How can I get my artwork into a gallery?

Question

I am 25 years old and getting my MFA in figurative painting...how can I begin to get my artwork seen? I would really like to get some of my paintings into a gallery, but I need to know the best approach. Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

My major was Commercial and Illustrative Photography / Minor in Graphic Design and Illustration.

Getting your work seen should be your primary goal right now.
Unless you have connections, an amazing portfolio or pretty strong credentials you’ll have to wait a little on gallery showings.. (with a few exceptions I’ll mention later)

1) Get your portfolio together and TIGHT (also practice your presentation).
2) Get business cards you can leave at locations you show at (and/or on your artwork)
3) If possible, have slides of your work shot. (“Call for Artists” always seem to want slides)
4) Start your research and lay out your plan on paper (you’re starting here which is GREAT)

Your main goal is to locate business that need artwork on the walls, are appreciative of the arts and that have good traffic. Look for art districts in your town or towns near to you. Also, (I was apprehensive about putting the following down, due to how it sounds.. but it worked for me)….It may sound snobby, but this is a business… It doesn’t hurt to look for areas where upper and upper middle class people live – If they like your work they may have connections to gallery owners or art dealers. Places I’ve had success – Coffee shops / Small restaurants / Pottery shops / Country Clubs / Jewelry stores (NOT in malls)/ Winery’s/ Specialty Grocery Stores (the type that has imported cheese and aged meat-lol) . One of my best locations was a County Government Executive office building (go figure!) – My work was in a long corridor between 2 buildings – LOTS of traffic.
The goal is to make an appointment with the owner to present your portfolio. (Also, create a flyer with examples of your work and your contact information on it- which you will be able to leave). And follow up, follow up, follow up!

Your selling point – You have a rotating gallery that you will maintain /change (every 2 months is what I did). You attach your contact card to your artwork (as well as leave additional cards with the receptionist for inquiries they may get)
Find a radius of large towns to market to – My area consisted of Pittsburgh / Cleveland / Columbus / Toledo and Detroit. (I later found out this was too big of an area)
To begin, you may want to find good prospects in 2 of the larger towns near you.

Regarding gallery showings: After years at a college you have great connections without even knowing it – Your art instructors. They may have knowledge of Artist Galleries. Those galleries owned and run by artists, and looking for new work on a regular basis. Also, join art societies (national and local) – either specializing in your medium or interest. They always seem to have gallery showing information (local or out of town) and always seem to be asking for submissions for one thing or another. An odd “get it out there idea” that worked for me - Subscribe to a magazine in your medium / area of interest. Most have contests a few times during the year.- or have “calls for artists” listed in the back of the magazine.

Last (and sorry for my rambling) -- Go to every gallery showing you can—drive the extra miles and stay out of town if you need to. NY,NY, NY! (I made more connections at a 1 week show in NY then I did after 1 year of local showings)– Become chatty, make friends / connections. (Travel with your portfolio attached to your hip!)

How artists fail (and I've seen a number fail over the years) - They aren't willing to go outside their area, they aren't willing to work at selling their "product" (it is a business no matter what we want to believe)-- they hold on too tightly to the idea of being a starving artist or suffering for their art.

It’s a wonderful field!—I’m very excited for you, hope I’ve given you a few ideas—Enjoy!

Answer 2

Most galleries will want to see your work in person (some photos are okay, but an portfolio that doesn't include your actual paintings will not show all the nuances of your brush work). Visit the galleries in person and express your interest to have your paintings included at their location. Make an appointment with the gallery owner to have your paintings reviewed. They will usually have other authorities in the field evaluate your work and decide if they think it will sell to THEIR clientele.

Their decision is not necessarily a reflection of the quality of your work, but is based on its ability to sell at that particular location.

You will then agree upon prices based on what you want for the paintings, what amount they think they can get for the paintings, and how much they require in commission (usually 20%).

Spend time visiting your local galleries and making yourself known before jumping right in with your work. Gallery owners will often follow their hearts so placing yourself in their good graces by being a friendly patron in advance will help.

Answer 3

Hi, I've heard of gallerists who say that the best way to get into their galleries is knowing an artist who is already inside the gallery who can recommend you to the gallerist. So it's just a matter of good relationships. Also look for galleries that show the kind of work you do. You have good quality in your paintings, so I think it will be just a matter of time until you start working with a gallery. Good luck.

Answer 4

first of all congrats on the MFA now how many shows have you entered, any purchase awards etc for the resume which needs to be tight and then there is the portfolio get it tight and lean with only your top quality stuff in slides and on disk. Now visit galleries until you spot several that show work properly like a museum not a garage sale. Check with the gallery director and explain that you are wanting to know when their next portfolio review is. Ask about their perimeters for accepting me work and then get your work to them on time in the form they ask for. The rest is painting, persistence and more painting.. Look for juried shows to enter and that way add to your resume. Best advice is to just keep at it until you get in then expand but only to the level of your output of really god work. When I finally backed out of showing anymore I was in 6 galleries and that was a stretch to keep up. good luck & keep painting

Answer 5

The firest step is to get a decent digital camera, and take hi res pics of all your work. Print out the pictures on high quailty photo paper, then make yourself a portfolio of your work and take it personally to every art gallery or coffee shop or restaurant that features original work. Go in and meet the owner and ask to have a meeting to look at your work. Then take one of your best pieces and spend some money to turn it into a post card and mail that postcard to art galleries outside your area. Use Myspace to set up a "virtual gallery" of your work so that people in other places can see your work. Make up business cards with one of your paintings on them to hand out to anyone and everyone.... these suggestions will work. Also, there are all kinds of art fairs you can participate in, but you have to be willing to pay the fee for the booth and sit there all weekend, but you will probably sell, sell, sell.

Ok these are my suggestions. GOOD LUCK

Answer 6

Try to get an agent or agents. Actually, I have a friend who is married to an internationally famous artist and he has agents and so forth but their best and most lucrative bit of business has been to work a deal with cruise lines to sell his artwork on cruises. This has made them a lot of money and also got them a lot of free travel.

He was for years working for the US government as a graphic designer. He did not really become famous until he left the government and also left off painting with brushes and picked up a palette knife and started that sort of painting. This was when he was in his very late 40's. I am not mentioning his name because he is very ill at the present time.

It takes some time to get accepted within the art communities. Perhaps your best bet is to try to make friendships with artists who are selling their works and try for a mentoring type situation.

In the old days well known artists took apprentices perhaps you could do that for a short time or try to get a position paid or otherwise with a famous artist whose work you admire.

Most well know US artists have spent time doing work-a-day jobs and then their artworks in their spare time such as Kermit Oliver (who worked for the US postal service for years), so I think you should be prepared to take some commercial jobs whilst honing your art skills.

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Answer 7

some smaller art galleries like to display artwork by local artists, normally this is free and then if you sell a piece of art while it is being displayed in the gallery then they will take a small commision as payment for displaying your work. Best way to find out if galleries in your area do this is to ask them.

Answer 8

Dress up like Che Guevara and throw your artwork through the gallery window during another artist's exhibition. Do this three or four times and if you can avoid getting arrested, the buzz you will generate will pretty much make you the next big thing in the art world for at least a week, if not two.

Answer 9

I once was a partner in a restaurant that showcased local artist's work for free. It gave the artists an opportunity to have their work seen by a lot of people and patron's we made aware that all works of art were for sale with a small business card near each piece. This worked well for us because we always had new painting and well for the artist because they got their pieces in front a variety of people. It's pretty easy to ask restaurants and I can't imagine it would take too long to find the perfect fit.

Answer 10

Your best bet is to build a local reputation first.

Enter your work into contests and shows, like state fairs, library exhibits, art festivals and street fairs.

Try to get your work into local restaurants, coffee shops, upscale bars, and other places. Be creative. Even hair salons might like some free decor. Remember, you're both getting something in return. Your artwork gives them free decor, a local connection, a piece of any commission, and perhaps most importantly helps them enhance their brand (if your work fits their brand such as toney, upscale, etc). You'll need a portfolio to show them (as well as galleries) and a website can be helpful also.

Most importantly, network, network, network. You would think that art, of all things, would be about the art itself, but networking is really important in the art world. One influential person can get your work seen widely.

Answer 11

depending on where you live there could be some "artist alliances" and what happens is they have places all over the city where they exhbit the member's works. You dont really need anything to be part of them except like a member fee. You could also start by going to little coffee shops bring some samples of your work and say could i exhibit here. I know that tehre are places where you can go to a gallery and say taht you want to have an exhibit and they will do it for you for no price. research what you have go to places and show your work and go from there.