Softies For Sale Series: Showing Your Work in Galleries

For this installment in my series about sewing softies for pleasure and profit I am focusing on gallery shows. Scattered all over the country, and all over the world really, are a select few very special galleries that show indie art. These are places that are run by people who are savvy to the online indie art and craft community, embrace the resurgence of interest in handmade and alternative art, and give shows to emerging artists who are making awesome stuff that may not fit into the mainstream. And, thankfully, this often includes indie plush artists.

Me looking all artsy at the opening of a show I was part of at artstream in 2008.

I made a list of all of the galleries I could think of that fall into this category. I’m sure this list is not comprehensive so if you know of others, or if you run a gallery that shows indie art, please add names in the comments:

Art Star,  Philadelphia, PA

Young Blood, Atlanta, GA

Schmancy, Seattle, WA

Lark & Key, Charlotte, NC

Magpie, Boston, MA

artstream, Rochester, NH

Gallery Hanahou, New York, NY

bookhou, Toronto, Canada

Gallery 1988, Los Angeles

Over the last seven years I’ve shown my handmade softies at almost all of these galleries, and many others that are no longer in business. I thought I’d share my personal experiences applying for shows, putting together successful shows, and what I see as the benefits and pitfalls of pursing this path as a way to make money from making softies. I also interviewed an indie gallery owner to get their perspective on what artists should do if they’d like to have a show. I hope you’ll find all of this helpful!

How Do You Get a Show?

Lovely blurry picture of me and my mixed media work at a juried show entitled “Ode To Cornell” in Salem, MA, in 2007.

Apply! Don’t be shy! Being in a show is a great way to build your artist resume and you’ve got to start somewhere.

About half of the shows I’ve been a part of happened because I actively reached out and applied for them. Sometimes this was in response to a call for entries, like for annual shows such as Plush You at Schmancy and Luv-able and Hug-able at Gallery Hanahou.

Other times it was just me emailing galleries out of the blue, explaining who I was, showing JPEGs of my work, and asking for a show. A well-written personalized email that shows that you have researched the gallery and explains how your work fits in with their aesthetic, along with beautiful photographs of your pieces, goes a long way.

Keep in mind that these galleries are often staffed by just one or two very busy people. You may not here back right away, but if it’s been more than a week, follow up with a phone call or a second polite email.

The other half of the time I was invited to participate in a show by a gallery owner or curator. This happened because they admired my work on my blog or on Flickr or Etsy and wanted to sell it in their gallery.

Photo of me and my birds at a show at Three Graces Gallery in Portsmouth, NH in 2008.

Collaborating With Other Artists 

All of the shows I’ve been a part of with one exception have included other artists. If you make softies your work is probably not that big. It’s hard to fill a whole gallery with plush. And by collaborating with another artist, perhaps a 2-D painter or printmaker for example, you have the opportunity to create work that plays off of each other, and by having a diverse show you can attract a larger art-buying audience. I’ve had two two-person shows and several four-person shows and I’ve been a part of many large group shows.

Planning and Creating a Cohesive Body of Work

Just after installing my very first show! In 2007 at the Wellesley Free Library in Wellesley, MA.

Whether you are going to be a part of a large show or a two-person show, the same basic principals apply when it comes to the work you will create. Planning is crucial to coming up with a cohesive body of work that belongs in a gallery setting, that will attract attention from local and online media, and that, hopefully, will be appealing to buyers.

First and foremost think big. Not physically big necessarily, although that is certainly a possibliity, but most importanty think big in concept. This work will be viewed all together in a room. What kind of statement will it make? What kind of emotions do you want it to invoke? Nostalgia? Romance? Adorableness? Modern simplicity?

What threads will tie you work together (pardon the pun)? Can you choose a signature fabric or color that will be incorporated in each piece in some way? Could you create a narrative for the viewer to follow as they walk through the gallery and take in each piece? Can the pieces hold their own individually, too?

Hanging

Exhibiting plush can be particularly challenging because it often lends itself best to sitting on a shelf, not hanging on a wall. If you’d like to hang your work, you can sew a small hook (I like to use stitch markers) to the back of your pieces and hang them from a nail. Or you could suspend them from threads of monofilament and hang them from the ceiling or create a mobile.

Building shelves at Young Blood with David Hale.

If you are going to sit the pieces on shelves, ask the gallery how many shelves or pedestals are actually available. Most galleries don’t have very many. If you are able to be there to hang your show, you can build shelves with scrap wood and screw them to the wall. I had a fantastic two-person show with artist David Hale at Young Blood in 2009. David built a dozen shelves for my work and his and then decorated them with bits of nature and random vintage objects. My birds and his paintings looked amazing displayed together that way (and I was seriously indebted to him for the amount of work he put into hanging that show!).

Hanging the Young Blood show.

If you’re anything like me and your life is busy and complicated, the reality is that you may not be able to make it to the gallery to hang your show or even attend the opening. In those cases you are trusting the curator and gallery staff to display your work in the best possible way. Request a floor plan of the space. Write up specific instructions describing how the display should be set up and communicate these to the gallery staff clearly and in advance. Print them out and include a copy in the package when you send your work, too.

Setting up the Young Blood show.

What About the Money?

There are some similarities and a few key differences between displaying your work in a gallery and selling it at a craft fair or even at a retail store.

First, I think you can set your prices higher when you show in a gallery because there is a preconceived notion that work on a gallery wall is fine art and should be priced accordingly. That being said, I think it is wise to have a pieces at various price ranges, just like at a craft fair, so that there is something for everyone.

Second, people will generally not pick up and touch your work when it’s in a gallery. They look with their eyes and not with their hands and they’ll tell their kids to do the same, unless you note otherwise. So your work is much less likely to get dropped or get dirty, but visitors also won’t get to squeeze your softies and feel the fabric their are made from.

And finally, if you do get to attend the opening (And do try! Your work sells better if you’re there to talk about it and, let’s face it, it’s really nice to be celebrated once in a while!) you’ll interact with the public about your work that night. For the remainder of the show, though, the gallery staff will be the ones helping visitors see and purchase your work without you being present. I kind of like attending a party for a few hours and then letting someone else do the rest of the selling so this model is more appealing to me than setting up a booth at a craft fair for the day.

Like selling your work on consignment in retail shops, read and clarify the agreement with the gallery before you sign anything. Find out when you’ll get paid, when work that doesn’t sell will be shipped back to you, and who will pay the shipping costs to and from the gallery. Sometimes the agreement will state that the gallery has exclusive rights to show your work within the city limits through the duration of the show. Often galleries will choose a few pieces that don’t sell during the show to hang onto and try to sell them in the months to come. And like selling retail, the gallery usually takes either 40% or 50% of every sale so price accordingly.

Work that doesn’t sell will be returned to you so you should have a plan for what to do with it when it comes back. That might include listing it in your Etsy shop or taking it to your next craft fair.

Publicity

Postcard from my show with Amy Rice.

Most galleries now also have web shops. If your customer base is international and has been watching your work develop on your blog, they might want to buy the work for the show through the gallerie’s webshop once the show is up. Definitly promote the show on your blog, and don’t be afraid to reach out to larger blogs that cover your genre of work. If they pick up the story the gallery will be thankful that you are helping to spread the word. And having a show is a great chance to get some print media coverage for your art business. Send a press release to  your local newspaper and to the newspaper local to the gallery. Good press can help you build your resume, too.

A Gallery’s Perspective

To get the perspective of a gallery owner I reached out to Erin Waxman and Megan Brewster, owners of Art Star on North 2nd Street in Philadelphia, PA. Erin and Megan have owned Art Star for seven years. Their store showcases over 70 indie artists. I was part of a group show there in 2010 have sold my work there for several years. I always love making ornaments for the annual Art Star ornament show during Christmas time.

Photo of Erin and Megan from HandmadeinPA.

I knew that the folks at Art Star would have some helpful insights to share about what makes for a good show at an indie gallery, what sells and what doesn’t. I also asked them to tell me what they look for in an application so that if you’d like to apply for a show at an indie gallery you’d be able to maximize the success of your application.

Here is what they said:

Well, we have actually taken a break from doing regular exhibitions at Art Star.  We were both kind of burnt out from doing it (I personally was programming/installing shows at The Clay Studio years before I opened Art Star).  It is a ton of work & with the change in the economy, it has really been tough to sell higher end art pieces.  We both really enjoy the boutique side of our business, as well as our craft shows (and have found it to be financially more successful for us), so we have decided to focus more on that for a bit. 

That being said, they did have some advice in general for artists seeking out shows:

We have found that a successful show tends to depend on the artist – whether or not the artist already has a following.  It really takes time & many years to create a following for your work & sometimes it really just is luck.  I do recommend artists having a variety of price points – if someone is interested in the artist’s work (but can’t afford the higher price) it is still accessible.  This person may later spend a bit more. 

I think it is good to have a blog & continue to engage your audience because this will really help develop a following for you work, which is really the key.

Photo of Art Star from HandmadeinPA. See my bird!

At the beginning we were showing work by artists that we didn’t really know or had worked with in the past.  What has been most successful for us is developing our own relationships with artists that we enjoy working with – continuing to show their work & cultivating an audience for them. 

Erin and I need to be behind the artist to really be able to sell it to our customers.  For example, we have really loved working with Amy Rice – we have had 3 solo exhibitions with her and her audience continues to grow.  We personally lover her work and have found that our audience really responds to it. 

I love Amy’s work, too! I had a two-person show with her in 2008 at Paper Boat (an indie gallery in Milwaukee that is now closed. You can see the postcard above).

This type of relationship between artist/gallery staff/customer is really what makes a show successful in our opinion.  Though we are taking a break from a regular exhibition schedule, we will have shows with Amy and others artists that we have strong relationships with.

Photo of Art Star from CultureMob

We aren’t actively looking to book shows at the moment, but we always interested in seeing what is out there.  If there is something we fall in love with – we might ask them to send a few pieces to sell in the shop and then if we enjoy working with that artist & our customer responds well to the work, we would consider having an exhibition. 

Right now, instead of doing a full blow exhibition, we have been doing “Artist Features”.  This involves the artist sending us 5-10 pieces & then we will incorporate them into our boutique space and have a feature on the website.  We will also interview the artist and post that on our blog so customers can learn more about them and develop more of a connection to the work.  It is a way to highlight an artist and give them a bit more exposure without the commitment of a full blown exhibition.  If this ends up going well we may consider programming them into an exhibition in the future. 

Photo of Art Star by ScissorsandSpice

Because exhibitions are so much work and time, we are unable to take chances with them anymore unfortunately.  If an artist is interested in working with us, we have a link on our website for them to submit images or send us a link to their site.  We get a ton of submissions daily, so we are unfortunately only able to get back to those who we think would work for us.  We don’t have anything specific in mind that we are looking for.  We will know when we see the work if it is right for us.

Thank you so much Erin and Megan! It is really helpful to get a gallery’s perspective!

Have you been part of a show at an indie gallery? Any words of wisdom? I hope you’ll share your experiences in the comments. I’d love to hear about them! Do shows increase exposure to your work? Are you thinking of applying for a show in the future? I love hearing from you and I always learn so much from your comments!