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Getting Your Work Displayed In Galleries
By Brian Tremblay | Wisdom and Inspiration |
Jul 10, 2010
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For many artists the dream is to have their work displayed at a gallery. I know it was one of mine. In 2001 that dream came true when I got my first solo exhibit at our local public gallery. It opened up a new world for my photography that I enjoy pursuing. If you are contemplating in taking that quantum leap in your career and approaching a gallery to display your work, here are a few tips from my experiences. The information presented in this article is by no means the “cold hard facts”, but just what worked for me and helped my get my work to a new audience.
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| ©Brian Tremblay |
First off, make sure your work is ready for galleries. Not that you need to compare yourself to other photographers or artists out there, but there needs to be a bar set for your work. If you believe you have reached that bar with your art, then proceed. The first places you will want to approach are your local galleries. I hope you have attended some of the artist’s openings that have shown there. It will give you a good idea of the layout of the gallery and what they expect from their artists. You’ll want to find out their submission policies. Sometimes those are available on their website and other times you’ll need to speak directly to the director or curator of the gallery. What ever those submission guidelines are – follow them. Once you’ve made your submission you’ll want to follow up after a reasonable amount of time. I usually check in two weeks after my submission to make sure it has been received. If they say it has I will ask when I can expect to hear back from them. I make note of it on my calendar and if I don’t hear back from the gallery by that time, I will schedule a follow up phone call about one week after that date.
Besides traditional galleries there are alternative places for you to show your work. Many lounges, bars and restaurants are making space available on their walls to display artwork. I would exercise caution when approaching these venues. Be sure they are actively promoting the fact that they are also a gallery and not just a bar or restaurant that is looking for free art work to decorate their walls. They should only have your work on their walls for a limited period of time and have other artists on their roster that are scheduled to show. You’ll want to make sure that they have an opening or “vernisage”. This is where you can invite people to come to the venue and meet the artist (that’s you). Find out what they provide for the opening reception. Find out what promotions they are doing for the artwork. You don’t want to be stuck taking care all of that and they are just providing wall space. It has to be a two way street that benefits you both.
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| ©Brian Tremblay |
Also, approach some private galleries in your city. You may find that they have a fee to hang your work there. That’s all right, but be sure that it’s not just for the wall space and be sure they are helping with the reception and the promotion of your work.
Another great way to get some showings of your work is to have a group show with other artists. Gather a painter, a sculptor, and someone that works in another medium and have a show together. With some cleaver marketing you could have a common theme with your work that could be a real selling point. Watch for other ways to show your work through local arts groups, arts councils, and even art fairs. Again, be cautious with all of these! Ask questions like: who is responsible for promotion, is there a fee, what does the venue provide to the artist, what is the track record of attendance at these showings, who is responsible for lost or damaged work, etc. Make sure if you have to pay a fee to get into any of these venues that they’re not just taking anyone who comes up with the cash. Even though you may have to pay, there should be some kind of juring process to separate the wheat from the chafe.
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| ©Brian Tremblay |
Once you’ve had a few local showings of your work under your belt you might want to start approaching galleries out of town and possibly the bigger centers where you will get your work seen by other galleries and art buyers. I used the Internet to find these venues. I had to prepare a submission of my work that included select images on a CD, by bio, an artist’s statement and a curriculum vitae or CV. I followed my rules for following up with galleries if I hadn’t heard back from them.
Many of the venues I found were membership based. That means I had to pay a yearly fee once my work was juried and accepted. Again, pay attention to which they accept and make sure they aren’t anxious just take the first person that has a check with no regard to the quality of their work. Don’t be afraid of a fee. If you can now put on your work that a certain gallery represents you that does much for your credibility. Find out how often you will get to show your work. Will they keep some of your work after the initial show in order to show clients? Can you leave a portfolio of work on display for them to show their clients?
Once you’ve landed gallery representation and are booked for your first big city show it’s time to start sending out the press releases. Issue the release to all the big city newspapers, radio stations and the like. Hopefully they will send their art critic to the show and you’ll get written about. Remember – any press is good press! These clippings look great on the resume! Don’t forget to send a press release to your local media too. I got great articles in our local paper when I had my first show in Toronto. Even though I am primarily a wedding and portrait photographer, it lent a tremendous amount of credence to my business and myself as an artist.
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| ©Brian Tremblay |
Lastly, prepare for rejection. It happens and no way to avoid it. You can minimize it by doing your research on the gallery you are planning on submitting too. Make sure they have shown work like yours before. For that matter, make sure they are open to showing photography. Some galleries, believe it or not, do not show photographic art! Often galleries will show what artists they represent and have images from their past shows. Research these carefully and make sure they would be a good fit for your style of imagery.
I wish you the best of luck and remember: the journey forward begins with one step. Don’t be afraid to test the waters! When I started I kept these words in my mind: Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.
Brian Tremblay
tremblayfinephotography.com
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Last Updated: Aug 11th, 2010 - 13:36:44
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