How to Get In A
Community Art Center
At some point a beginner artist begins making better art and starts thinking about how to get into a community art center or a gallery. For people who are not newbies but haven’t approached an art center yet, this post is for you.
It’s pretty terrifying when you make the decision to figure out how to get in a community art center. You think about it for a while and then maybe you even go into your local community art center, just to look around. Watch this video to find out why that’s a very good idea.
As someone early in your art career, getting your art seen should be on your horizon. Visibility is great for feedback and for sales. No one says you have to sell your art, but if you want to, people have to see it. A local art center is a great place to start.
Scam Alert
I wish I didn’t have to tell you about scams but they’re out there and I don’t want you to get taken in.
- A supposed client contacts you and loves your art and wants to buy some for his wife. His budget is somewhere below $5000 and he wants to pay by check. This is an absolute scam. I always tell people that try to pull this on me that they can purchase all the art they would like from my website and I give them the address. Their next ploy is to say they don’t want to use a credit card because his wife will see the charge and it will ruin the surprise. I reiterate that I only sell through my website and that’s usually the end of it. Don’t be taken in!
- There are people who might contact you about being in their gallery. If only it were that easy to get into a reputable gallery. They seldom if ever contact an artist, especially a new artist. They tell you how wonderful their gallery is and you can get in for a mere $3200 or somewhere around that amount. You are also responsible for the shipping costs of your art. Again, total scam!
Anytime anyone contacts you and wants to rush you or make you feel bullied into breaking your own policy for sales, back away from it. They will wave lots of money to get you to acquiesce and complete the sale, but you will never see the money or your art again. Seller beware.
Curated Art Gallery
These are galleries for more established artists and for decades they were the gatekeepers for the sale of art. However, with the advent of the internet, art sales can be completed through social media, community art centers and your own individual website. In all these venues, you will need to do your own promoting of your art. It’s a good idea to begin posting about your art when you feel comfortable doing so.
Galleries do all the work selling your art, but in addition to them wanting you to have a large following they also traditionally take 50% of the sale of your art. A gallery is a brick and mortar storefront where there are expenses such as rent, utilities, insurance, advertising, salaries, shipping expenses, etc. That 50% they take covers those expenses and they are expecting to make a profit. So I get why they charge it, but you will also have to adjust your price so you also make a profit.
I have found instagram is my most efficient way to get my art out into the universe and it has brought me more sales than all other venues. That doesn’t mean it’s the same for everyone, but many artists use instagram to promote their art because it is such a visual platform.
If you want to get your art into a community art center or an art gallery you will need to frame it. Framing can be extremely expensive and it is very easy to do. Click HERE to learn how to frame your own artwork.
I hope this has been helpful for you. Something that would be very helpful for you would be my Beginning Artist Bundle. It’s a FREE printable of 3 different plans and ebooks I created to help beginning artists move their art forward as quickly as possible.
Thanks so much for dropping in today. Let’s paint together soon.
Sharon