Fur In The Paint

Definition of a Vanity Gallery (A refresher)
A vanity gallery is one where you (the artist) pay rent for a space (wall, cubby) either on a montly contract or per show. It can be on-line or a brick and mortar building. Quality is less important than filling the space. If you can pay you are in.

As someone who has “been there” and worked harder than a rented mule to make a business from selling my art, I have a strangely maternal instinct in regards to artists taking the leap of faith by entering the sales arena.

So where’s the harm.
The harm is that the vanity gallery often earns it’s keep at the expense of emerging artists. That’s not to say that they can’t actually make some artists money. They can and do. But all too often it is the new artists that are lured into spending money by the promise of sales and exposure.

Because a gallery of this sort does not have to actively sell their artists, chances are it will be a losing proposition. And nothing crushes the spirit more than paying high prices for a space and selling very little or nothing at all.

It is also important to know that participating in a vanity gallery is not a resume’ builder. I do not live in a metropolitan place so this may have less consequence here than with those who do. But in places where the arts are . . . vanity galleries are in general looked down upon by the art community as a whole. They are seen as inclusion by purchase, not by skill.

I wish I could say that I am not interested in the vanity gallery because of my high moral standards. But sadly no. If I believed they could make the sales . . . I’d do it.

In Closing
As someone who has “been there” and worked harder than a rented mule to make a business from selling my art, I have a strangely maternal instinct in regards to artists taking the leap of faith by entering the sales arena. As always I wrote this post to provide information that will allow for an informed decision.

Though this may seem contrary to all that I have just written I am not saying you shouldn’t get involved with a vanity gallery. As previously stated, if I thought it would benefit me I would do it. But looking at the math and what I sell and where the gallery is located. It just isn’t logical for me to invest with them. Your situation may be completely different.

Note: I want to reiterate that the folks running the gallery from my prior post about vanity galleries, seem very nice and are not devious or dubious in their dealings with artists. In my opinion they just chose the wrong model for their business. They had no experience in the arts prior to opening the gallery (or so I’ve been told) and I’m sure the argument could be made that it only benefits the artists if the gallery remains open and so making sure their bills get paid is a justified priority.

Tags: business

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.