
Having run a gallery and an arts organization, I’ve personally received thousands of art submissions from artists looking to garner support, advocacy, or representation for their work. Having read those submissions, there are pitfalls that repeat themselves, so much so that I thought it worth addressing. There are many ideas as to how to gain traction as an artist, but having some fundamental building blocks in place sets up the personal interactions that turn into opportunities.
Read the following 5 tips on how to gain traction as an artist & get serious about how you represent your art.
Read The Submission Guidelines
If you take photos, don’t submit your art to a gallery that only features abstract watercolors. It seems simple, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received submissions from people whose art looks nothing like anything we feature. By reading a little more about each gallery or outlet you’re submitting your work to, you can save yourself a lot of time and increase the chances that people will respond.
Respond To Emails, Yo!
Photo From Kim Komando
I’m not going to belabor this. If you send your work to someone and then just don’t reply, it’s easy to figure out what the problem is. If you’re trying to professionalize your art, professionalize the rest of your outreach and communications. If people are trying to give you an opportunity, respond to them. Gaining traction as an artist has a lot to do with the work that resides outside the canvas.
Instagram Is Dope, But You Need A Website
To my mind, Squarespace is the best place to get a great looking, secure, professional website up and running quickly. You’re limited in what you can do, but there are tons of visually-stunning templates that will do your work justice (if you have good images of your work). Don’t overthink this, the idea is that you want to have a clean, branded presence where interested parties can easily view and buy your work. Squarespace has store functionality, so it really has everything you need.
If you insist on a custom build, WordPress is great, but again, don’t overthink it.
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