Exhibitions in Galleries | ©Mr Daniel M. Fisher | Proactively Seeking out Opportunities.

Realising exhibitions and projects is an important strategy in the arts, with many galleries running an open submission programme, often on an annual basis, or will have a procedure for receiving proposals on their website. It is common however for larger public galleries to review applications infrequently, once a year or once every two years in some cases, which may have an impact on the scheduling of your proposed exhibition.

Before you apply… Research, research, research! By far the most crucial step in successfully pitching an exhibition or project to a gallery is to research the galleries that you intend to approach. As there are many distinct types of galleries from small shops to large scale institutions that will focus on collaborating with established artists with a record of showing internationally. Other galleries will be more interested in showing emerging artists, and mid-scale institutions often combined programmes of established and emerging artists. Galleries and curators may also prefer either group or solo exhibitions – even these quite subtle distinctions matter.

Galleries, whether formal or not, are a societies exhibition of norms and practices.

Spaces for hire will tend to have a very straight forward transactional arrangement but may also have a fluctuating or irregular audience depending on which shows are brought in so it’s worth thinking about the visibility of the work and access to an audience especially if you are taking over a space not usually used for cultural or artistic activity.

Abandoned or empty spaces are often incredibly atmospheric, and some landlords are happy to waive fees for activity that brings life to an empty shop or venue. They can however present problems for insurance of work as they are rarely very secure and will not be staffed. If you are required to invigilate your own show in the case of a hire or artist-led space, then you will also want to consider the length of the show and whether the focus really is on the opening night or if it matters how long the project runs for, so context is everything.

It helps to have an idea of the artistic direction of the gallery that you are approaching and understand the common themes of the exhibition programme, often this is reinforced by the gallery’s programme of events and talks. Whether making a speculative application or applying to an open call you should therefore find out as much as possible about the gallery. Make yourself familiar with the programme of any gallery that you are pitching to and engage with their remit.

Visiting the gallery is ideal, as is attending as many events as possible, as this will give you a sense of how the gallery is used and who the gallery is interested in working with. If visiting and attending events simply is not possible e.g. you live too far away; you cannot spare the time from work or afford the travel – then use the organisation’s website instead. Look at past exhibitions, their events programme, their social media, their artistic policy, or vision all of which will give you a sense of how your own work or proposed curated project might fit.

Networking and seeking advice as well as finding out about the gallery and its on-going programme can be helpful in letting the gallery and its programmes or curators know who you are in advance of pitching an idea for an exhibition. Gallery events and exhibition openings are an opportunity to meet curators and start conversations about your work informally if you can attend, and sending a regular (monthly, or less frequent) e-mail with links to your current exhibitions and projects is a clever way to keep curators up to date with your work.

Asking for advice, particularly from mid to large scale institutions can be a very productive way to start a dialogue with curators and help to shape your proposal into something that a gallery will consider. Requesting a studio visit is another way in which you might approach a gallery through their curatorial team; remember that studio visits are never an obligation on either side to show or be shown – they are open-ended dialogues about work and ideas, so take time to build networks and relationships. Once curators become familiar with your practice, they will suggest galleries they think might be a good fit for your work and will often recommend artists to other curators and galleries.

Once you have researched the space and understand the parameters in which a proposal can be made then you will go onto compile your proposal. Within your opening three sentences you should clearly and concisely tell the reader what kind of activity you are proposing, who will be involved, the duration of the project, and why your project is important.

Be as concise with your opening description as possible and go into more detail with the rest of your application. Opening with the background to your research, your biography or a theoretical proposition will frustrate the reader. Do not expect the reader to work through pages of information before finding out what you want to propose.

The length of your application should reflect the scale of your project; proposing an evening of performance might be a more short and snappy proposal, whilst a large international group exhibition will require much more justification for why you want to stage such a big exhibition and why you want to work with your chosen artists.

If you are proposing your own work, consider if the gallery is expecting a fully realised project that you deliver from start to finish or if this is going to be a collaborative or curatorial relationship. If it is the latter, more elements can be left open to allow for the organisation’s creative input.

You should also consider what the gallery will get from your proposed activity; does the exhibition draw upon the local context of the gallery? Does it build upon existing themes within the gallery’s programme? Will your project bring a new audience to the gallery? It is not essential that your project does all these things but making a case for why your project would help the gallery will increase your chances of success. Consider how and why this exhibition and relationship could be mutually beneficial. Remember that your proposal must include a clearly itemised budget to realise the exhibition or project.

Your proposal should be supported by the resumes of all the artists and curators involved, images of existing work and links to any relevant projects that you have worked on previously. Make sure that you edit CVs to reflect the activity that you are proposing and do not include work experience unless it relates to your project. Ensure that your images are the best quality possible. High definition is good, but having a well-lit, suitably cropped photograph is much more important and your images should be a suitable size to fit in an email or be small enough to download quickly.

Open calls for submissions will give you guidelines to follow on how to apply, what the gallery is looking for, what kind of support they will provide and a timescale for successful applications. Always follow the guidelines and do not send in more than the maximum written or visual material asked of you. Always consider that the person on the other end will be dealing with a volume of entries.

Museums full of treasures, are an excellent cultural resource for discovering your historical roots.

In cases where there is no set method for sending proposals, your application will be speculative, and you will need to research the best ways to contact the gallery. This includes considering what kind of support the gallery is likely to provide, the duration of the gallery’s exhibitions, how far in advance the gallery programme is and how receptive the gallery is to proposals.

If you are working on a peer-led project and you and your peers are happy to work together and pool resources, then many of these areas are a cost to your time rather than an actual spend e.g. you may end up sharing the responsibility of invigilating between yourselves.

If you are showing at a publicly funded gallery or another arts organisation, then you are entitled to be paid an artist fee. Fee scales will vary, according to the size of the organisation and scale of funding they are in receipt of, and whether you are taking part in a group or solo exhibition. You should make sure you are never pressured to surrender your fee to production or installation costs or other areas of spend.

-Created Using References and Quotes along with AI.

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