Sponsors for your exhibition ?

[Daniel Grenier]

Good morning.

I have a solo show coming up and it will be rather expensive to produce given that I am responsible for all costs (about 50 matted/framed silver prints). I don't need to tell you guys how expensive this can become. To help out financially, I am thinking of getting sponsors who might be willing to spend some money for having their name mentioned at the show.

Have any of you tried this approach? If so, would you share the experience?

Thanks.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

I am in the same boat Daniel. I have two shows next year and have to find a way to pay for the mats and frames. Let me know if your idea works.... :-)

[John Kasaian]

Maybe you could hit up a winery or cheese makers if you're going to have wine and cheese at your opening----I don't know if they'd spring the loot for your frames though.

[John Flavell]

Now might be a good time to take a grant writer to lunch. There are many, many local arts organizations that can help you with this. They'll apply for state and federal grants for you, then host the show. Public galleries are good at this. When you see something like "sponsored through a grant by the National Endowement for the Arts", that means a local organization has applied for it to help offset the costs of an individual's show. Takes a while, but it's worth it.

They also have local connections with local bankers and such.

[Janko Belaj]

I have organized several exhibitions where I have found some good and some even better sponsors. I had a luck that two mine exhibitions were part of larger projects so main sponsor was already there Few big firms give funds for catalogs, writers as well for my shots. However, I had to find someone to sponsor prints and finishing. On the other few exhibitions I'w organized for my club, main problem was finding funds for matting and framing. Had successes every time. I'm in medium sized city (for European standards) in small country with just a few firms that are working in this business, however, each one were ready to either sponsor with their work, either with work and material too. Well, my suggestion is, if you can organize your show that way, to find firm which will, at least forgive you cost of their work. That can be 50% of the final price...

[Ralph Barker]

It's too late to talk to your grandparents about making sure you had a rich uncle, but if you are a good enough salesman to convince one or more local merchants to sponsor the show, you'll probably do well with prints sales, too. ;-)

I've always been of the opinion that it takes a special person and/or a lot of work to raise "sponsor" money. It may be more effective to take a temporary job at McDonalds.

[Kirk Gittings]

In a sense I agree with Ralph, I have a had a ton of grants over the years from many sources including the Getty, NEA, Calumet, Kodak, Polaroid etc. Here is the problem. It takes a ton of time to pursue these sources. What is your time worth? I got 25K from the NEA and ultimately figured out after taxes, admin. costs (501C3) etc. I was getting about $10.00 an hour for my time. I would have been better off doing more commercial work with my time where I can make ten times that much and for this last show that is exactly what I did. Now if someone wants to do the fundraising like the museum that is hanging the show- great!- but otherwise............

[QT Luong]

Does it matter that the NEA looks better on your resume than other alternatives, including "I raised the money by selling prints on the web for a period of six months" ?

[paulr]

i've seen people approach this in a lot of ways. one is to go to the material makers and sellers ... frame shops, photo material manufacturers, etc..

another is to find organizations that have some relationship to your subject matter. if it's landscape work in the southwest, try a regional tourism organization or environmental or conservation group. if it's documentary or journalistic work, look for an organization that's involved in the subject, the region, or the people involved. Think outside the art box when you look for subject matter related sponsors.

another approach is to look for corporate sponsors that you know have an interest in the arts. when you go to exhibits at museums or other cultural organizations, get in the habit of looking at the little sponsor logos at the bottom of the ads and posters. write down the companies and do some research! you might find out that your own bank has a world class photography collection, or that your insurance company has sponsored half the big photo shows that have travelled to your town. at any rate, the information is out there ... there are companies that invest a lot in art sponsorship, and they're actually trying to tell you who they are. knock on their doors.

[paulr]

oh, and if you get a chance, go to any of the big photo expos, like the photoplus expo in new york (kind of like the auto show, but cameras and gizmos).

everyone who makes anything photo related is there, and you can talk face to face with reps from the companies who make your materials and toys. i went to a paper manufacturer and asked if they ever give materials grants to artists. he said, "yep." I asked if the info was on the web. he said, "nope." i asked who at the company i should talk to about it. he said, "me." needless to say, i got his card--what's better than an artist's grand that no one else knows about? these opportunities are all out there waiting for you.

[Michael Gordon]

Chase Manhattan, Citibank, American Express, and more, would all probably love to 'sponsor' your exhibition ;)

[Kirk Gittings]

"Does it matter that the NEA looks better on your resume than other alternatives"

QT

It does indeed, but after having a few of those in your resume you start to ask yourself if that is the best use of your time.

[matthew blais]

A few years back I was at a gallery in La Jolla,CA and one photog had a pre-sponsor type deal. His trips to foreign soils were financed by pre-selling prints. He would take 10-12 "sponsors", garnishing $2500-3000 at his $250 a pop.

The same thing might be adaptable by pre-selling a number of prints at a reduced cost vs. gallery price.
Just a thought.