find an art gallery to represent me

In the last week I’ve met with three different galleries – two today and one last Friday that I mentioned in the post just before this one. As it turns out… all three are happy to take me on! I think I’ve bitten off plenty for now – so I’ll call this done and move on eh? Perhaps in several months I’ll see what I can do to branch out and find more representation, but for now… THIS IS PLENTY. Now I really need to buckle down and get painting.

Yesterday I found another local gallery here in Melbourne. I decided to give them a call and at least ask if they’re even looking for artists right now. The woman on the other end of the phone said that yes, they are always reviewing. She explained the monthly review process (which I had just missed) and asked what my work was like. I described it as best as anyone can over the phone, “I’m an acrylic painter who works on stretched canvases. My works tend to be very figurative and the concepts deal with how we perceive our own images and how conscious we are of ourselves. The most recent series has started to incorporate some subtle symbolic imagery and has grown more detailed and delicate.” What in the world that actually does to describe the work itself… who knows, but her interest was perked immediately. She asked if I would be willing to swing by the gallery today just to meet each other. I agreed.

I gathered my resume, a handful of paintings, my book, and several printouts of my work. By 2:00 I found myself driving down to historic downtown Eau Gallie. This part of town snuggles up to one of the most popular causeways between the mainland and the little strip of land we all call “beachside” that kisses the ocean. There are a few nice restaurants and surf shops just before the bridge as well as the public library for the county, the museum of art (right across the street from the gallery in question) as well as a few other little shops.

I was so surprised that I hadn’t noticed the gallery before. It’s a nice clean and Bauhausy looking building (big plate glass windows and a more 1940-1950 looking architecture). Upon first glance you see a very well manicured garden to the left of the front door with a meandering pathway heading behind the building. You open the door and are greeted by a freshness that I have yet to see down here. The walls are crisp clean white, the artwork is hung expertly leaving plenty of breathing room around each piece. The woman at the register is quick to say hello and engage me in conversation. This is Lois, who I spoke to on the phone. In the time I’m standing there with Lois discussing the gallery several people come and go.

Now, the gallery is a co-op… and normally I would never even consider such an arrangement, but the look and feel of this gallery just oozes pride. All these artists are very serious about what they do. The gallery has achieved a level of prestige without the benefits of modern marketing, not to mention the fact that it has been around for a good 30 years. It’s obvious to anyone who comes in that these are serious artists and that makes me excited. So many co-ops seem thrown together at a moments notice, plus because it’s an artist run business, sometimes things can be quite disorganized behind the scenes as well. There was one other co-op that I saw in St. Augustine that was equally beautiful (but, St. Augustine is just too far at a whopping a 2.5 hour drive) like this one.

Anyhow, moving along… as Lois and I talk more and more… and more another gentleman walks in the door and starts to inquire about the gallery. Eventually he divulges that he’s an artist and would like to know how he can get into the gallery. Lois explained to him about the application process and the monthly review. As soon as he left I told Lois that I was really excited about the gallery and that this was something I could really see myself working with well. She started talking about it in a manner like, “When you’re part of the gallery, you’ll see how we all work… you’ll have four wall panels… you’ll be able to do demonstrations here at the gallery…” and so on. She eventually corrected herself and said that really it was up to the group to decide, but she thought they would be really missing out if they didn’t accept me.

I eventually headed across the street to the museum where the group has a retrospective show up to celebrate their 30 years of being in business. Afterwards I went back for one last thank you and to inquire as to if I could take photos of the gallery and found Lois on the phone. She pointed her finger in my direction and gave me the “one minute motion”. I hovered over the photo album showing all thirty years of gallery fun and openings. She hung up and said she was calling the group to see if we could accelerate the review process for me. Maybe we could get me in in October rather than November. I asked if I could take photos of the space, she agreed and the phone rang again. She rushed to the back of the gallery, another phone call found her outside talking,... and so on. I agreed to leave all my paintings behind for their review (I have another two gallery reviews on Tuesday in Cocoa, but I decided to pick them up from the gallery the morning of my meetings to allow the group to review them in the meantime), and then Lois and I gave a hug and I headed home filled with the excitement of possibility.

I got home to find a call on my machine from Lois. She called to remind me to bring in the application Saturday morning. Later, Patrick arrived home. I had grown worried that maybe I had been swept up in the excitement of it all and wasn’t considering this seriously enough. Co-ops come with monthly dues and initiation fees… because they are artist run and funded we are the ones who pay the rent, utilities, etc. These can add up and one could find themselves paying more in rent than they are actually gaining back in sales. I talked to Patrick about it, but we both agreed that it was a risk worth taking just to try this out and see if it works out. I’m going to squirrel away six months of dues and promise myself that much time. I have it with the sales and a little freelance work I did.

Shortly after Patrick and I talked, Lois called and wanted to make sure I got the message about the application. I said I had… she says, “Hmmmm there was something else I wanted to ask you… oh! I think I want to buy that one panting you brought by today I just love it so much!” Wow. That would be great, I won’t hold my breath, it’s by far my most expensive piece to date, but she’s passionate about it. It’s wonderful to know. I really put a lot of time into it (“Better Days” the one of me and the cat that I posted progress shots of here a little while back). She reminded me again that the gallery might not take me, that there had been three other artists who has been rejected and that she hoped that they would take me, but that I should be prepared just in case they can’t or won’t take me on. Makes me wonder if the group had perhaps suggested to Lois that there was no room. It’s hard to say, hopefully I still have a shot.

So, here I am now. Sitting in my pajamas still. Just typing this out Saturday morning. An hour and a half before I go back to the gallery to drop off my application. I’m planning on bringing with me some more supplemental information. They don’t have a website and that happens to be my specialty among other things. Perhaps knowing how to do that sort of thing can give me an advantage? Who knows. I just need all the good-vibes and juju everyone’s got on this one. I think this could be a great spot to get into.

A co-op gallery being an artist owned and run gallery. There are many pros and cons to the situation. You are guaranteed exhibition space and usually one solo show a year, you get an in with the local art scene (especially good if you’re new to the area), and it gives you some constant artistic motivation. The cons being that you have to pay monthly dues, sit several hours at the gallery, and local critics don’t take the co-op galleries seriously enough to write reviews of the work hung there. They know you’re paying for the space and that you weren’t curated to be there (although many co-ops do curate their member’s entry).

I decided to cruise by the only co-op in Melbourne and found an interesting spot. It’s not edgy or super hip, but for here I think it would work really well. They’re centered in the little historic downtown which becomes a tourist trap in the fall and winter. At the very least, it would get me some much needed exposure.

I chatted with one of the members and then emailed the director to introduce myself and my work. They’re unfortunately at capacity membership-wise, but she was interested in my work and my ability to do design work (their site is in serious need of some help). Hopefully I can get something going here. They’d like me to drop off some paintings and materials for them to review which cannot be a bad sign at all.

At the moment, I’m really short available artwork (thanks to the sales and another exhibition opening up in Lansing in September) so, I’m not exactly ready to hang my work anywhere yet anyhow. I need to get painting!

This is a good step though, hopefully more can shake lose in the coming weeks and months.

I’m going north to St. Augustine to check out their gallery situation. I’ve heard they have plenty of galleries, and being a major tourist trap can’t be a bad thing when you consider the wide audience you’d get. Tonight I’ll busily print out some samples and statements and tomorrow I’ll do some sleuthing. Here’s to hoping for a few promising leads.

Apparently moving takes a great deal more time and effort than I intended to expend. So here I am, 16 days from the BIG DAY and I have yet to A) complete a second painting or B) send out another 23 mailers. This new group of 11 in Boston and surrounding areas should help knock that number down some.

I feel kind of guilty for not having sent them sooner. I just get so focused on other tasks. I need to focus on this task and get these 11 mailers stuffed and postaged for tomorrow. Then I’ll just have 12 more to send out.

So much to do.

I received three more letters today… two that were “no thank you”s and one that said they were keeping a couple of prints on hand for future reference. Not a flat out no and not a flat out yes. I wonder if this should be considered my one “positive” response in fifty and if I need to ramp up my efforts and send out another fifty? Let’s hope not. While I’m sure there are enough galleries out there to supply me with plenty of mailing opportunities, I have no idea where to start looking once I conclude my online hunting research.

Onward… now the tally is up to 24. 24 new mailers need to go out before the end of July. Perhaps I should put that on my list.

Today I picked up my packages from the apartment office, among them was one from my P.O. Box in Melbourne. It was heavy and so I figured it was just full of return envelopes… I was right. Six replies of my thirty came back and all were very pollite “no thank you” responses. Some stated that they were impressed with my work but either had no room for new artists or simply did not feel that my work was a good “fit” with their gallery. A lot of them liked the use of quotations when using the word fit.

I may write a few of them back to say thank you for the time to review my work and ask if they know of any galleries in the area that might be a better “fit” for my work. Why not right?

This puts me into a mailer deficit of 21. I ran out of return envelopes from my PO Box three weeks ago… I imagine that I’ve got a much heftier deficit than just 21 at this point. We’ll find out this week sometime.

I’m so behind after the opening, vacation, and party. I’ve got a painting to do this week because I’ll be painting live at the Lansing Art Gallery downtown on Thursday and I’d hate to go in there with a blank canvas.

Here’s to hoping that I can play catch up… and to hoping that somewhere in the next stack are more hopeful results. Not discouraged, just overwhelmed… 21 is almost like starting all over again.

Still no replies with excited letters begging me to join their gallery, but this is to be expected. I’ve only just recently kicked my marketing into high gear and I’m still waiting for my 90-95% “no thanks” replies to come in. I’m only up to four at this point so either people are sitting on my mailing (can’t be all that bad) or they just haven’t gotten around to them yet.

I’ll continue to search for a gallery out there somewhere to call home. Once I get situated for real in Florida I may be able to start poking around for some local exhibition opportunities and possibly some gallery that fell under my google radar.

Only time will tell :)

So I’m generally doing ok in this department. As in, I’m not sitting around doing nothing all day just wishing a gallery would find me. I’m spending a great deal of time assembling packets for galleries to review. I print out my work four up on a sheet, cut them out, label them all, add in a little resume, bio, statement, and cover letter. Wrap all of that up with a SASE and pop it into the mail.

For every fifty that I send out, I might hear from one gallery. Just with the cost of paper and ink alone 50 of these puppies would cost me (7.04 ea) a total of $352. That’s really rough on an full time professional artist. I do get a little income, but for all the time that I spend working on these mailers I’m not painting, and when I’m not painting I’m not producing saleable works, and when I’m not doing that, no one’s buying the works.

Bah, anyhow, I’m up to about 25 mailers this month alone… maybe more. I’ve also decided to email the occasional gallery. There’s probably even less of a return rate on email, but it’s so cheap and free that I just use it on galleries that I’m not really sure I’d be a good fit for.

I really hope I can get something going here. I’m moving to Florida in a few months and artwork will have to be my primary income. I’ve decided that I need help with this and the best way to do that is get someone else working on your team… a reputable gallery who sees dollar signs when they see your work. I’m still hopeful. I still have a great deal more $ to invest at this point though.

Here’s to getting off the ground.