Shades of Autumn

Do It Yourself: The Storefront Gallery

There are many different approaches to building an art career. If you have done a degree, it is very important to build connections, while in school with gallery owners and dealers. If you are more of a self made artist or if your work is largely non-commercial, having a space to exhibit is vital.One of the most successful models is the collective or cooperative art gallery. Which is very easy to set up and not that expensive.

1. Step one is to find one or two other artists who are interested in starting a gallery. You will ideally want between 6 and 10 to share the rent, but it can be hard to attract others before finding a space. Once you have identified a location, it is a lot easier to attract people, but it can be lonely looking for property by yourself.
2. Find a vacant storefront on a high street with an affordable rent, not something like Property in Bodrum. You will want to pay between 50 and 100 pounds a month each so if you have ten artists you will be looking for a space that is between 500 and 1000 pounds a month.
3. Negotiate with the landlord to make suitable improvements. Frequently you can get a month or two free rent in exchange for doing the work yourself to make the space appropriate for gallery use.
4. Advertise for more members.
5. Sign the contract, paint the walls white and refinish the floor.
6. Discuss the rota. There are 52 weeks a year, so each member could have 5 weeks of time that they ’curate’whether this is solo exhibitions, groups exhibitions, or renting out to other artists. It is best to start out with clear expectations and a calendar of events. Later you may want to cooperate to produce shows together.
7. Advertise. Use the members to help draw an audience and contacts. Set up a facebook group.
8. Have really great and fun exhibitions. Make sure there is free wine and snacks and people will keep coming back.

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