The ultimate aim of most artists is to be in a prestigious gallery, such as those found in the Chelsea district of New York City, where they hope their works will become famous and sell for thousands of dollars. It is a good dream, but most artists have a long road to travel before that happens, if ever.
Galleries can be good, but they can also be bad. Why? Because some are run well and some are run badly...just like any other business. It is the effort that the gallery makes that will sell or not sell your work. Of course, the quality of your art, at least in the public's eye is important. But the gallery must put in a lot of effort for you to be successful. In many cases, the public needs to be told what is good and what is not. And it is the job of the gallery to help make that happen.
Many artists spend many hours sending prints of their works to galleries, hoping to get in. Few do. It is somewhat similar to a writer who creates the perfect American novel, only to be rejected by every publisher. As I wrote yesterday, today's writers have some good self-publishing alternatives. However, an artist has no alternative to these rejections other than to go on the road or open his or her own gallery. But I am ahead of myself.
Although I am early in my full time art career, I made a conscious decision to market my own work via the Internet and art shows. After much research, I decided that I would let the galleries come to me if they were interested. And that is exactly what has happened. I was approached by different galleries to display my work and took advantage of most every opportunity to do so.
Some of my work has been sold by galleries, but not enough to make a living at it. But, I wasn't counting on that. I am just doing everything I can to become more well known. And that is working for me. While my works have not been shown in any major gallery yet, I know that day is coming as I do more and more prestigious shows.
And as I become more well known and my works start selling even better than they are now, I will pick and choose my galleries much more closely.
Someday, like my artist friend whom I mentioned in the previous post, I may just open up my own gallery. While that day is far off, it is a good dream to have. If you decide you ever want to do that, you must think strongly about the old real estate adage..."Location, location, location." It is vital that your gallery be someplace where there are art buyers. Usually that means a big city.
I live in a small town in the middle of Washington State. It is about the last place I would ever open a gallery, unless it were an extension of my studio and guests would come by invitation. My town is not an artist's colony by any means, and the majority of our tourists are fishermen and campers. To open a gallery here would not be a wise use of my funds.
Only an artist's colony, or a tourist-based town, or a large city would suffice for my own gallery...in other words, a place where there are large numbers of art buyers.
You need to take one other item into consideration. To open a gallery is to commit a large block of your time to running it...time that takes you away from the shows where your art really gets to be in front of the public. The good news about that is that you don't have to apply to juried art shows any more and worry about rejections.
The bottom line for a beginning full time artist is to do the art shows and let the galleries come to you. Believe me, they will come if you are good.
I will have more on the days and weeks of a full time artist throughout the year. I hope it has been informative and helpful so far. Any and all questions are gladly answered.
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