Exhibit advice needed

[IanG]

Some local government run galleries pay to show work in the UK, it's quite normal and I think I was paid around £100 ("160) a week a few years ago.

Also after a group show part of a Photography Festival the Regional arts council asked if they could hang the exhibition at their headquarters, they paid us for that.

It maybe that the Botanical Gardens make a contribution towards framing costs etc because mounting and framing is the main expense and 25 frames will be tied up for a year.

If costs aren't covered it's now a heavy additional cost to show work, I have a big exhibition next year and 60 frames would be crippling on top of printing costs.

Ian

[jp]

To me, "government run galleries" sounds pretty unusual. We have public universities/libraries with galleries, but no other government run galleries that come to mind, and I don't think I've heard of them actually paying money for that. The concept of US government run galleries concept would be highly suspect with the current economic climate and political interest in limiting the scope of government. It also brings to mind the Nazi "Degenerate Art" exhibits. But if the UK pays artists to hang art, then by all means take advantage of it!

Back to the OP. I would not expect any money. You should expect to work with them and have them put some promotion to their membership and the community, you are adding to the reason people should visit the place. Likewise when you promote your exhibit you'd explain your interest in helping the facility so as to build some common ground with potential customers. You could also expect to have some contact information displayed with your photos so people know the images are for sale and are available. Many of their board and financial supporters are probably people who you want for customers. You could also talk to previous exhibitors to see how things are handled.

[Joe Lipka]

I have had many exhibits in municipal galleries. About the best you can hope for is having the city print and distribute postcards announcing a show and have them foot the bill for a reception.

I would think details such as these would be worked out ahead of time during the "call for work" phase, or through an exhibition agreement.

Have they agreed to pay for insurance for the duration of the show as a guard against theft or loss?

[IanG]

Municipalities all over the world have public libraries, art galleries, museums and arts centres, even Botanical Gardens.

A friend had work on show at Birmingham Botanical Gardens back in the 90's and he was funded to show his work there.

The principle that artists should be paid to show work is quite important, there's usually funds available from both the public & private sectors, after all a gallery has to pay to have background muzak.

Galleries regular hire in touring shows and the same principle of payment is applying there. I can't see that US artist are any different to other countries in needing money to live off and enable them to create new art. On the other hand often galleries will try to avaoid paying anything if they can

Ian

[Richard Wasserman]

Thank you, this has all been very interesting. As I have no experience showing in venues like this, I am charting unknown waters. The garden I am talking to is not a municipal one, but was started by a private person almost 100 years ago, and has grown from there. It is now a non profit organization that is supported by its members, and corporate funding. My exhibit would be the first one that they have done from an outside source–in the past all shows used material from their own collections. I of course need to have a conversation with them to see what their expectations are. I certainly hope to at a minimum to get my costs covered. We'll see...

[William McEwen]

The photographer Peter Feresten (all formats up to 5x7) once declared he was no longer interested in exhibiting his work. "I'm tired of providing free entertainment for strangers," he said.

[Kirk Gittings]

Maybe that's why I never heard of him!

[Laura_Campbell]

I would think most established reputable non profits with membership, and corporate funding, would be open to the idea of helping you with your costs. You may need to educate them on the cost of preparing photographs for exhibition. I'm all for doing charitable work, but I believe artists should proceed carefully when offering work at no cost to any organization. I've met many a non profit that had budgets for special events but were unwilling to pay simply because they felt that their non profit status entitled them to "freebies." Most artists, unless you have some other source of income, cannot afford to become philanthropists in the financial sense. Just my 2 cents. :-)

[Richard Mahoney]

I would think most established reputable non profits with membership, and corporate funding, would be open to the idea of helping you with your costs. You may need to educate them on the cost of preparing photographs for exhibition. ... Most artists, unless you have some other source of income, cannot afford to become philanthropists in the financial sense. Just my 2 cents. :-)

I'd agree with Laura. We've set up and now look after a charity rehoming retired racing greyhounds. As we receive donations and have certain tax concessions and so on everything has to be run in a strict business like fashion so that we can easily satisfy our statutory obligations. Even if someone -- say an artist -- was to generously donate us their work `for nothing' then it would be most helpful for us to know exactly how much their donation was actually `worth' and what, if anything, was expected in return.

An early and open discussion about each other's expectations, including a consideration of the real costs associated with, say, an exhibition, would be essential. Having a chat early on would help to ensure that we share common ground and that no party is disadvantaged. It would also help our accountant. When it comes to doing the books it is best to be able to accurately quantify all the costs associated with `doing business', regardless of whether the money actually comes from the charities accounts, out of our own pockets, or from our donors. In many ways, I don't see Richard's relationship with The Gardens as being so very different in kind as that between any artist and a commercial gallery.


Best,

Richard

[Darin Boville]

Now hold on here a minute people. Why are photographers so eager to give their work away?

What if I told you that at 1700 acres this is not your average local, labor of love garden? This thing is HUGE.

What if I told you they charged an $11 admission fee?

What if I told you that the number of visitors a year is heading toward 1,000,000?

That their expenses in 2009 were over $26 million?

That their endowment grew by $41 million in 2009 (not total, this is the increase)?

We need to re-think how photographers support themselves. This garden is willing to pay for an exhibit. They pay for other exhibits--or do we assume that the traveling shows that we see in museums do it "for exposure"?

If you aren't going to charge this garden for the 25 photos you are giving them for a *year* who will you charge? Galleries rent art all the time. You can rent art, too.

--Darin