I want to thank everyone for the feedback I’ve had on this ‘advice for artists’ blog series so far; I’m really happy that so many people have been finding it useful! In this blog post I’m sharing my thoughts on how to work with galleries (and/or retailers, gift shops, etc – simply referred to as ‘galleries’ in this blog post). The main reasons to have your work for sale in a gallery is that it’s a great way to get your work seen by a wider audience (and be seen in-person), as well as opening opportunities to you, like solo or group exhibitions. This is particularly important if you feel that your own sales skills are not strong, or if you just don’t have the time to focus on sales. There can also be the added benefit of the positive brand association with the gallery and the other artists who are also represented there. I know it can be daunting approaching galleries (especially if you’re shy like I used to be), so I wanted to share how I’ve approached this, to hopefully make it as easy as possible for you!

Start local!

Firstly, I recommend starting off by looking locally. It’s a good idea to research and visit all of the potential galleries you’re interested in first, to see them and get a feel for what they’re like. These are types of things that I look for and consider:

What price point is most of their art, and does it roughly align with mine? (or where I would like mine to be in the short to mid-term).
Who are the other artists they stock, and do they represent anyone with a similar style to mine (i.e. will you be in competition with someone similar)?
Is it a gallery/stockist you’d be proud to have your work in?
What is the location? Do they get a lot of foot-traffic?
Are their artworks well presented, in good condition, and appear to be well taken care of? (Important: Avoid galleries if they look like they don’t take good care of their artists’ work. Your art is likely to be on consignment, so if it gets damaged, you carry the loss, as well as the cost of sending out replacement artworks).
How ‘full’ is the gallery? Will my artwork stand out and have enough space, or be lost amongst a sea of artworks?
What kind of social media presence do they have? This is not essential, but is an added bonus. Some galleries use more traditional marketing methods, such as high foot-traffic, emails, or relying on an established customer base.
Do they have a website, and if so, is it good, and do they also sell though it? This can be an important factor if you don’t have your own website set up yet.
What is their customer service like? (e.g. I have walked into some galleries where the staff haven’t said hello, which is not very friendly or inviting).

After visiting the galleries to check them out, the next step is to make a short list of the ones you like, and then contact them. I find the best way to do this is with a nice and simple email:

Introduce yourself and say a few things about your art (e.g. your medium, inspiration, if it’s prints or originals you’re selling). If you’re local to them, mention that too.
It can also be nice to include why you feel your art would a good fit for their gallery, and/or say something nice about their gallery.
Share a few photos (or scans) of your art.
- Make sure they’re good quality images that are taken in good lighting and show the detail well.
- Size your files to between 500KB to 1MB each.
- Name the files appropriately with your name, the artwork name and possibly size, etc. (eg. HannahShand_Fantails_A3_PenDrawing)
Link your social media accounts (and website if you have one).
Ask if they’d consider stocking your art, and if so, can you please make an appointment to meet them in person.
Include your contact number.

Although it is possible to just talk directly with a gallery when first visiting it, I’ve found it’s a far better approach to email and book an appointment first, than trying to do it in on the fly in their gallery, when they are likely to be busy and have customers to prioritise. People also don’t like to be put on the spot, and often the person staffing a gallery may not be the person who owns it. Emailing them first also gives them time to look up your work and assess if they feel you may be right for their gallery. I also found that this method makes it easier and more relaxing when you meet with them, as the hard part of introducing yourself has already been done! If the gallery agrees to meet with you, this generally means that they are interested in your art, and therefore are likely mainly wanting to see you and your work in-person. This is important to remember that they’re not just looking at your art - they will be wanting to find out if you are likely to be easy and pleasant to work with.

Out of town galleries

The exception to the above advice is for out-of-town galleries. When I was looking for galleries further afield around NZ, I went on a few big road trips and met with many galleries. In this case when it wasn’t possible to visit in advance of contacting them, I would do my research online first, and email them before the trip. I then went to the different appointments, and then of the galleries who wanted to work with me, I decided which I felt were the best fit. Please keep in mind that you usually only want to have your artwork in one gallery/stockist in each town or city (maybe 2 if it’s a major city). Most galleries will normally require this exclusivity to work with them, so it’s important to choose wisely.

It’s a two-way street

As part of this process, it’s important to remember that just like how you’re trying to find the ideal galleries to work with, they are also looking for their ‘ideal’ artists to represent. This will mean that it’s normal to be rejected by a fair portion of galleries, and so don’t take this personally. Some galleries will give you a reason, but if not, it can be really beneficial to ask for feedback so you can find out their reasoning (and improve something on your end if it’s possible). Some you may never even hear back from, so don’t worry too much about those ones either. Often galleries will say no even if they like your work, such as if they have too many artists already, or they have another artist who has a similar style. In these situations, you can ask if it would be okay to check back with them in a year’s time. Working with galleries is an ongoing process, so it can take some time to find the perfect matches.

Meeting with the gallery

Once you’ve got your appointments booked, be prepared to make a great first impression! As well as presenting yourself well (treat this sort of like a job interview – be on time, look smart, smile, eye contact, firm handshake, etc), it can be really useful to take an information sheet along with you to refer to and then leave with the gallery owner. This info sheet can include your artist bio, pricing (including wholesale if you offer it), contact details and maybe a list and/or example photos of your art. In regards to pricing, remember that galleries usually take 40-45% commission, so this needs to be built into your retail price; also your retail pricing needs to be the same across all the galleries you work with, along with what you sell it for on your own website. I’ve had really great feedback from creating these info sheets, and have been told that it would be great if all artists did this! Along with the info sheet, also take examples of your work in a range of different sizes that you offer, to showcase your work and see what they might like to stock. It’s best to take your artworks in the format they will be presented for sale (i.e. prints in clear plastic slips with backing card, and ideally a printed artwork information sheet on the back; you could also take something framed or canvas etc if it’s appropriate).

More preparation tips

Depending on your confidence ‘selling yourself’, it may be worthwhile practicing introducing yourself and talking about your artwork (with a friend or even just by yourself), so that you can ease your initial nerves when you start meeting gallery owners. It’s a good idea to have well thought out answers for questions such as - what your process is, what inspires you, how much art you can supply them (and timeframes), and whether you do commissions or not. If you ever struggle with a question from a gallery owner, note it down afterwards, and practice an answer before meeting with the next one. Remember: Just like any other skill, these meetings may not be perfect on the first go, but you’ll get better the more you do it.

Building the relationship

Once you’re working with a gallery, along with having your work on display there, you could also offer to email them some photos and content that they can share on their social media pages. Gallery owners are often really busy, so being proactive and sending them nice photos of your work, and suggesting a caption (and hashtags) is a great way to help them share your work. You should also visit from time to time to get to know them more, and find out what sort of customer feedback they’re receiving on your art. You can also get some photos while you’re there, to share on your social media. It’s also good to check on your art to see how it’s looking, and replace any damaged artworks (this can unfortunately happen with prints, which are handled a lot – so is a cost you need to anticipate and budget for).

Record keeping

As most galleries work on consignment, it’s critical to keep accurate and up-to-date documentation of what you’ve supplied them (including recording what’s sold and therefore what artworks they have remaining on stock). I do this online with a Google ‘Sheets’ file -which is like an Excel spreadsheet - which I can also access on my phone through Google Drive. To give you an idea of what you might like to include, this is what I personally record:

Dates the stock were requested/ordered.
Dates deliveries were sent.
Artwork names, sizes, RRPs, Artist-payments (ie. RRP less the gallery commission – so I know exactly how much I should be paid) and the limited-edition print numbers.
Invoice numbers and dates I emailed the invoices (to easily refer back to).
The dates I received payments for sold artworks.
I also have a column for any additional notes.
On a separate tab/worksheet, you should also record your gallery names, contact names, phone numbers and addresses, their consignment %’s, and any other notes to remember or refer to later.

Documenting your stock in galleries from the start is very useful, as the more galleries you get on board, the more confusing it can be if you haven’t set up the right systems. Galleries are often very busy and have a lot of stock, so you need to have your own records, so that you can ensure that all payments are received for any artworks sold. It is an unfortunate reality that mistakes do occur and therefore payments can be missed, late, or incorrect – so always double check each payment received, and also do stocktakes once or twice a year too. Along with recording the consignment artworks in a spreadsheet, it’s also advisable to create consignment invoices for each order, which you email to the gallery (along with printing a paper copy and putting that in the package too). Include details such as the artwork names, edition numbers, retail prices, the date, your name/address/banking information, gst number if you have one, etc). Also make sure they let you know if anything arrives missing or damaged.

Managing your consignment stock levels

As with many things, setting up with galleries can be a lot of work and upfront cost, so this needs to be approached sensibly and strategically - as you should do with all investments in your art business. It’s important to remember that there can be a great delay between when you supply a gallery with art, and when that art is sold (and then paid usually the following month), so as mentioned in previous blog posts, this should ideally be considered as just one of multiple sales channels. Due to this investment, it’s also worth considering how many artworks (or prints) you supply each gallery with at any given time (i.e. don’t supply too many [or too little either]). For example, I usually start a gallery off with around 12 prints, over a range of artworks and sizes, and then I will usually re-stock them once they’ve sold at least four artworks. The reason for this is that there’s a lot of admin time, packaging and shipping costs to restock galleries, so this time and cost needs to be split over multiple prints, to make it worthwhile. Note: these numbers may be quite different if you’re selling originals, so it’s worth considering what quantities make the most sense for you.

Summary

Getting your work into galleries can be daunting at first, but I hope this advice has provided a framework for you to confidently move forward, and hopefully have success! If you have any feedback or questions (or even your own tips to add), please comment them below, so that everyone else can also see the responses. I’d also love to hear if this advice has worked for you.

Next up

In my next blog, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the various ways to market your art.