How do I grow my event organising skills?
Planning a first solo exhibition – part 2
This year I am going to have my first solo exhibition. It is going to take place 10-12th April 2024. I’m really looking forward to it and I would love for people in my area to visit the show.
The main things an art show of paintings needs is some paintings, a venue and an audience. This month I am going to talk about the behind the scenes non-painting aspects of getting ready for the show. Last month I talked about finishing the paintings in preparation for the exhibition. I’m still working away on that and am on track.
Venue
My show will take place at the SaltSpace Cooperative Gallery on 12-14th April. I am a member and have hired the space there for a week. I will be responsible for installing the work, invigilating the exhibition and de-installing the work. I have asked some friends to help with visitors on the days of the show and am responsible for insuring aspects of the show as well.
Now, I am investigating how to get the pieces from my studio to the gallery. I have ~25 paintings and many of them are too big to fit in my own vehicle so I will need to either hire a van, or hire and van + person to carry the items for me. Its important for the paintings to get there without being damaged so I’m taking my time to look into the options. How do I package the paintings so they don’t get damaged in transit, especially if someone who cares about them less than me is carrying them up and down stairs?
When the painting have been delivered to the gallery I will need to hang them. After the show I need to return the walls to their original state – smooth and painted white. To tackle this I have investigated hanging. I have considered what items require to be framed and which can just have the sides painted – I paint them white usually. I have decided on what type of hanging system I want to use, and what the backup is if the walls are not suitable for that. I know how to repair the holes left when I de-install. I have a wall plan so I know which paintings will go in what spot. I know what height I want to hang them. I have made a system so that on the install days it will be easy to hang the paintings the way I planned, and when I de-install I know what order to pack up the paintings to take away. As this is my first time hanging a show, I will have to wait to see how well the system works!
Audience
How am I going to get people to visit my show?
Since I found out I have the venue organised, I am telling nearly everyone I know and see in person about the show and what it means to me. Lots of people are interested and have said they would like to come along. I am having an opening celebration and hopefully many of my friends will come to that.
I am making more of an effort than usual to talk about the preparations for the show on social media and on my website as well. I am planning to make some paper flyers too, and I’ll distribute them in places around Glasgow where I think I might find people who might be interested in coming along. There are some other options like promoted posts on social media that I can look into as well. I haven’t done that yet though.
For me I find it helpful to re-frame the salesy aspect of promoting the show into me talking about why I want to show a group of paintings together like this. It is something I have always wanted to do because I tend to study something for a period of time and make series of work on a theme, and I find the works work together more than as single items. So, I have been doing some writing about my “why” in order to help with telling people about what I’m doing.
Questions and investigations like those above are what I’m working my way through right now. To find out more about how I’m getting on come back here for part 3 next month!
Finally, a reminder that for 2024: I am going to email my newsletter mailing list when these blogs are posted so you can read in your inbox if you have signed up. You can do that here https://www.helenfeilden.com/newsletter-sign-up . I also message subscribers exclusively about paintings for sale, special offers and exhibitions, currently about 3-6 times a year.
Have you got plans to show your work? I’d love to hear about it.