Reintroduction w/web

[Pres10]

Hi All... A reintroduction of sorts... I finally climbed the steep learning curve of web site building. Thought I'd put it out there, so you could see what kind of sculptobeast I am. I am now on the hunt for a couple of good galleries in the Northern California area. Any suggestions on approaching top galleries, would be appreciated. A belated congrats to Araich on your success at your solo show.
prestonsculpture.com

[Araich]

Originally posted by Pres10
Any suggestions on approaching top galleries, would be appreciated. I've heard many times from gallery directors that turning up unannounced is a terrible idea.
Best to visit the gallery a couple of times, try and attend an opening there (or 2) - this is logical if you want to check out their roster of artists - and then place a call on the phone, asking for a meeting.
Take photos or printed images you can leave behind.
Your art is only part of the equation too, much depends on the human relationship.
Best of luck. :)

...and thanks for the congrats.

[fritchie]

Preston - Welcome back on board. I personally have never gone the web route, despite feeling very comfortable with computers.

My problem is more in the direction of producing works slowly because I always am reevaluating what I'm doing and where I'm going. But, the web certainly is a great way to get exposure.

On approaching galleries of any sort, I‘ve heard the same view as Araich. They hate to see unannounced people, and prefer to get recommendations from artists already in the gallery. Certainly, they want people who “fit in” with their existing artists, in terms of general level of accomplishment and of style.

Here (New Orleans), they generally will give you a yes or a no if you drop off a well-constructed portfolio, but they generally prefer to do it on a formal, documented basis and not in person. Probably this is due to the large number of artists in this area.

[Pres10]

Thanks for the imput... I am going to try a little different approach to start with... I live in a fairly remote area of Northern California. I'm only about 3 hours or less from San Francisco, so driving down for an appointment or a planned stop isn't too bad, but doing canvassing or meeting artists down there is very time consuming. I'm at the point, that I really want a good fit with a gallery, so I'm going to be patient. I have a sculptor friend up here that finds a gallery that he is interested in, and then sends a portfolio with a return pre paid postal package. Seemed like a pretty good idea... but my mind is always looking for that better tool, that improvement in the process... (you know, the easier way) Anyway what I've done is put my web page on CD. It's basically my portfolio. I have slides and bio etc., I will be happy to bring them to a meeting... My plan is to find as many galleries that I might be interested in, and send them a cover letter w/ the CD. The 1st mailing will be about 50 of them. I'll give a call a couple weeks after mailing, and see if I can set up any meetings. They cost about 1$ each, plus my time, so if I don't get any bites the 1st 50 I'll do about 100 more. If I can get some good possibilities, that would give me some leverage as well. I'll let you know how my little marketing experiment goes. Peace, Preston.

[fritchie]

Preston - Sounds like a good idea. Basically, any gallery today will have a computer,, and almost all will have a CD reader. How do you plan to check for likely compatibility? Are you looking at gallery websites?

[Pres10]

I've been compiling a list... Gallery webs is one source. Some of the local tourism groups put out magazines that show enough about a gallery that I can get a basic read. Word of mouth is another good way. Wandering through in person still works, but now I don't have to appoach as an artist... (maybe act more like a collector) It's just about possibilities... if I talk to a dealer or gallery manager on the phone and it doesn't sound like a good fit... oh well. Maybe they can suggest other galleries. I've done enough cold call sales to know that if you can't have a referal, the other option is numbers. "Modern Marketing stratagies" might make a good post some time. Thanks for your interest... Peace, Preston