Gallery Submission
How to Submit to a Gallery?
First you need to find out if your artwork fits the theme of the gallery you are interested in having to display your work. You may create beautiful landscapes of rural farmland and the gallery may only be interested in Folk Art, or vice versa. Visit the gallery, walk around and see if your work is the right fit. You don’t have to bug the owner or the curator about who you are but just take a nice stroll and see if your work compliments the gallery. Next, find out a little about the gallery before hand by asking other artists who are currently working with the gallery or have in the past. That way you can tell if the gallery is about business. If the gallery meets your standards, move to the next step.
Find out what the appropriate procedures are for submitting new work to this gallery. Call, not on weekends, and talk to someone who knows the proper procedure. Be confident and polite when talking to the person over the phone. Never ever drop by with an arm full of work asking, ‘how do I get into your gallery’, you may get the cold shoulder. You have to understand, that the employees at the gallery may be setting up for a show, talking to a customer or doing inventory and they may not be ready to talk to you in that instant, but remain patient and polite and you will get the information you need.
Once you find out what they want and you are comfortable with their commission began the application process. Do exactly what they say, fill out all the forms that you need to fill out. Even if you think it’s a waste of time. When submitting images of your work submit your best photos in the format that the gallery requests. Nothing should be in the background of your picture, not even you-the artist. The image should only be a high quality image of your artwork. If you have to get a professional to take your pictures, go ahead it will be very beneficial to your application. If you don’t go with a professional, a good digital camera with the proper lighting can produce a great photograph of your work.
Next, submit your work and wait for a reply. I would say wait for a week or two for the expected arrival date. You can have a delivery confirmation request added to your application package which will provide the date and time of delivery or attempted delivery of your application. Once you know your application has arrived but you have not received a phone call after about two weeks, call to see if they have received your application and if they have gotten a chance to view it. Again, be polite and courteous when you call. You may be talking to the person who makes the final decision about letting you show your work in their gallery. Don’t hound the gallery, or be a pain in the you-know-what, if you feel they are not doing what you expected. Especially if it is a really good gallery and you really want to be associated with that particular gallery.
If you don’t get accepted to the gallery, hold your head up and go to the next one. There have been plenty of artist who have had doors closed on them but was able to still become successful as an artist. That gallery may give you a reason why they didn’t accept you but remember that all galleries will not close their doors on you. There could be numerous reasons why they didn’t accept you and some of them may not have anything to do with your work. Some galleries may have more than enough artists at the moment or some galleries may be in financial debt and can’t manage another artist.
If you do get accepted, move forward and give the gallery what they want. If they say they want more of the red series that are 16X20 give it to them. If they say they want at least ten pieces of your work in the gallery at all times give it to them. Whatever they say they want of your work in the gallery try to make it happen because they are up front dealing with the customers and in the market. They have a pulse on what the customers want and do not want.
Lastly, build a relationship with the gallery owner and employees. You have to understand that you are partners and that all partners have to get along for things to work well. Both, you and the gallery’s goal is to make a sale so work with the gallery and remember that in order for you and the gallery to be successful at selling your work there has to be a bond. There have been horror stories of galleries not paying the artists or cheating the artists and bad fights between the two. You want money and they do too. This is the main goal for showing your work in the gallery in the first place. Not to sound brutal but it’s true so try to be honest and polite.
