The Business of Art
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| The Assignment December 2009 |
- Running the submission process, which includes paying a programmer or forms provider to program the form, accept and host the online form submissions and maintain the submissions database.
- Advertising the call for entries on art deadlines web sites and publications that require a fee.
- Printing and mailing a printed, full-color catalog to our top collecting museum and library customers as a way of promoting the show. This is a major expense as our catalogs are very expensive to print and mail. We mail anywhere from 30-50 copies to libraries and museum curators.
- Purchasing a "purchase prize" book that is donated to a library. With our most recent show this book was given to a randomly selected library amongst those who voted for our "librarian's choice award."
- If there is a guest juror involved we pay them for their time, or give them some type of thank you gift, or purchase a book from the show to donate to their library.
- Postcard printing and mailing.
- Insurance to cover the works in while they are in the gallery in case of loss, theft or damage.
And, don't forget about the overhead expenses of running the
gallery. Entry fees help pay for things like rent, lights, heat, web site
hosting, advertising and the other basic expenses of running a business. Oh,
and maybe some day, they will even help fund a salary for your friendly gallery
director.
Laura this is a great post - very interesting to know where those fees go. Years ago I volunteered for the California Crafts Museum. Seeing a show installed was amazing. The contents of the gallery started as a pile of boxes holding the art and a collection of empty vitrines and pedestals, tools, ladders. In the end everything was wonderfully arranged, each object relating nicely to the one before it and after, good lighting on each. All the boxes, ladders, tools were whisked into a back room. I realized then you never know what goes on behind the scenes, how much work is involved. I think that's true for every job, particularly for all artists, who labor away for hours to make something that may look small and insignificant. Well, I'm wandering around here. Good post, I'd love to see more about the process behind the scenes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this information. I think it should be required reading for every artist who submits to shows so that they can better understand what happens on the other side.
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