exhibits

Installation of paintings by Sonya Kelliher-Combs at the Denver Art Museum | on Art Biz Success

Curating the Art on Your Artist Website

It’s difficult to curate a show of your own work—to separate your complex feelings following the creative process. It might be helpful when necessary to think about your art like a museum thinks about its collections.

Museums have permanent collections that they own, but they don’t keep the work in one place. They present fresh viewpoints, mixing up the pieces to give new perspectives. They also approach curating as an additive process. You start with the best and add only what will strengthen the curatorial thesis.

A museum would never try to cram as much as possible into one show.

Curating the Art on Your Artist Website Read

Cathy Read architectural paintings

The Art Biz ep. 43: Turning Journaling into Audio for Your Art Show with Cathy Read

In the spring of 2018, Cathy Read took my Magnetic You course. Now this class isn’t for the faint of heart because it involves a lot of writing. And, if you’re like most of my clients, you really would prefer to get by without more writing.

We work on your artist statement, bio, about page, stories about your art, and your branding. All of your hard work leads to a cohesive presentation that makes you more attractive to buyers, curators, and collectors.

One of the most important lessons in Magnetic You involves meditating on your art. You read that right. Meditating on your art. I insist that art speaks when you give it the time and space to tell you its story. Then you have to capture that story in a journaling process.

Cathy wrote pages and pages about a new body of work. Then she got an idea from another lesson to leverage all of that writing she had done.

It didn’t just stay in a notebook or in a file somewhere in the dark depths of her computer. Nooooo. She put it to work and turned her written stories into audio for an exhibition.

The leap Cathy took from written word to audio involves a different way of thinking. It’s much like how museums consider programming their shows. They don’t simply put up the art along with nearby labels. They have docents who lead tours, scholars who give presentations, activities to expand on a theme, and audio for telling stories.

Why shouldn’t artists do the same when they have their own solo shows?

I asked Cathy all about the process and experience in this episode of the podcast.

The Art Biz ep. 43: Turning Journaling into Audio for Your Art Show with Cathy Read Read

How to Promote an Art Exhibition on Your Website

Solo exhibitions, as well as 2- or 3-person shows, deserve your full attention.

If you have an important exhibition coming up, give it the (virtual) space it deserves. Create a page on your website for your show.

You probably already have a page for all of your exhibitions, but I’m talking about a single page that features only your special show.

This will be the premier place you send people for details about the exhibition, which will be easy for people to read because it only has one focus. It doesn’t include anything else.

Why would you share this info only on Facebook or in an email when you can create a storefront for your art? You’re paying for the virtual real estate already. Might as well use it!

Everything will be in one spot rather than scattered around online or in someone’s inbox.

The URL (website address) should be one that’s easy to share and to remember rather than a string of slashes and numbers. This isn’t always as easy if you have a template site, but make it happen if possible.

Here’s what your exhibition page should include, and I suggest listing everything in this order.

How to Promote an Art Exhibition on Your Website Read

The Art Biz ep. 27: Multiply Your Audience and Expand Your Show’s Impact with Jill Powers

We often forget that we’re not alone. It’s easy to do because you spend so much time working by yourself in the studio. But … You don’t have to hold up the weight of a solo exhibition all by yourself.

If you get a little creative, you will find a whole bunch of people who would love to be involved with your show. They would be happy to help you install it, interpret it, and share it with others.

In my former life (a long time ago) I was an art museum curator and educator. This is exactly how we thought about exhibitions in the art museum: holistically.

We never installed the art and only hoped people would come to the museum and understand the work. We spent months discussing—as a team— how we would involve others in the show. How we would help make the art more meaningful to our visitors and, at the same time, increase chance that many more people would see the work.

This is where my guest for this episode of the podcast comes in.

Jill Powers is a sculptor and installation artist who creates art related to ecological issues. For her major exhibitions Jill creates public events designed to educate, delight, and challenge  visitors and viewers. She also seeks unique collaborations with area businesses, organizations, and experts to help support and promote her artistic themes.

In this episode, she describes the many programs she has organized and how she did it. You’ll hear about how she worked with dancers, scientists, and restaurants to expand the reach of the show beyond the walls and pedestals of the galleries. You’ll see how easy it is to multiply your audience when you take this approach.

The Art Biz ep. 27: Multiply Your Audience and Expand Your Show’s Impact with Jill Powers Read

Is Your Art Just Free Décor?

There are all kinds of places where you could show your work.

Coffee shops would love to have your art!
Salons would fawn over it!
Professional offices would think they’d died and gone to heaven!

This is great news for you, especially when you are just starting out. It’s a stamp of approval when public spaces want to show your work.

Almost every artist does the “free” circuit. It’s where you get your toes wet.

These seemingly low-risk venues offer a venue for you to learn how to:

  • Properly prepare and price your art for installation
  • Curate a body of work because not everything you have made is fabulous and looks great together (Sorry)
  • Install your art correctly
  • Promote your art in a brick-and-mortar space

In addition, live venues test your conversational and and negotiating skills. There’s rarely a formal agreement in these venues, but you’d be wise to add that to your list of learning opportunities.

Because these non-art venues are considered less serious than galleries, many artists put very little effort into the process. After all, you’re looking for (here comes the e-word) “exposure.”

You deliver the work, install it yourself, add labels, and then, when the time comes, deinstall it and take it home.

Or perhaps the date for deinstallation is left open.

Six months fly by and your work is still there. The owners and patrons have gotten used to it. They quite enjoy having the nice backdrop. The owners don’t want to see it go, so they aren’t responsive to your attempts to communicate with them.

Your art show has turned into free décor.

Let me be clear that

Is Your Art Just Free Décor? Read

Book Your Next Exhibition – Now

Yeah, I know you’d rather be in the studio.
Yeah, I know it’s super cheap and easy to show your art online.
Yeah, I know it’s a slog to find a good exhibition space.

And, yeah, I know that if you’re physically and geographically able to show your art in public and you’re not doing so, you’re just making excuses. Not only that, you’re also:

  • Missing out on sales and networking opportunities.
  • Taking the easy way out.
  • Working your way to a less-than-stellar art career.

Exhibiting your art in live venues should be one of your primary goals. Book a show now!

Let’s Define “Exhibition”

For our purposes, an exhibition is simply your art on public view. It could be any of the following:

Book Your Next Exhibition – Now Read

Jamie Luoto Installing Her Art

Art Exhibition Checklist and Timeline to Customize

There is so much to think about when you’re getting organized for an art exhibition. Above all, you should be making and finishing the art.

An exhibition checklist will keep you on task for your show without having to spend unnecessary brain cells wondering what you should be doing.

The tasks on your checklist, and the deadlines you give them, will depend on the following:

The type of exhibition (juried, self-curated, open studio)
If the venue is in charge of sales and refreshments or if that’s up to you
Whether you’re showing with other artists
The amount of time you have to plan

With this in mind, you can use the list below to customize your own timeline.

Do It Now

Set a goal. What would you like to have happen at this exhibition or as a result of it?

Plan your budget. How much can you afford to spend on materials and framing? How much can you allocate to promotions, printing, and a reception?

Identify a theme and curate the work accordingly. Your exhibition should make sense. What will hold the works together?

Give it a title because titles distinguish one show from another on your résumé.
Titles with your name in them

Art Exhibition Checklist and Timeline to Customize Read

Dora Ficher’s solo show “El Balle de Colores” at Gold Standard Café in Philadelphia, PA.

Curate a Solo Show of Your Art

Are you still diddling around with juried shows or exhibitions with your art group? There’s nothing wrong with either one of these as a starting point, but there comes a time when you have to leave the nest. You have to plan a solo exhibition. Your career will grow rapidly when you start having solo

Curate a Solo Show of Your Art Read

yep-for-sale

Yep, It’s Art and It’s for Sale

Imagine the scenario: A patron visits your open studio event, walks around for a few minutes, and asks, “Are these for sale?” Or this version: A friend shares an image of your art that you posted on Facebook. Hundreds of people see it and a handful wish they could own it. But they think they can’t afford it because there’s no price. So they forget about it and move on.

Yep, It’s Art and It’s for Sale Read

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