BUSINESS TIPS FOR ARTISTS:
WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN
LOOKING FOR A GALLERY
By Margaret Danielak © 2015
Artists
often ask me what they should look for when looking for a gallery to represent
them. As an art rep and daughter of a
gallery represented artist (the late painter and illustrator Robert G. Stevens)
I recommend that you obtain answers to the following questions before you
attempt to approach a gallery about representation:
1.
How long has the
gallery been in business?
As we all know, even in the best of economic times many small businesses
including art galleries struggle to find their footing. My advice is to try to
find a gallery that has been in business at least four years. In fact, on the
Small Business Administration (SBA) website, I discovered that…
“Two-thirds of new employer
establishments survive at least two years,
44 percent survive at least four years, and 31 percent survive at least seven
years, according to a recent study. These results were constant for different
industries. … Of special interest, the research found that businesses that
survive four years have a better chance of surviving long-term. After the
fourth year, the rate of firm closings declines considerably.”
You
don’t want to be accepted to a gallery only to find that it is going to close
the next month so first and foremost, you want to find a gallery that has a longer
term track record.
2.
Does the gallery have
a good location?
Do they have good foot traffic and adequate parking? If not, how do they bring
in new business? You want to get a feel
for their clientele and how they handle people coming and going into their
physical location.
3.
What is the director’s
background?
Do the directors have an art background or a marketing background? (Ideally they should have both.) Keep in
mind, per the SBA website:
“…the
major factors in a firm’s survivability include an ample supply of capital,
being large enough to have employees, the owner’s education level, and the
owner’s reason for starting the firm.”
I
would add to the list above that the gallery owner needs to have a passion for
the art they are selling. If they are not passionate about the art, then you
don’t want to be in their gallery.
4. Does the gallery cross-promote with other
dealers?
Are they part of a gallery group or a regularly scheduled art walk or other
event? In other words, do they make an effort to grow their business with each
event they do? This is essential to their long term success, and to your
assurance that your artwork will be seen.
5. Are you able to obtain a referral for
the gallery and the director?
Speak
to other represented gallery artists about the gallery’s operations and the
people running it. Are they honest? Do they have written contracts and
consignment agreements with their artists, and do they pay them on time? What
percentage do they take? Even a seasoned gallery artist like my late father had
a very bad experience with a prestigious gallery in Taos, New Mexico.
Over the four years he was in the gallery, the director increasingly paid the artists
very late, sometimes as much as six months after a sale! When the gallery
closed suddenly with three of his paintings still in their possession, my
father found out about it from a newspaper article. We have never been able to
retrieve his lovely paintings from the gallery director who had stolen them.
6. What kind of marketing does the gallery
do?
Does
the gallery advertise in major art magazines, produce postcard mailings, work the
internet and have a great website? Does the director write articles, speak in
public or publish catalogues? Do they attend the major art fairs? You need to
know how the gallery plans to expose your work to collectors.
7. How are you treated when you go to the
gallery?
One
of the best stories I’ve heard on this “due diligence” subject was from a
sculptor. One Saturday she put on an expensive outfit, armed with her wish list,
and spent the day visiting ten galleries in Santa Monica. She decided in advance that she
would not mention that she was an artist looking for representation.
At
two of the ten galleries she visited the doors were closed. There was no
information on the door about their hours or how they could be reached. (She
crossed them off her list.)
At three of the galleries she was greeted adequately by friendly people who
knew absolutely nothing about the art on display, nor about any of the artists
who created the work. (She crossed these galleries off her list as well.)
She
was ignored completely at four of the galleries she visited. The people working
in the galleries didn’t even say hello to her and spent their time talking on
the phone or working on the computer. They never even looked at her! (She didn’t
like this at all and crossed them off her list, too.)
At
the tenth gallery she visited, however, she was greeted by a young man who was
knowledgeable about the art. He seemed interested in her and her reactions to
the work. He told her engaging stories about the artists and gave her
additional information about the media the artists used to create the work. He invited
her to their upcoming reception, and asked her for her contact information to add
to their mailing list. She decided that, of the ten galleries on her original list,
only this last gallery was worthy of her attention.
Remember that in your search for a gallery, one size does not fit all. Each
gallery is unique in its location, how it is run, and the style of art the
director will accept. Like the shrewd artist mentioned in the story above, before
approaching a gallery you need to do some research to determine which gallery
will be the best fit for you and your work.
Source Note:
SBA Website Quoted: “Business Employment
Dynamics Data: Survival and Longevity, II,” by Amy E. Knaup and Merissa C.
Piazza, Monthly Labor Review, vol. 30, no. 9 (Sept. 2007), pp. 3-10; “Redefining
Business Success: Distinguishing Between Closure and Failure” by Brian Headd, Small Business Economics, vol. 21, no. 1 (August 2003), pp. 51-61.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Art Rep and Curator Margaret Danielak is the author of
artist handbook A Gallery without Walls: Selling Art in Alternative Venues. (ArtNetwork Press) She may be reached through her website at www.danielakart.com or via email at Margaret.danielak@gmail.com.
