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Opinions wanted on Artwalk
The time has come for me to revisit a dilemma from late last year...the opportunity to have my photographs displayed and sold in an art gallery.
The gallery is Artwalk Boone, located in downtown Boone, NC. The location is great! Boone is a tourist destination close to the Blue Ridge Parkway, home to Appalachian State University (c/o '96 by the way), and one of the biggest suppliers of broken legs in the state during ski season. In addition to the great location, Artwalk furnishes a sales staff to take care of the day to day operation and sales. I would only have to replace pictures as sales depleted the stock. Sounds wonderful, right? Not so fast.
You see, in exchange for all this service, I would have to rent the space monthly (for a minimum of a year) and pay a small commission on each sale. There is also a deposit on the space which is non-refundable. Along with costs of printing and framing the original supply, the startup cost begins to get a bit high. As I operate now, I print the picture when an order comes in. To break even, I would have to sell one photo a week on average for the year.
Photography started out a hobby for me, and hopefully will continue to be for as long as I can press the button. However, it would be nice to offset the costs of this hobby a little bit (equipment, supplies, and travel expenses...darn gas prices!). Artwalk seems to have the potential in helping ease that burden, but it could also be another sucking money pit.
I'm looking for objective opinions on this. The question is, should I keep things as they are, or should I make the leap and see what happens? Also, I know that there are some photographers that frequent this journal, so if you have any similar experiences, chime in with those as well.
Thanks,
Greg
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Sounds to me like this "gallery" is not in the business of selling art, but of renting space to artists. I would be very leery. The situation sounds much like the various vanity publishing outfits out there who are no so much in the business of selling books, but selling self-publishing services to would-be writers.
If a gallery thinks your work merits showing, and will sell, they will put it in their space for free, on a consignment basis. The commission they take on the sale will probably be higher, but your out of pocket expenses up front will only be printing and framing costs. In fact, some galleries may even frame the prints for you, and take that money out of the selling price before calculating the commission. Although, that may only happen after your work has consistently demonstrated saleability.
Bottom line: try to ignore the good feelings you get from their interest, it is a calculated tactic on their part, and look at arrangement from a coldly rational business angle. Do you think one sale a week or more is likely? Ask them if you can contact any other of the artists displaying work there to learn about their experiences with the gallery.
This is all JMHO of course. Remember that free advice is often worth no more than you paid for it.
:D
-Paul
http://journals.aol.ca/plittle/AuroraWalkingVacation/
3/20/06 12:49 PM
This is kind of what I was thinking about it, and why I did not take the plunge last year. It struck me as odd that they would pretty much accept anyone who rented the space. Whether the art sells or not is not that important to them, they are guaranteed that monthly check.
I thank you for your opinions on this.