How To Organize Your Own Art Show

Plan The Work And Work The Plan

Making A List Of Things To Do.

• The Venue - Where Will I Have My Show?
  
  You can have it in your own home, the home of a good friend or family member, a local community centre or business, church hall or basement, coffee shop or local restuarant....these are just a few examples. You can think of more if you really put your mind to it.
  
  Some of these will have costs associated with them. A community centre for example, will usually charge an hourly rate and be sure to check out what their regulations are with regards to hanging artwork, insurance and capacity. You don't want to have any unpleasant surprises.
• What Needs To Be Done?
  
  Figure out what you need to do and how much time you need in which to get it done. Including supplies such as easels, framing if necessary, business cards, a guestbook, etc. It doesn't have to be overly fancy. As you can see in the photo above...one of my pieces is just sitting on the floor. That was actually my biggest sale of the show! The art should be the focus of the show.
  
  

  Ruth Palmer Fine Art
  
  

• What Is The Theme For My Show?
  
  Come up with a theme for your art show and put together a biographical introduction to be used on your invitations. This is optional, however, it makes it more interesting to the invited guest. You can make your artwork itself the theme or just give your show a name that means something to you. Eg: I called my first show "Fruits Of The Spirit" because it had significant meaning to me.
  
  
• How Will I Handle Orders?
  
  Make handout brochures and order forms if you have multiple products that can be ordered for later delivery. You can whip these up very quickly on your computer and print them off. You can put together information booklets to hand out to your guests. The most important thing that people want to see is pricing so make sure that everything is clearly marked.
  
  
  
  
• What Refreshments Should I Serve?
  
  Decide what refreshments (if any) you would like to serve and who will prepare them. Keep it simple. You don't want guests coming just for a free meal! Wine and cheese or coffee and cake. These are just a couple of examples. I also like to have someone along to take my orders and handle sales. That gives me time to talk to the guests. A friend or family member will probably be more than happy to do this for you. You can pay them in whatever way you see fit. You can also set up a silent auction and/or a charity auction. Cash sales is always best, however, on larger and more expensive pieces, you can accept post-dated cheques from your customers along with an initial deposit. If you are going to do this, make sure that you get all of their personal information and it's best not to deliver the artwork to them until the last payment has cleared. If you know the person well, you can be flexible on this. If you have your art online at the show and someone wants to make a purchase directly online they can do so through Paypal. You can accept credit cards aswell if you are set up through a credit card company to do so. There are charges associated with this payment option but it is another option for the customer. Be creative!
• What Incentives Will I Offer?
  
  Very Important! Offer a hostess gift. A piece of art free, a commissioned piece or an existing piece at a discount. Also, during your show, try to book another show wih some of the guests. Make sure that you tell them about your hostess gift!
  
  
  
  
  Hidden Treasures by Ruth Palmer available at Imagekind.
  
  
  
  
  
• How Should I Advertise?
  
  Issue a press release to your local newspaper and advertise in any other media you can afford. Everyone will have a different budget. Press releases are free! Note: You should only issue a press release if your guestlist is quite small and your venue is large otherwise you could be swamped with way more guests than you can handle. Be careful on this one. Use your discretion.
• How Should I Display My Work?
  
  How you display your art will depend upon where you are having it. If you are using a friend's home for example, you don't want to be hanging art on their walls and causing any damage so easels would be a wise choice. You can remove any art that they have and replace it with yours but besides that, be considerate. Work with your host to come up with the best way to display your artwork. Just make sure that it is pleasing to the viewer. You can add small cards indicating the artwork details and the price. Also purchase small stickers so that you can indicate if a piece it sold during the show. That way it is "unavailable" to any other interested parties. You can always take a similar piece on as a commission. Set up a few small art card displays and some inexpensive print items to add more interest and to increase your sales potential. If you sell nothing else at all, I guarantee you will sell some cards!
  
  
  
  
  If you pay careful attention to your guests you can usually secure a few commissions through your show!
  
  
  Buy Posters at AllPosters.com
  
  
• The Guestlist - Who Should I Invite?
  
  Make a list of guests you would like to invite. Think of everyone you know, family, friends, co-workers and don't forget about your doctor, your dentist, your lawyer...people who like to display art in their workplace. Keep in mind that on the average, only 20% of invited guests will attend so make sure you invite a lot of people to your show.
  
  When sending out the invitations, use regular mail. It is more professional and you can add a business card or any other advertising material that you wish.
  
  Try to send out your invitations at least 3 weeks to a month before your show in order to give people time to plan for it.!
• The Big Day!
  
  Dress comfortably and professionally and spend as much time as possible talking to people! You'll probably be a little nervous but that will quickly pass. People are generally very interested in hearing about you and how you do what you do. You will find that the guests will ask you a lot of questions. If you are passionate about your art, you'll be quite surprised at how much you can talk! Just be yourself and above all ENJOY!
  
  Relax and have a good time BUT remember, it's business so be professional!