Alternative Venues to Show
and Sell Art
This article was published in the November 2001
issue of Art Calendar, the Business
Magazine for Fine Artists
Because
of the enormous competition among artists to get into galleries, only a small
proportion will ever be successful. By 'get into' I mean that the artist will be
under contract to the gallery and become one of its stable of artists. However,
there are plenty of alternative places to sell your work, and nowadays more and
more artists (even many of those with galleries) are taking their careers into
their own hands. The most important factor is finding a place to exhibit.
Here are some possibilities:
churches/church
halls
restaurants/cafés
banks
hair salons
golf clubs/country clubs
doctors' and dentists' offices/
hospitals
theaters
hotels
gardens & wineries
travel agents
real estate offices
furniture or interior design stores
art fairs
farmers' markets
retail store windows
universities
schools
libraries
non-profit art centers
framing shops
cruise ships
chambers of commerce
city halls
bookstores
your own home
or studio
other people's homes
Competitive
venues
Some of these places are harder to get into than others. For example,
universities will usually conduct annual exhibition screenings which require the
submission of a sheet of slides, which will then be considered by a jury. On the
other hand, if you do get in, the event will be considered quite prestigious in
the art world. Some wineries, too, offer artists' residencies for periods of 1-3
months, including a solo exhibition at the end. You can find out about
screenings in publications such as Art Calendar, your local arts council
listings, or online at sites such as www.artdeadline.com,
www.artshow.com, or www.artswire.org/current.
These publications, as well as Sunshine Artist, also list calls for entries to
art fairs and festivals. Art festivals are not every artist's cup of tea, as
they usually require you to own your own booth and pay a fee to rent the space.
They are very dependent upon the weather. Some focus more on beer, wine , and
food than they do on art. Some are more craft oriented, making the work of fine
artists appear very expensive by comparison. They can be crowded and noisy, an
exhausting environment to work in. Transportation of all your equipment to and
from the location can be difficult and expensive. And the profits are
unpredictable. Having said all that, many artists make most of their income from
exhibiting at a dozen or more art fairs across the country every year. They
enjoy the camaraderie of the other artists, the opportunity to visit other parts
of the US and meet buyers who would not normally be able to see their work.
Art
organizations
Local art centers are often associated with a local non-profit art organization
which holds regular shows. These are well worth joining, as not only will you
have a place to exhibit your work, you will also hear of many other possible
venues through networking with the members. Some art organizations have
arrangements with local hospitals, theaters, framing shops, and retail stores to
display members' work on a rotating basis.
Window
displays
Have you ever noticed an empty retail space with a display of art in its window?
Some cities have special schemes for using the windows of unleased offices or
stores to enable artists to show their work. It's good for the city - empty
office space can give a poor impression - and it's good for the artists whose
work can be seen by hundreds of passers-by every day. The disadvantage is that
the store or office is locked. Therefore it is necessary to display easily read
contact information on the window, so that a potential buyer can reach the
artist. Other owners of businesses in the area might spot the art and consider
it perfect for their offices.
Doing
your own research
In order to find out about available exhibition space in your area, you need
look no further than the weekly calendar listings of art exhibits in your local
paper. Make a list of all the places where exhibitions are being held, go along
to the opening of the current show, talk to the artist, talk to the proprietor.
Finally, if you like what you see and hear, arrange an appointment to meet with
the proprietor to show photographs or examples of your work. Sometimes shows are
scheduled as much as a year in advance, so be patient. Remember, this will also
give you plenty of time to put together a cohesive exhibit, and to promote it by
having postcards made, sending out press releases, etc. If you have a good
inventory and you're very well organized, you might consider offering to step in
if one of the artists cancels at short notice. But bear in mind that this can be
stressful and result in less publicity. Always find out in advance whether it is
possible to hold an opening reception and on what terms. Some cafés and
restaurants will charge for staying open after hours, or will insist that guests
buy all their food over the counter. Some businesses, such as banks, may not
like the idea of having food and drink on their premises. On the whole you
should expect to have to pay for and provide the food and drink.
Sometimes
a walk through your local neighborhood will lead you to discover places to show
which have never staged an art show before. Perhaps the health club or spa has a
large room with empty walls. Talk to the director about the possibility of
staging a show in association with a special event, so that more people will see
it. You will also get free publicity out of it. However, find out in advance
about insurance of the artwork while it is on the premises. A friend of mine
exhibited small landscapes in the café area of a local gym. When she returned a
few days after the exhibit opened she noticed a couple of gaps on the wall.
Excited that two of her pieces had sold, she was horrified to discover that no
one could explain their disappearance. Presumably security was lax and a visitor
had put them into a gym bag when no one was around to see. Fortunately she had
taken the step of insuring her own work while it was out of her studio.
Libraries
and bookstores are particularly likely venues for staging an art show. If
the show can coincide with a special event, such as a visit by a well-known
author, all the better. Theaters often have large lobbies where people
hang around during intervals and before the show. If you can make a thematic
connection between your work and the current production, so much the better!
There
are advantages and disadvantages to showing your art in restaurants. The
biggest disadvantage is the FOOD! I have been known to retrieve paintings after
an exhibit, only to find the glass spattered with tomato sauce. Who knows what
the customers were doing! Art should always be hung above seated head level,
otherwise diners will lean against it while they're eating. Often the lighting
in restaurants is too low at night for the artwork to be clearly seen. Diners
are usually less interested in looking at the walls, than they are in their
food. Even if one of them is interested in the artwork, it can be embarrassing
to have to lean over someone else's table in order to look at it more closely.
If at all possible, ask the owner if you may display a small statement with a
color image in a plexiglass stand on each table. Between courses diners might
have time to read about you and maybe, if they're interested, return another
time to look at your art. If you're a sculptor, you might think twice about
exhibiting anywhere where your artwork might get jostled. Even windowsills too
close to the tables can be vulnerable.
Hair
and beauty salons may seem unlikely places to mount an art exhibit, but they
have the advantage that the customers are likely to be relaxed and have plenty
of time to look at the art. I have had two very successful solo shows in a
fairly expensive hair salon. Although I had some initial concerns about the
effect of steam and hairspray on my paintings, I was impressed by the way the
owner of the salon displayed the work so that it could easily be viewed in the
mirrors while the customers were having their hair cut. He also staged superb
opening receptions with excellent hors d'oeuvres and wine at no expense to me.
Since the openings were part of a citywide First Tuesday event, they were very
well attended. Towns which stage First of the Month art walks are well worth
investigating. The amount of foot traffic on these evenings can be impressive
(depending on the weather and time of year) and there is usually considerable
free publicity for the artists. If you're lucky, the local paper may even run a
review of your show.
Other
people's homes
We all know that seeing a piece of art in someone's home can lead to an inquiry
about the artist or where it was bought. One buyer of our art who displays it
prominently in his or her home can easily lead to another buyer later. One of my
daughters, who lives in the South of France, has a whole roomful of my paintings
(I gave them to her, of course!) which has led to a great deal of interest
amongst her friends, many of whom have expressed a desire to buy something from
me. Have you ever considered lending your
art to a trustworthy friend - perhaps someone with a brand new home who is
planning a housewarming party - for a specified period of time? It's not such a
crazy idea. Realtors have
occasionally asked me whether I would consider hanging two or three pieces of my
work in an expensive home they are staging for sale at a big open house. Of
course, in either of these situations it might not look appropriate to have a
price label visible, so you'd have to provide your friend or the realtor with a
few brochures or postcards to hand out or leave lying around for visitors to
pick up.
Consider
a Garden Party
If you or someone you know has a large garden, you could hold an outdoor art
event in it, complete with refreshments and music. It would work best if several
artists were to band together to provide a lively and colorful environment, with
art displayed on tables, easels, and panels. The guests could either be invited
friends or the general public. One of the artists in my area does this once a
year and they get plenty of visitors, including passing motorists who see the
tent board and balloons outside the house.
Schools
Some high schools with reputable art departments, stage regular solo exhibitions
of local and even national artists' work, but even your child's school might be
worth approaching if you have spotted some suitable wall space out of harm's
way. It probably wouldn't be worth the effort unless you could arrange for the
art show to coincide with a special event, such as an Open House or a Music
Festival or Drama Night. You may even find that several other parents are
artists, so that you could stage a group show. Having been a middle school
English teacher for a number of years, I joined with a small group of other
closet artists on the staff to stage an exhibition during the weekend of our
annual Music Showcase. The exhibit attracted plenty of interest among staff,
parents, and students who had not been aware that there was so much talent
within their walls.