Dealing with juried shows....

[Goff]

So I'm kinda wondering how to deal with juried shows that requires you to have your work available at the time of the show? Am I'm not suppose to sell any of my work prior to a show? This is happening to me with a show that I have been accepted to and I am a little nervous about what to do. It's great that I have been selling my work, but what do you do when you submit work to a juried show (in this case a weekend art festival event this summer) and a piece sells?

"Please submit only work that will be available at the
time of the exhibit and will remain for its entirety."


Any advice appreciated....


Thanks

[Diane Cutter]

Some juried shows allow you to enter pieces NFS (Not for Sale)... where either the artist wishes to keep it or it already has an owner who is willing to let it hang for the full duration of the show.

However your weekend art festival doesn't fit that bill. There is nothing that burns an exhibition more than to have gaps in the show. Specific pieces of your work were juried into the event. You can't decide on a substitute: they might not have chosen you but for those pieces. They may have used art on their posters, art that is not available to any potential customers.

Is the festival collecting the money from sales and then giving the rest to the artists at the end of the show? Having pre-sold your work hurts them financially and it hurts you because you aren't offering work for sale. At an art festival people want to buy art.

If you are going to enter shows of this type and they have rules, you've got to honor those rules. You need to have a large enough inventory that you can hold out pieces, saved for that event. If you have an interested buyer you need to let them up front know when and where they can buy it, if putting NFS on your pieces is not allowed.

Diane

[AllisonR]

I agree with everything Diane wrote.

"Please submit only work that will be available at the
time of the exhibit and will remain for its entirety."

This is a pretty clear rule and pretty normal for juried shows. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by trying to substitute with something else that they did not judge, nor by saying NFS, unless it really is sold. In which case, tell the buyer, "you can pick it up after the show." Some buyers are actually glad that other people get to see the work that they have bought.

At the moment, I am in a sticky spot where I have a hundred paintings in XYZ style, but have just started a new style. I only have 4 finished paintings in this new style. I am submitting all 4, plus 2 more if I get them done in time, to a juried show. I won't get the rejected paintings back until 18 June (and the ones that get in the show until the end of July).

I am having a huge opening reception for my new Atelier. And I am doing it right after the 18th. So it is crazy, but I am now hoping that I get some of my new works rejected, just so I can show them at my opening. But if they all get in, then I will honor the rule, which is the work will be present during the entire show. I knew the rule ahead of time, so I have to honor it. The worst case scenario is I get everything accepted and have only my older (2011) work to show at my opening. And frankly, that can not be that terrible!

[Goff]

I appreciate both your responses and that sounds somewhat reasonable.... I would think that as long as one could produce the minimum originals that represents your type of work-- that people would be fine. I certainly would not have "gaps" in my booth.

Diane- I am ok with the upcoming show in terms of having the work available as they described. This question pertains to a different show I was considering entering. I will likely not pursue it...

Thanks again...

[timelady]

It's pretty clear. If you want to show in the exhibition, surely you need to have the work you submit at the time of the exhibition. Easy.

The judges spend their time and effort choosing from the images submitted to them. Not to choose "work that might be like what is submitted" because you never know if the artist's next piece, however similar, is as good. You, the artist, might think so but a judge may not agree.

So put it aside. Hopefully you are creating plenty of work that putting 1-3 paintings aside for a while won't matter too much. If you MUST sell it (and who wouldn't!?) then good practice is to inform the organisers that your piece is no longer available and you won't be able to participate in the show. In some cases that will look bad and they might remember your name, but in some cases it won't matter.

Be very careful with NFS work. Firstly, make sure it's allowed. Secondly, recognise that rarely are there shows where sales aren't important. Even if they're not the main point of the show it's how organisers cover the costs.

Tina.

[Katherine T]

Also bear in mind jurors associated with shows may do more than one show and have friends who also jury shows. Just as we meet up and tell stories about juried shows I'm sure they do too - and people are apt to remember anybody who messed up their shows by submitting work which does not meet the rules.

It's like galleries - word gets around if you don't play by the rules.

I'm not entirely sure why you think there might be any ambiguity in the following statement - it seems to me to be absolutely crystal clear.

"Please submit only work that will be available at the time of the exhibit and will remain for its entirety."

"Available" means for sale and present at the show. No giving away sales before the show ends so that the stands look empty.

[timelady]

Yes, Katherine is right about jurors. Also, many aren't just art competition people so that means their gossip gets around more circles too!

My take on it was from the POV of someone who works for 3 juried shows in London. I'm not a juror, but I deal with all the artist entries and hanging. (in fact for one I have complete control over half of hang) I see what comes in, how it comes in, I've watched the jurors at work.

Despite seeming arbitrary there usually are real reasons behind even the oddest sounding rules.