PLANNING EXHIBITIONS

The 3 'P's

- PLANNING        - PREPARING        - PROMOTION

HOW to PLAN for YOUR EXHIBITION

PLANNING

This is a very important and neccessary part of organising your Exhibition and needs to be thought about early on, as does deciding what your exhibition is about.
Think about a 'Theme' or not, and a 'Title'. How many items you will need to produ

ce.
How many will need framing, know how many, or how much, will fit comfortably into the exhibition room you have chosen, without being either too sparse or overfilled.

The last big exhibition I planned was a shared one with two other people, and we had a large gallery space to fill, it took me personally, 2 years to produce the work for it, especially as I wanted all new work. Also my painting time was somewhat limited by other daily activities which could not be avoided.  (I was lucky to have that much time)
You may have work already completed or you may have more available time to prepare and produce your work on a daily basis.
It all needs PLANNING.  That is a BIG and IMPORTANT word when it comes to your exhibition.
(I strongly suggest you get a note book and make lots of notes.)

PREPARING

What to Consider - are you going with a theme, or mixing things up a bit, using One Medium, or different Mediums ( e.g; Watercolour, Oil, Acrylic, Pencil, Textile etc etc)
Decide how many of each size you want, in fact decide if you want ONE size for all your work or different sizes. work out the sizes, and the quantity of each needed for the available space.
Try to plan ahead exactly what you are going to paint and then you can get stuck into it.
Perhaps you can work on more than one piece at a time.

COUNTING THE COST !!

Moulding choice can be daunting

Make sure you have enough materials, a list is always best. If you are like me at all, DON'T rely on your memory. It only takes one forgotten ting to really upset your day.

Remember that Framing is not cheap and also takes time, so allow plenty of time for this, and see if your framer will do you a deal for using multiples of the same Moulding and Mat or Mount Board colour. (for those new to framing these are the Frame and the area surrounding your artwork)

aa very few Mat's available

Can you Offset some of the cost??
Consider looking for Sponsorship. Some local councils offer grants, sometimes you can get local business to support you.  Allow for  storage, you don't want to risk damage after all that hard work. You may want to look into insurance also. This is entirely up to you and is not something that  I feel I am able to guide you with.  We are all individual and our needs and circumstances are bound to vary.

PROMOTION

What next?        You still need to advertise!
Number .1.
Don't forget to get information to the Gallery you are exhibiting in. A few photos of your work, and a brief run down on what your exhibition is about, along with it's title. All too often this is left until the last minute, which may make it difficult for any promotion that the gallery may be planning. Early promotion can result in higher foot traffic during your exhibition and that could in turn be rewarded with sales. 
Whether you pay for an advertisement in local papers, manage to get an interview and article in your local paper or other, it all needs careful consideration.
Send out Emails, or post (snail mail) to all your friends, family, acquaintances, proffessional people you know who may have an interest in art, ask your friends and family to spread the word, social media can be a big plus with this.
Can you put notices up anywhere? Place a notice in your local club, school or other that you may be associated with, or their newsletter.

Just one example

Then there are the Invitations -  Are you going to have an official opening or not?
If so you will need to produce an appropriate invitation. Again whether you make one up yourself, or have it proffessionally done is up to you, but bear in mind the cost.
If doing one yourself, you may want special paper or card, consider the colour and the texture, some will not print clearly, as I found with a gorgeous pearl card (it just looked insipid). If too bright you will have a similar problem trying to read the print. You may need specific sized envelopes and then there is the cost of- postage, printing and your time putting them all together.
Printing- do you do it yourself or get someone to do it for you.
Costs will vary and there are pros and cons for each. doing it yourself will be very time consuming so it may be cost effective for you to get it done by someone else. Also you will use considerable ink in your printer, so that now comes to the choice and cost of colour versus black and white.

part of one, of our bright exhibition rooms.
The walls are very high, allowing for double
hanging if desired.

Oh, dear, so so  many things to think about....

These are all things which you need to look into.
 Soooo my BEST recommendation is to get a booklet and start to make notes very early on.
Add to it as you think of things and possible categorize things so you can refer back easily to check them off or add more items.

Galleries DO Differ !!
Most Galleries will have specific information regarding their guide lines for Exhibiting on their premises (as do we) these will in all likelihood be different for each one, although there are bound to be a lot of similarities also. The key is to ask if they have an information pack available.

We at the Gawler Community Gallery pride ourselves on the friendliness of our volunteers, who are more than willing to help with ideas or information where needed.
Please refer to our other PAGES above for specific information regarding our 'Gallery Exhibition Calendar', Exhibiting Criteria, through - our 'Gallery Room Hire' page and 'Policy' pages.

You may wish to save our site in your 'Book Marks' if so select the RSS feed on the right hand side of the page ( this is the Subscribe to section) and set yourself up according to your specific computer so that you have us available at the touch of a button, so to speak.

If for any reason:

you feel I have left anything out or you are unclear regarding this information please feel free to make contact with me through the 'comments' section at the bottom of this page or via the 'Contact Us' page, and we will respond as soon as we are able.
Happy Exhibition Planning from
Admin Dianne.