Are you looking to market your Etsy business outside of Etsy and into local galleries? If so, check out these awesome tips to keep you on your toes and in picture perfect shape with your gallery applications. Judy is a member of the jury committee of the Walpole Artisans Cooperative Gallery. :-)
"Bringing work to galleries for review can be intimidating. I know I take any rejection of my work very personally. I'm on the jury committee of the Walpole Artisans Cooperative Gallery and see many artists who hurt their chances of acceptance by their presentations. So I thought I would share a few tips:
1. Gallery Policies - Check out the gallery or shop well. Does your work fit with the work shown? Is [it] redundant with a lot of the work there. You need a space with a similar aesthetic to yours but a space where your work will be unique and add to the blend.
Find out the gallery's policies both for submitting work and for commission. Is the commission so high that it would make your work too expensive to sell? If there is a process for submitting work follow it carefully.
2. Confidence - Be confident and proud of your work, or at least act like you are! I have had artists come in and ask ME which things I thought were good, even criticizing their own work. This is NOT the time for a critique. I am not going to want your work if you don't like it yourself. If you're enthusiastic [it] is contagious.
3. Porfolio - Bring in a current, cohesive body of work. I want to know what you are doing now, I am not looking for a hodgepodge of work you've done over the past twenty years. Show me one or two strong series.
4. Presentation - Presentation is very important. At our gallery we want to see the art ready for sale, framed, on jewelry displays, tagged and priced.
We recently had an artist come in with necklaces in plastic baggies, expensive necklaces she was asking $600 and more for. We were really shocked that she brought them in in baggies. She was not caring for or respecting her work. Some galleries and shops initially prefer a book of photographs - it should be beautiful and elegant.
If the gallery want a disc of work, provide that but also some hard copies to wet their appetite. If they ask for an artist statement and/or resume provide these. Even if you have little to add to a resume prepare something that shows your history with the medium.
5. Patience - Be polite of course and don't call and ask for updates, the process can be slow. If you are not accepted don't make a fuss or argue about it. We have accepted people who have applied a second time but those who were hard to deal with are remembered, we know we don't want to work with them!
I hope this helps. Applying to a gallery can be scary, everyone gets rejected at times. But a local gallery can be a great source of income and artistic support."
"Bringing work to galleries for review can be intimidating. I know I take any rejection of my work very personally. I'm on the jury committee of the Walpole Artisans Cooperative Gallery and see many artists who hurt their chances of acceptance by their presentations. So I thought I would share a few tips:
1. Gallery Policies - Check out the gallery or shop well. Does your work fit with the work shown? Is [it] redundant with a lot of the work there. You need a space with a similar aesthetic to yours but a space where your work will be unique and add to the blend.
Find out the gallery's policies both for submitting work and for commission. Is the commission so high that it would make your work too expensive to sell? If there is a process for submitting work follow it carefully.
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| Be confident and proud of your work... |
3. Porfolio - Bring in a current, cohesive body of work. I want to know what you are doing now, I am not looking for a hodgepodge of work you've done over the past twenty years. Show me one or two strong series.
4. Presentation - Presentation is very important. At our gallery we want to see the art ready for sale, framed, on jewelry displays, tagged and priced.
We recently had an artist come in with necklaces in plastic baggies, expensive necklaces she was asking $600 and more for. We were really shocked that she brought them in in baggies. She was not caring for or respecting her work. Some galleries and shops initially prefer a book of photographs - it should be beautiful and elegant.
If the gallery want a disc of work, provide that but also some hard copies to wet their appetite. If they ask for an artist statement and/or resume provide these. Even if you have little to add to a resume prepare something that shows your history with the medium.
5. Patience - Be polite of course and don't call and ask for updates, the process can be slow. If you are not accepted don't make a fuss or argue about it. We have accepted people who have applied a second time but those who were hard to deal with are remembered, we know we don't want to work with them!
I hope this helps. Applying to a gallery can be scary, everyone gets rejected at times. But a local gallery can be a great source of income and artistic support."
"If at first you don't succeed, try try again." - Proverb
Meet Our Guest Blogger Judy from Judy Stalus :
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I live on fifty acres of beautiful gardens, fields and woodlands in Walpole, New Hampshire with my husband and daughter Despite the harsh climate of northern New England I have flowers in blossom from March through November.
 I grow hundreds of varieties but have a special love of tulips, iris, peonies and poppies. I have iris in bloom for many months from the tiny iris reticulata and iris cristata of early spring to the summer blooms of bearded, Louisiana, Japanese and Siberian iris. 
These gardens and flowers are the basis for most of my current photography. I photograph flowers in the garden, in the house, from afar and very close through every season. 
Thank You sooo much, Judy for having shared your experience and fabulous tips with us. Applying to and getting your work accepted by galleries can indeed be a long and anxious journey. We hope Judy's tips will give our artisan friends a boost of confidence to persevere :-)
Visit Judy's Etsy shops for more inspiration : www.etsy.com/shop/Judy Stalus www.etsy.com/shop/beadedwire Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/blackiris Spread some SPST love and support your fellow Teammies :-) |
If you would like to share additional tips or your professional experience applying to or working with local galleries and/or craft shows, we want to hear from you!!!!! Post a comment with your Etsy shop or website and we'll contact you for a possible feature on our Team Blog :-)
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