away from the more established galleries and look for not-for-profit galleries and artist-run centres. These are generally more open-minded in regards to what they show. Read the gallery’s mandate to find out if they are more interested in showing emerging artists (like yourself) or mid-career and established artists. Also, check out this 411 on Non-Profit Galleries.

2. Work in Bulk

Honestly, it takes just as much effort to submit 10 applications as it does to submit one. The hardest part is drafting  your artist statement, your CV and your cover letter. Once that’s done, you might as well submit it to as many galleries as you can find.

I take an assembly line approach to my proposals. I take my time putting together all of my information and collecting everything I need. When that is done, I print them all, assemble them all, package them all and take them all down to the post office. If you’re going to do the work, you might as well get the most bang for your buck!

3. Quantity

On a related note, send out lots of submissions. Getting an art show is often a numbers game. The more proposals you send out, the more chances you have. As long as you make sure each gallery  is a potential good match for your work, you can’t go wrong. Which brings us to…

4. Rejection

Don’t take it personally. Rejection letters should be a badge of pride, not shame. Rejection means you’re putting yourself out there, you’re taking risks and you’re putting yourself in the position to benefit from those risks. People who aren’t getting rejection letters aren’t applying for shows!

Your first rejection letter will likely be the hardest. The more you get, the easier it is to take. That’s another benefit of sending out lots of proposals. If you only send out one, all your hopes are riding on a single possibility. If it doesn’t pan out, it’s that much more disappointing.

Don’t let the fear of rejection hold you back!

5. Keep Your Head on Straight

When you start applying for shows, it’s going to be important to stay organized. This is when you need to engage your business brain instead of your art brain.

I recomend keeping clear records of all the galleries you’ve applied to, when you applied, the body of work you submitted, and what the response was. This will help you when you put together proposals in the following years. You’ll know which galleries to submit to again, and which to avoid. As you come across new galleries, add them to your list for next time.

Keep your computer files organized as well. Once you’ve been doing proposals for a couple of years, you are going to need to keep your artist statements, image lists and everything else from getting mixed up.

So….

If you have a well-executed body of work that you can back up with a good artist statement, there’s really no reason you couldn’t get a show in a gallery. You just need to pick the right venue for your work and put yourself out there. It won’t happen if you don’t try!

If you’re ready to take the plunge, check out my checklist for getting your art in a gallery.

Tags: exhibitions, galleries

Exhibition Installation Emergency Kit

Sep 12, 2010 Promotion and Exhibition

When it comes time for an art exhibition, you may be asked to install your own work. Some galleries will do it for you, but others will expect you to do it, or at least to help.

It’s always a good idea to come prepared to an installation. The exhibition space may or may not have what you need, so ask or bring your own materials! This is especially true if your work requires any special installation. Also keep in mind that you may need to make minor repairs on art that’s been damaged during transportation.

I installed my exhibition this morning and brought a little emergency kit with me full of everything I would need. Here is a list of my suggested items:

1. Screws, plastic reinforcing plugs and nails.
2. Hammer and screwdriver.
3. White paint and a brush for any touch-ups that might be needed.
4. Glue and masking tape for repairs.
5. Level.
6. Tape measure.
7. Extra d-rings and wire.
8. Pencil.
9. Sticky tack (just in case).
10. Artist statement to post on the wall.
11. Other promotional material to display.

I was particularly glad I brought the glue. My work can be delicate and one of my paintings got a bit damaged somewhere between the house and the gallery. A bit of glue and some tape to hold the piece in place while the glue dried and it was good as new!

Always be sure to arrive at your exhibition installation with anything you think you might need to hang your work. Try to plan for any possibility and be prepared just in case. You may not need any or all of what you bring, but wouldn’t you rather be prepared?

Tags: exhibitions, galleries, gallery installation

Toot Your Own Horn ‘Cause No One Else Will!

Sep 8, 2010 Promotion and Exhibition

Getting ready for my upcoming exhibition, I am faced with one of the less pleasant aspects of being an artist: self promotion.

As most artists are introspective in nature, it can be very difficult for us to put ourselves in the public eye. But do it we must!

Some galleries handle the bulk of promotion, but the artist often has a hand in it as well. If you’re exhibiting in a less conventional venue, the promotion might be entirely up to you. It’s not enough to display your art, you need to let people know it’s there.

I find that the anonymity of the internet can help alleviate some of my discomfort around self promotion, but online marketing isn’t enough.

Here are some of the strategies I’m considering for promoting my show:

1. Submitting press releases to all local newspapers. This could result in the paper running my release, a journalist developing it into a bigger story, or even an interview.

2. Submitting my event to online and print listings. There are several local websites as well as art publications that take submissions.

3. Blogging about my show and promoting it in my newsletter.

4. Distributing posters around town.

5. Promoting the event on Facebook through both my personal page and my art page.

6. Sending postcards to my mailing list and distributing them to people I work with.

7. Finally, I may also contact our local TV station about featuring my event.

At the end of the day, you want people to see your art. It’s up to you to get it out there and make people notice.

Don’t get overwhelmed with everything you could be doing. As I have to keep reminding myself, you can’t do it all! Pick the strategies that will be most effective for you and go for it!

Tags: art, exhibitions, promotion

The “Get Your Art Into a Gallery” Checklist

Aug 23, 2010 Promotion and Exhibition

A couple of weeks ago I talked about the importance of informally acknowledging your goals. This practice can help you begin the process of breaking an overwhelming aspiration into manageable steps, an essential part of attaining your goals.

Probably the most common and overwhelming of an artist’s goals is that of getting a gallery exhibition. What do you need to do? Where do you start?

Here is a checklist of the steps I believe are necessary to prepare you for applying for a gallery exhibition. Where you are in your art career will determine where you are on the checklist. Obviously many of these steps will require time and dedication. This isn’t something you can do in an afternoon! If you are early in your career, it may take a year or more before you’re ready to apply for an exhibition.

For a  more detailed explanation of any of the steps, click on the links provided.

The “Get Your Art Into a Gallery” Checklist

Create a cohesive body of work.

From your body of work, select the art for your proposal.

Get good quality documentation of your selected works.

Research galleries to find the right venue for your art and find out their submission guidelines.

Write an artist statement.

Write a proposal outlining the details of your exhibition.

Create your artist resume or CV detailing your education and accomplishments as an artist.

Write a short cover letter to each gallery introducing yourself and your art.

Assemble your exhibition proposal.

Ensure that your entire package is presented in a professional way.

Once your exhibition package is complete, you are ready to ship it out to your intended galleries! Don’t forget to check their submission deadlines.

Also remember that you probably will not hear back for several months. It takes time for the curators to go through every submission.

Extra Advice: Keep track of the galleries you’ve applied to and their responses. Don’t get discouraged by a “thanks but no thanks” letter. You can always try again the following exhibition year!

Tags: exhibitions, galleries, getting started

Giving Interviews – Did I Say That?

Jul 22, 2010 Promotion and Exhibition

I recently had opportunity to do an interview when I had my work on display at an Okanagan winery. The article turned out great: the journalist did a wonderful job of making sense of what I said and clearly articulated my relationship to both realistic and abstract art. Read the interview!

This got me thinking about artist interviews.

For my very first show, I was asked to do an interview for the newspaper as well as for a local TV station. I have a recording of the TV interview, but to this day I haven’t watched it; I can’t bear to see myself on camera!

When I had my second exhibition, I did another newspaper interview. I had a great chat with the journalist and towards the end of the interview, the conversation turned much more casual. I mentioned in passing that one of my profs always thought I was very anal, as in “anal retentive.” When I got the newspaper a few days later, I was surprised and mildly embarrassed to see that she had included that in her article. It’s not exactly a word I want people to associate with me and my work.

For artists, it’s very important to be able to talk about their work in a way that the general public can understand and follow. Interview skills are like anything else: they need to be learned and practiced. Joanne Mattera has an excellent article on how to talk to the press.

Be prepared for your interviews, practice and be aware that everything you say is fair game! You don’t want to read your interview and think, “Did I say that?”

Tags: exhibitions, interviews, promotion