Juried Shows

rcleary171

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I was thinking about entering a juried show recently. The submission instructions were simple; all I had to do was import a few pictures of my art and pay a fee. The fee confused me because there was a good chance that my submissions would be rejected. In fact this was a high probability.

A friend of mine who is in the industry told me that the organizers would keep the fee even though my art was rejected. I was annoyed to learn this. I rationalized that at least I would get some feedback as to why my art was rejected. My friend told me that doesn’t happen.

So my question: is this the normal submission process for juried shows?
 
Maybe a few but speaking for myself, I would not enter unless I thought I would get accepted and I would think most people are like mined. After all, no one wants to throw their money away. And so they make money off the ones who thought wrongly.
 
Unfortunately, this is the norm. It is a risk. For some, depending on who the juror(s) are, it is still a chance to get your work in front of them. This has been a common reason among artists who submit regardless of their chances. If you do get accepted into a show, it helps to build your resume of exhibitions, so artists continue to try over and over. Yes, they might be throwing their money away, but you may have to pick and choose.

Say the juror is the director of a museum or a gallery director that is relevant to the kind of work you make. That is a reason to get your work on their radar for instance.
 
Unfortunately, this is the norm. It is a risk. For some, depending on who the juror(s) are, it is still a chance to get your work in front of them. This has been a common reason among artists who submit regardless of their chances. If you do get accepted into a show, it helps to build your resume of exhibitions, so artists continue to try over and over. Yes, they might be throwing their money away, but you may have to pick and choose.

Say the juror is the director of a museum or a gallery director that is relevant to the kind of work you make. That is a reason to get your work on their radar for instance.
Ayin, I'm half with you and half not. I realize for $35 if it can launch or energize an art career it's a damn cheap investment. But like the $2 lottery ticket, the cheapest fun movie in town, what are my real chances? There's the rub for me.

Agreed, if you can't see your work in the work (or prior choices) of the judge, you're not going to be in the show.

Seems that about $35 is the average fee. I've heard the justification that it costs to employ a good judge plus put on the show. OK, so you figure that judge is looking for about 1 minute or less at your JPG and the "show" is largely going to hang online, what's the value proposition for anyone other than the show cashbox and the judge? That's where I hold the line for myself, because though I;m a novice at these juried shows I have seen already that my fee and my JPG goes into a black hole - no feedback other than the receipt for the cash!

If you can even up those odds a bit, then why not, of course? I do know a bona fide local museum that has annually hosted a $25 critique with a curator. That seems to me to be of very good value if the museum/curator has any interest in your genre and style. Contrast that with the fee-based black hole shows. YMMV
 
It is costly and is unfortunately the norm. Entry fees have skyrocketed along with shipping and handling fees. If you do get accepted and participate there’s no expectation of sales. I’ve cut down entering most Society shows, just pay dues so as to keep signatures.
 
Kay, that is useful info from you. I'm really just exploring whether my stuff can be chosen for shows and potentially sold. For now I'm OK with just showing, as I don't have to depend on sales. But in future, might want to get something for my work. I'm figuring real value of shows is primarily exposure, resume building (if that really matters), and if anything does sell it helps establish a price point.

Have been looking at the various societies and wondering the same thing about ROI. I don't need them for company (already manage a plein air group with broad contacts and activity). I can see their work for inspiration online without membership. Just wondering would membership (and these aren't cheap!) do anything of value in my case, and if so, which of the many. Any thoughts on that?
 
Yeah just found out, it's the norm. I paid ninety bucks to have three pieces looked at by the judges. I was somewhat surprised they picked one but it just happened to fit what the judges were looking for. It was described in the prospectus but I just happened to stumble onto the right look I think.

And if you do it don't block the email address of the callback website. Not that I would do that or anything. :)

For me it was an easy decision. It's a local gallery that does good work/workshops etc so even if not accepted, at least I tried and the money goes to a good place. Presumably. And for me personally it was a necessary next step. I reached that critical mass of finished paintings lying around. I have enough paintings now. I would like to get some out. :)
 
I have been entering portrait prizes for quite a few years now (Australia) It is a way to get my work seen by the judges it can give good publicity and it looks good on your artist CV.
It is important to choose the right competition- I choose realistic portrait prizes. I have had various success. I have been chosen as a semi-finalist in the national prize with the biggest prize money, had portraits hung in another national competition twice- and not selected at all in a local competition. It is a lottery for sure. I think it is worth the fees (mostly).
 
Ayin, I'm half with you and half not. I realize for $35 if it can launch or energize an art career it's a damn cheap investment. But like the $2 lottery ticket, the cheapest fun movie in town, what are my real chances? There's the rub for me.

Agreed, if you can't see your work in the work (or prior choices) of the judge, you're not going to be in the show.

Seems that about $35 is the average fee. I've heard the justification that it costs to employ a good judge plus put on the show. OK, so you figure that judge is looking for about 1 minute or less at your JPG and the "show" is largely going to hang online, what's the value proposition for anyone other than the show cashbox and the judge? That's where I hold the line for myself, because though I;m a novice at these juried shows I have seen already that my fee and my JPG goes into a black hole - no feedback other than the receipt for the cash!

If you can even up those odds a bit, then why not, of course? I do know a bona fide local museum that has annually hosted a $25 critique with a curator. That seems to me to be of very good value if the museum/curator has any interest in your genre and style. Contrast that with the fee-based black hole shows. YMMV
I wasn't saying this was my opinion, so you don't have to agree with me or not. I was saying that this was how many artists justify the cost. Juried shows might not be for everyone.

My opinion however, is that I (personally) wouldn't chose online-only exhibits for this kind of cost, unless it had some special element/importance, though something online might have some sort of permanence at times. It all depends. I think you have to pick and choose your battles as they say.

Yes, there are a lot of museum juried shows as well. It all depends on each show and what your goals are. :)

I do think it's a good way to start out if you and if you know you might have a good shot of getting into the show. Trying and taking a risk is sometimes important. If one keeps looking at it like the lottery, one might not ever know.

There's only a couple of juried type shows I still do once or twice a year and they are for magazine publications. I haven't got in yet, but I still try for them because it's a blind panel and you never know! (Maybe one day.) The juror changes every time. The chance is always slim to none, but I try it anyway and those fees are twice the cost we are talking here. I tried to get a Pollock-Krasner for seven years and finally got one eventually. I didn't give up.

Also, what is ROI? And YMMV is another acronym I can't remember. Please don't make me go back to reminding people of this rule, please. I'd appreciate it.
 
I was thinking about entering a juried show recently. The submission instructions were simple; all I had to do was import a few pictures of my art and pay a fee. The fee confused me because there was a good chance that my submissions would be rejected. In fact this was a high probability.

A friend of mine who is in the industry told me that the organizers would keep the fee even though my art was rejected. I was annoyed to learn this. I rationalized that at least I would get some feedback as to why my art was rejected. My friend told me that doesn’t happen.

So my question: is this the normal submission process for juried shows?
Yes, that is true. However, you must balance that fee for entering your art against the possibility of selling a piece of it, OR perhaps receiving a cash award (if they offer cash awards at that show). For example, the last show I entered required, $25 entry fee apiece for my paintings. I entered two, which was the maximum number allowed. I sold one for something like $800, or $900, minus the 25% commission that the show takes on sales. Even with the $50 entry fee, and the 25% commission, that made it profitable.
Yes, ......that which you are experiencing is quite common. My advice? If you believe that your work is likely to sell, pay the entry fee, and hope for the best. Also, rejection is quite common, and yes, your entry fee is basically "lost", when that occurs.
 
Yes, that is true. However, you must balance that fee for entering your art against the possibility of selling a piece of it, OR perhaps receiving a cash award (if they offer cash awards at that show). For example, the last show I entered required, $25 entry fee apiece for my paintings. I entered two, which was the maximum number allowed. I sold one for something like $800, or $900, minus the 25% commission that the show takes on sales. Even with the $50 entry fee, and the 25% commission, that made it profitable.
Yes, ......that which you are experiencing is quite common. My advice? If you believe that your work is likely to sell, pay the entry fee, and hope for the best. Also, rejection is quite common, and yes, your entry fee is basically "lost", when that occurs.
As with many other jobs the dilemma is the same: how do I get the recognition to get chosen when they demand (or expect) significant experience and I'm just starting out. I hear that refrain when starting a career and lived through it myself to some degree. The first rungs on the ladder can be the hardest. The art ladder is an easy one to fall off!

So it's a matter of assessing your Return On Investment (ROI) probability.

Since you seem to have enough experience already to know you can get in shows AND you can sell pieces at a good price, your probabilities are very good - certainly good enough to spend a little to make a lot more and play the odds. That's a very nice position to be in. For those of us who do not have that kind of experience, the odds look pretty poor.

Some have said, and I can sort of agree, that for a modest fee if you at least got some useful feedback from the judges it could be worth a few tries. Sadly, that does not seem to be the common experience unless you are "established".

But as in most things, Your Mileage May Vary....
 
On another thread (perhaps the one dealing with joining art societies), I also recommended hanging your art in specific business locations.

Such establishments as Doctor offices, coffee shops, restaurants, hotel lobbies, barber shops, beauty salons, pet stores, are quite wonderful places tp hang your art, and to sell it, generally. The owner will likely ask for some reasonable percentage of the price, but there is certainly no entry fee. One does NOT need to be "established" in order to do that, and I have found it a very rational way to sell my art, when I was a bit younger. The browsing public in these cases are likely to ask you to do something fpr them on a commission basis, also, and since that is a private bargain between you and the prospective buyer, you won't need to pay ANY commission, even if the opportunity for such a commission truly originated in the coffee shop in which you hung your art.

THIS is the way to get your work in front of the browsing, and buying public, and to "become established". I've sold some work out of one, or two small galleries, and it worked well for me, but galleries can be mighty discouraging, if you pick an inappropriate one for your work. However, galleries can sometimes offer some very helpful advice, regarding things you should do, and things you should not do. If their advice makes sense, I take it seriously. For example, the advice of not inscribing the date on the painting was the best advice that a gallery ever gave me. The reason? "When someone sees and old date on a painting, they get the impression that there must be something wrong with it, since it hung around for so long, without being sold." Once I followed this advice, I've sold paintings that were 4 and 5 years old, with no problems.

There is no particular "protocol" in meeting with a restaurant owner for hanging your art in his establishment, such as there is with galleries. No appointment is necessary; I merely carried several paintings in my car, and asked if they'd care to see it. When you do that, I would estimate that 90% of them would say yes, and once they see your art, and like it. you get to hang your work in their establishment. It's that simple.

Price your work accordingly fot the type of establishment in which you hang your art, though. Nobody is gonna' purchase an $800 painting off the wall in a small coffee shop, although I believe I did sell one for something like $150, or $200.
 
I also started off (when I was much younger) placing my work in coffee shops, businesses (furniture stores and beauty shops), and restaurants. Back then, I either brought in slides and/or kept a few paintings in the back of my car and came in unannounced. Sometimes, I'd have to come back when the owner was there and try another time, finding out when they'd be there or when they had the time to talk to me. Then they'd usually give me a month's time to hang the work there. They usually took a zero commission or a small one.

Later, that gave me a skeleton or a small resume to work with until I could get a few small galleries under my belt.

Once, when hanging in a small coffee house, a couple came in and purchased the whole wall of my work. The guy worked at a major artist's agency (CAA) and let me hang additional work at the offices. I didn't sell any there, but it was a nice opportunity, and getting his name on my collector's list was nice because he was a big collector of Picassos and other big artists. I didn't sell the work for a ton of money back then. I think the biggest of the sales was $800, but that was in the 1990s.

Over time, my prices increased slowly as my sales increased and the galleries got nicer.

I also did juried shows along the way. I probably got into a very small percentage of those shows, but picked the ones that had the most important jurors, like ones that ran museums or nice galleries, just to make sure my work got familiar to their eyes over time.

Eventually, I got into an arts association on my second try. There were yearly dues, but it was the greatest thing I ever did for my career at that time. I met other artists, went to workshops, joined two program committees, a couple of critique groups, went to numerous openings, networked, and got very familiar with the local art scene. I learned about who was who. I learned how to do gallery submissions, speak to/approach art directors, and sell myself a bit. I applied to get into solo shows at the arts association's space and invite the press. All of this was very important!

I then did a few shows at nonprofit spaces and municipal galleries and invited commercial galleries to those shows and this got me into the first commercial gallery, or I started getting "courted" by them for about five months before they finally started representing me.

All this took several years. This is not an "overnight" path. Between the coffee house scenario I spoke of and my first solo show at the commercial gallery, I'm speaking of ten years.
 
Artyczar, That sounds like good advice. And, with a progression similar to mine. The newcomers need to get their art in front of the browsing, and buying public, and there are many more places than that which galleries offer for accomplishing such a goal
 
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