Factfiles - Notes on Art Society Exhibitions 1

Factfiles

Notes on Art Society Exhibitions

Notes on Art Society Exhibitions
*Choosing a Venue*	The venue should be easily accessible to the public. The centre of a busy town is obviously the best location, otherwise one that has a car park and is easily accessible for the disabled. Care should be taken in considering the location of the exhibition as a village hall which is away from major thoroughfares, is less likely to attract visitors. The local museum or library, coffee shop or hospital are possible venues. Some art societies even sell their pictures at the local indoor market, where there is a constant flow of people moving by. This can attract people who would not otherwise think of attending an art exhibition and they may buy an original picture much to their own surprise. The venue should be large enough to accommodate the number of pictures to be exhibited. There should be plenty of light, either natural or electric. If there is not enough light and the pictures are in semi darkness, it is well worth considering placing individual lights over each exhibition board. Exhibition boards for hanging the pictures come a variety of shapes and sizes. Some home made boards and stands are made of pegboard and painted in a neutral colour. Metal supports with legs are fixed together by each board. Small picture hooks made from garden wire, can be hooked into the holes where required. Other boards can be used in conjunction with a suspending metal rod that clips over the top of each board and the pictures are then hung down each rod at different intervals. This is a neat method of hanging as the pictures all line up with each other. Many art societies and groups consist of members who are often aged and infirm. Careful thought should be taken to ensure that the exhibition boards are manageable in size and weight. If they are too cumbersome, there may be problems in finding enough people to help erect them on the exhibition day.
*Lighting*	can be attached to boards and cables should be neatly stowed away down conduits between each board. Health and Safety is an issue to be considered with regard to trailing cables. If the venue has floor boxes for electricity this makes lighting easy to install. It is well worth enquiring at the outset!
*Mirror Brackets/Hooks*	are used in exhibitions where there is a likelihood of theft. These are screwed into the picture frames and also into the wall.
*Picture Frames*	should be free from any damage and well presented. Strong hanging eyes should be attached to the back of each picture and the hanging-cord or wire cord should be stretched taut across the back of each picture. All glazing and backboards should be firmly secured with picture tacks or pins and suitably sealed with gummed tape over any rough edges.
*Unframed Pictures and prints*	should be presented in a suitable mount, backed by heavy cardboard and protected with a transparent film that is sealed. Kitchen cling film is not a suitable alternative. Many professional picture framers will heat seal any mounted pictures for a nominal charge. Many art societies will display unmounted pictures in a trough or special box for the purpose, allowing more pictures to be exhibited. This is always useful when space is at a premium.
*Publicity*	Advertising in local papers. It is a good idea to write out exactly what you want the paper to say so that there are no discrepancies. If you can think of an eye-catching headline and some ideas that will appeal to the readers, so much the better. Don't make the advert too long, but make sure that you have all the relevant information included such as venue, dates, times and the name of your society or group. It is a good idea to think of several methods of advertising. One being a short editorial of two to three paragraphs, another being a straightforward advert. Perhaps you could supply the paper with a photograph of some members or pictures that will be exhibited. Make sure that it is a good representation and that it is not too dark. A good black and white photo is better than a mediocre coloured one.
	Printing of posters and leaflets, car stickers, etc. You will need to decide whether these are to be home-made or professionally printed. The cheapest home-made ones can look really effective with some of the lettering or borders coloured in with felt tip pens. This is time consuming, but it depends on the society's purse! Anyone who has a coloured bubble-jet printer and a little expertise with a graphics package can produce really professionally presented posters by using their home computer. All you have to remember is to make sure that posters are covered with waterproof plastic, if they are to be displayed outside, because the ink from a bubblejet will run. Professionally printed copies can be made cheaply. One art society had printed the bare essentials such as "Anyname Art Society presents an Art Exhibition" and then added a picture of paintbrushes and easel. The spaces for venue, date and time were left blank so that they could be filled in, as and when they were needed for each subsequent exhibition. With this method, the posters could be printed much more economically and there would be little wastage with unwanted or unused posters. It is a good idea to have a variety of sizes with all the relevant information. A3 size for displaying in large venues such as libraries and local colleges of education, etc. A4 size for small shop windows; A5 size for car stickers. Make sure that all your members display these in their cars. Smaller wallet size, for members to give to friends and prospective customers. Whatever method of printing you use, it is essential to get the posters up at least three weeks before the exhibition.
	Banners can be made from waterproof plastic and do not cost too much to buy. Shop around by using the yellow pages for a display company. A ten-foot banner made from white plastic with eyelet holes for attaching to buildings/fences or trees can be bought for under £100. This can have colourful lettering with an eye-catching message advertising your forthcoming exhibition. You can obtain permission from your local council to display it across the main high street of your town, or even place it outside the building while your exhibition is in progress.
	Announcements on Local Radio could be another way of letting the public become aware of your exhibition. Many local radios and hospital radios will be happy to promote your exhibition so give them a call. Make sure that you have a correct advert ready so that there is no misunderstanding. Nothing is worse that getting the dates wrong and everybody turning up on the wrong day.
	Local Council - What's On leaflets can be a useful way of letting your public know when your exhibition is being shown. The Local Council will pay for all the printing costs. All you need to do is make sure that you get the information to them in plenty of time. This may mean giving them advance notice several months ahead of the exhibition. Don't forget that the local Tourist Information Office will be only too glad to know about your art exhibition. They will display your posters and maybe place it in their own publications.
	Artnetdirectory has a special page for your art exhibition on your very own society pages. Don't forget to update these pages with news of your next exhibition.
	Word of Mouth. Please remember to ask all your members to tell everybody they know so that all their friends and acquaintances will come to see your pictures. Many members of art societies do not bother to take part in general meetings but only come to the exhibitions to display their work and so they should all make a special effort to promote the activity.
	Inviting Past Customers - During each exhibition, it is advisable to collect names and addresses of all the people who buy pictures from your members. Over a period of time, the society will have a substantial database of names and addresses. When you have a special preview event, they could all be sent a letter inviting them to bring a friend. This event could be before the main exhibition is opened to the general public, so that the past customers get preferential treatment. They can be informed of this preferential treatment so that they can take advantage of it. It also makes them feel special. This is good marketing strategy! Whilst making your database - make a note of when and what customers buy so that you can check who is the best customer and who is their favourite artist. Check with members for any commissions that have come directly from clients attending the exhibition, so that the Society can invite those clients to next exhibition. If you have to streamline your list of names, and you already know the people who buy the most pictures, you will be able to put them at the top of your list. The cost of posting out 200 invitations seems rather daunting. This cost can be reduced by asking some of your members to deliver by hand. If this is not possible, just remember that the Society should more than cover its costs with the added sales from their invited clients. Each prospective client can also be persuaded to buy catalogues and raffle tickets - which will bring in more income!
	Visitors' Book - another method of obtaining names and addresses is to ask for comments in a visitors' book. This is helpful because it gives you feedback on what the public think about your exhibition. Sometimes pictures are not always sold but artists need not feel downhearted if they have received positive comments in the visitors' book.
	Mailing List - have some pre-printed slips of paper at hand, with spaces for names and addresses so that people can complete them. These can then be added to your mailing list.
	Catalogue - this can be another form of advertising. By asking local companies to sponsor you, you can make their employees be aware of your exhibition. The company could be featured as a sponsor in the local paper and a few short paragraphs would be good advance publicity for your exhibition. If you decide to provide a catalogue, local companies could have a half or quarter page for a set sum of money. Work out the printing costs and make sure that the sponsorship will cover them. You can also sell the catalogue for a nominal amount during the exhibition. This can raise some revenue. The drawback with providing a catalogue, is that all of the artists will have to provide the necessary information for each of their pictures, including Title, Medium and Price. This can be a thankless task. Some artists actually tell you their titles etc before they have even painted the picture! The other dilemma is whether you can then accept late entries. Whoever makes up the catalogue could well be tearing their hair out before the exhibition has even started! The computer is a boon. If the catalogue compiler is proficient, they will be able to produce a mail merge document on their word processor, which makes life a lot easier where late entries are concerned.
Labelling	the Pictures can be done in various ways. The easiest is to have pre-printed labels with the Society logo and a space for Title, Artist, Medium and Price printed on them. Each artist is then required to write their details on each ticket and then attach them to the relevant picture before hanging. Some societies go to the trouble of hand printing each label in calligraphic form. This is very time consuming and a very onerous task for the calligrapher! If a catalogue has been compiled on a computer, the database of artist, title, medium, price and catalogue number will already be set up and so the proficient word processor user can set up a simple mail merge to print the labels. These can be as fancy or as plain as you like. The finished label can look very professional and yet takes a relatively short time to create. Some societies ask their members to stick a label on the back of each picture, showing name and address of artist, title of work, medium and price - to a round £ (or NFS). This means that there is no confusion of identity of artist.
Stewarding the Exhibition.	Stewards are usually chosen form the members of the society who are actually exhibiting their work, although other members of the society should help out if at all possible. There should be a rota drawn up so that people know exactly when to attend. It is usual for receipts to be provided with carbonised copies printed with the contact details of the society. The steward needs to record the details of the picture, the artist and price together with the deposit or sum of money received and also the date when the picture will be collected. The steward also needs to record the name, address and telephone number of the buyer, so that the picture can be delivered if it is not collected at the agreed time. Stewards need to ensure that monies are kept safe at all times and they also need to be aware of any possible theft that may arise. Hopefully, this is a very rare circumstance, but the steward should be vigilant. The steward should also be on hand to tell the visitors about the society and answer any questions that may be put to them, in a friendly manner. After all, they are the public face of the society!
Insurance	should be taken out to cover any thefts or serious breakages. Also the Society should be covered for any liability of injury to the visitors. The SAA (Society of All Artists) has an annual insurance premium that is not too costly. It is worth spending the money on an insurance premium just for peace of mind. Some venues have their own insurance that may cover your exhibition. This should be checked out in advance. Remember that your paintings will be unsupervised during the night-time hours and also there is always a strong possiblity that small paintings may be stolen. It is advisable to fix miniatures on to boards in groups, with screws, so that individually, they cannot easily be taken away.
Delivery and Collection of paintings.	Set a time limit on delivery so that pictures can be hung in good time before the commencement of the exhibition. Similarly, a time limit should be put on the collection of pictures at the end of the exhibition so that everything can be cleared away. People should be warned to make their own arrangements for collection if they are unable to collect their pictures in person.
Competitions	can be a real incentive to members to paint their best. Subjects can be chosen at random by the members themselves, or by their committee. Some societies choose poems or some emotive text to aid the imagination. There could possibly be a theme such as seascapes, still life, mountains, old houses, etc. Rules and conditions of entry applying to the competition, such as size of picture; choice of medium; date when entries close, etc that should be adhered to. The prize for the winner could be a small cup or shield, or possibly some vouchers from the local art shop. If the society cannot afford a prize, then a certificate stating the prize winner's name and date together with details of the award would be acceptable. If there is a formal presentation, the society could benefit by having extra publicity in the local press. This maintains a higher public awareness of the society's activities, which in turn will bring more visitors to exhibitions, etc.
Children's Competitions	can be a very good way of bringing people to the society's exhibition, who otherwise would not normally attend. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles will be very proud to see their child's pictures hung in a public exhibition. By encouraging children to take part, the society will be paving the way for future artists. This will give the Society a higher profile, especially if the press are called to witness the presentation.
Raffle Prizes	- One method of raising extra funds is to provide a raffle prize of a painting. Most demonstrators are kind enough to leave their demonstration picture for the society to raffle. Most people can be asked to contribute a small sum for a ticket. Obviously, the price of framing the picture has to be offset from the income raised. Other raffle prizes could be made from members contributions of the odd bottle of wine, boxes of chocolates etc.
Social Evening for other Art Societies.	Some societies like to provide a social evening for other members of art societies to visit and admire their pictures. There is often friendly rivalry between art societies and this is a pleasurable way of meeting other like-minded people. News and views are often shared and friendships formed which may last for many years. Invitations should be sent well in advance since most art societies have planned their itinerary months ahead. When considering catering for all these visitors, care should be taken to avoid any difficulties with hygiene. Unfortunately, we live in a litigious world and it is far safer to avoid any problems by providing either outside caterers or asking members to only bring food pre-packed in the manufacturers' packaging.
Copyright	- there should be a notice to say that any pictures that are based on another artist's work will have the source clearly displayed. Eg "After David Bellamy" where the work is clearly a copy of David Bellamy's work.
Commissions from members	- What is a reasonable charge to make for exhibiting? Societies should not make a profit! However, costs and expenses have to be considered when arriving at a sum. Societies expect to charge anything between 10%-40% for each picture sold. This is something that can be discussed at a society's AGM. Some societies charge a hanging fee for each picture of between 50p and £1.00. This is one method of ensuring that the society has a set income to offset against any costs.
Entries of pictures	-The organiser should ensure that entries should only be exhibited by fully paid up members.
Cards and Calendars	are sometimes offered for sale in art society exhibitions. The society takes a set commission on all sales. The organiser should see that the cards are displayed in a neat and tidy fashion.
Prints of pictures	are often frowned upon in amateur art society exhibition, but are becoming more common. Nowadays. good quality prints can be obtained easily and can be sold at an attractive price. However, this is something that each society should discuss before the exhibition. Most art societies like to keep their exhibitions for original work only.
Accounts	- Strict accounts of every sum of money received throughout the exhibition need to be kept. All receipts should correspond to monies banked. Each artist should receive a tally of pictures sold, together with a statement to say how much commission has been deducted. A cheque from the society's bank account should be paid to every member who has sold paintings, once all the cheques received have been cleared.
End Note:	The exhibition is an opportunity for fellow members to compare and admire each other's work. Much can be learned from seeing how others have tackled a particular subject. Many artists work by themselves at home and so the exhibition is the only time they can see their peers' work. It is a time for friends and relatives to see paintings mounted and framed to a high standard. Where members can bask in the glow of admiration and praise from everybody they know.
*These notes have been compiled for the use of art groups and may be copied for reference.* Artnetdirectory© If you or your society have any further hints or tips about how to exhibit, please contact:

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