"It's very competitive," stresses Betty Talbott, co-director of the Ohio Designer Craftsmen, who handles exhibitions for the Ohio Craft Museum. "People are sometimes heartbroken when they don't get in, but there are only so many pieces we can fit in the space we have, so that really dictates how many people we can select."
A picture needs to say more than a thousand words
Generally, an exhibition curator or jury sees only slides of the artists' work, so the slides should be as good as the work itself. "Don't just send slides," says Gail M. Brown, 15-year veteran of the crafts field, who has been an independent contemporary crafts curator for the past seven years. "Send your best slides. Artists have to make sure that their slides communicate clearly what they want to communicate through their work," she says. "Artists need to judge their slides as critically as they judge the work that they're making."
Rose Brein Finkel owns The Gallery at Cedar Hollow in Malvern, Pa., and juries all of her gallery's exhibitions. While she admits that slides would have to be pretty sloppy to cause her to automatically reject an artist's submission, she encourages artists to be as professional in presentation as possible. "Some slides are excellent," she says, "and we can use them for publicity or promotional mailings. Other slides show work propped up outside with grass and leaves around it, and it's very distracting."
Brown suggests that artists photographing their own work "allow each object enough air space, good lighting and clear focus. The slide should enable us to see the texture of the work and the craftsmanship."
Talbott encourages artists to hire a professional photographer. "Slides are so important," she says. As important as having good lighting and clear focus, Talbott adds, is avoiding cluttered backgrounds. Artists should also try to show the work's scale. "We should be able to tell whether the work is four inches or four feet," she says.
Janelle McClain, co-owner of CornerHouse Gallery and Frame in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, recommends that artists include written dimensions of all work.
One thing Brein Finkel suggests that artists avoid is submitting booth shots to galleries. "We do need to see several pieces, but we don't care what their booth looks like," she comments. "We don't show work in booths. We need to see the work close up."
Talbott strongly suggests that artists select slides that show consistent work. "Sometimes a potter will submit slides of one piece in porcelain, one in stoneware and another in raku. We need to see a consistent body of work."
If an artist decides not to spend money on a professional photographer, can't barter and can't find a friend who takes good photo-graphs, they may be losing already, suggests Brown. "It is so essential that an artist be proud of the slides they send. Slides can even be deceivingly better than the work when someone has them professionally done, so there is even more competition."
In addition to slides of their work, Talbott encourages artists to keep a stock of black and white photographs of themselves at work. "We do a lot of publicity, and if an artist doesn't have publicity materials, it's hard to get them publicity," she explains. "The artists who have these materials are the ones getting seen."
"If an artist doesn't
co-director, Ohio Designer Craftsmen |
Support materials
While good slides are a must, they're not all that an artist must be armed with when entering a competition. Artists should have bios or résumés, including where they studied or went to school, and mentioning any influences on their work."They should also include statements on the process and materials," suggests Talbott. "It's always a good idea to include support materials. Especially if work is being sold for $1,000, people want some support for the price."
Other support materials that can be helpful, says Talbott, are any postcards featuring the artists' work, brochures from other exhibitions, and copies of any newspaper or magazine articles about their work.
Brown suggests that artists make sure they send complete background information when submitting work to a gallery. "Don't send an out-of-date résumé with a note apologizing that 'soon it will be updated,'" she stresses. "And, don't send an artist statement that sounds like it's written by a philosophy major. Make it very, very personal to you."
Many artists forget to include prices, says McClain. "We need to have an idea right up front whether their work will even be appropriate for our market," she explains. And artists can save themselves time and effort in this respect, she suggests, by doing their homework. McClain's gallery will only put an artist into an exhibition once they've exhibited in the gallery for a while, to give the public a chance to get to know the artist, so getting into the gallery itself is the first step at CornerHouse. "Artists should find out as much as they can about any gallery before submitting work to it."
What to expect
Brein Finkel, who is an artist herself, says that some artists overlook that all works in an exhibition must be for sale, so artists must be ready with prices.
Some galleries are introduced to artists through calls for entry for their exhibitions, so this can be a good way for artists to get their foot in the door. However, being accepted into an exhibition doesn't mean that the gallery will feature an artist year-round.
Regardless of whether submitting work for an exhibition or for ongoing sale in a gallery, especially on consignment, Brown strongly encourages artists to document all work before sending it out. Also, she stresses, "If a gallery 3,000 miles away wants you to send work to exhibit, you better know who they are before you do business with them. Artists should ask, 'Who else's work have you shown in metal? Can you refer me to some other artists you've dealt with? I'd like a little more information about your gallery.' If an artist asks for this information, any respectable gallery should have no problem providing it."
Staying informed about upcoming exhibitions
In order to find opportunities around them, Talbott suggests, "Artists need to read trade magazines, either in their medium, like Ceramics Monthly if they're ceramists, or general trade publications like The Crafts Report. They should also go to exhibitions and talk to other artists. They can join organizations like Ohio Designer Craftsmen that publish newsletters with listings of upcoming events. There are organizations like us all over the country."
Gail Brown agrees. "Organizations' newsletters suddenly bring a wealth of information and opportunity to your doorstep. There are so many publications, too, that list events and opportunities in great detail." But the key, says Brown, is talking to others. "Artists working in the studio are alone," she says. "They have to reach out to other artists. And I think they'll find a very grateful response at the other end."
Noelle Backer is senior editor of The Crafts Report.
JUNE 1998 HOME