So We have not let bad weather or spending a small fortune on show equipment discourage us, but the number of rejections has proven to be demoralizing for me. Sherry (the actual artist) is more philosophical about this than I am. I was an athlete in one of my former lives (collegiate and amateur/semi-pro soccer) and a long-time coach (select, high school, college), so my attitude is that you will never be able to perform if you cannot get into the game.
We did our homework, we went to quite a few shows and went away with the confidence that Sherry's work was up to snuff and then some. We bought good quality Armstrong Gallery Panels and although our canopy is an EZ-UP style, it is the heavy duty Goliath model from King Canopy, which held up well in the storm in Florida. I did a lot of research when selecting shows. With the exception of Fernandina, we applied to a few smaller shows to give ourselves a chance to learn the ropes. We also hoped to make these smaller shows annual events for us. We set up with ZAPP, had our images edited professionally. We created a website and a Facebook page for Sherry's work, which have also received many compliments. Based on comments from many of the other artists in Florida, and in a recent Knoxville Museum of Art Plein Air event, Sherry's work is very good. Two of her four works submitted sold at the Knoxville event. According to the other artists, our booth, once we finally got it set up, was professional. With the exception of one of the five shows to which we applied, we applied early.
So the results out of five applications, two accepted, two rejected, and one no response yet, which we are assuming to be a rejection. The date for notification of acceptance has come and gone (one week ago) and the jury fee check was cashed some time back. One of the rejections I was expecting because we applied on the last day and the show was in my old hometown, I was concerned Sherry's art would be too traditional for that crowd. On reviewing the artist's accepted, I was right. The show closest to our current East Tennessee home that rejected our application was billed for local and regional artists. This rejection was surprising and disappointing, although I must admit the quality of the painters at the other show sponsored and administered by this same group were exceptional. However there were only eight painters selected for a 150 artist show. Which brings up another concern, some of the shows do not seem to admit a very high ratio of painters. I understand why one veteran water-color artist in Florida, who had taken us under his wing, explained to us that we are going to have to double-book. I understand this now, but this bothers me because I do not want to be in the position of telling one of the shows to which we applied that we will be unable to attend. In a way, I see this as not following through on a commitment. However, it appears that if you are to survive in this business you do not have a choice. We knew we would get rejections, but a ratio of 3 out of 5 rejections equates to a lot of money wasted in jury fees and limited opportunities to market the art. I know that five is very a limited number of applications to draw conclusions from, but it has the math guy in the family concerned.
So my questions to all of you are; what are we doing wrong? What can we do better, without continuing to spend a small fortune? In other words, what can we do to convince the coaches to put us in the game?
As always, thanks in advance for your words of experience and wisdom.
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40% acceptance your first year is a decent average. The hard part is often putting together a string of shows when you are accepted to your second choice in one area, and then don't have another show to back it up. I usually try to get shows in geographic proximity, and can be on the road for three or four shows at a time. When they are 800-1000 miles apart, this can be difficult. But that's how this business goes.
The booth shot you posted (the one without you in the shot) is fine, although many of the images aren't really visible. It's adequate, and better than many of the too crowded shots jurors often see. Sherry's work seems somewhat fragmented in subject matter though -- and consistency in this area, both in subject and pallette will help the jury slides. The quicker it reads, the better your results will be.
Thanks for the feedback, Jim. I do not know what you mean by the "quicker it reads". I am assuming by consistency in palette you are talking about her use of color.
And use of four images that relate on multiple levels (color, style, subject) will read more easily and aid your visual story.
Thanks again , Jim. So to take a stab at this, I know the inspiration for Sherry's work comes from her awe of the splendor of nature and human intersection with nature. Similar to your work, she also loves to paint rural scenes of times gone by (old homeplaces, cabins, farmhouses, etc). Much of her commission work has been of old homeplaces in East Tennessee. Her work that sold at the recent plein air event in Knoxville were scenes from gardens where she zoomed in on a pool or a stone wall within the garden. We travel and much of her work is inspired by places we have seen. She will be painting and attending workshops at a plein air festival in ireland this summer, (I get to carry the suitcases), which I think is consistent with her subject matter. So first, is her story as an artist compelling? Second, assuming it is compelling, how can we tell this story in a series of images or a slideshow that will only be viewed for a few seconds.
In corporate speak, it is a branding problem. The ZAPP artist statement is the best place to begin. There are lots of resources on the net about writing your artist statement, but the ZAPP 100 character statement, is, to say the least, character building.
Think of it as an elevator pitch. How would she describe her work to a stranger in thirty seconds or less? Throw away the cliches and the obvious, and focus on her unique traits. Then boil that down to two short sentences. It's up to you to make it compelling. Will a jury see it that way?
It takes time to get a statement that says it well in 100 characters. It can be done, and it will require constant tweaking as time goes on, and her work changes. You will think of improvements. But the 100 character artist statement will actually help you clearly define what makes her art unique. No one can do that for her, except maybe you. Once you have that, it is usually easier to fit four images to that description.
To see if your images flow well together, you can use Larry Berman's jury preview application on the web. This little gem allows you to upload your ZAPP images and try different sequences to see how they will flow when projected. It's a helpful little lightbox.
http://www.juryimages.com/jury/index.php
And as far as spending a small fortune, if you are serious about doing shows full-time, you will spend a small fortune on application fees. My annual budget for applications is well over $1000/year. My acceptance rate is somewhere around 68% this year, which is phenomenal, for me. I applied to 41 shows, and am still waiting to hear from two. I have one application yet to send.
Since there is no way to insure that you will get back into shows that you are successful in, you pretty much have to double or triple apply to shows on those weekends that you need to work. It increases your odds of acceptance to at least one of those shows. You don't show, you don't make money. Unless you have other revenue streams. But that's another post.
John,
Remember the old Burma Shave signs? They were simple, quick, and easy to read as one travelled at 50 or 60 mph down Route 66. That is the effect that Jim is talking about. When producing PowerPoint slideshows it is best if the font size is at least 18 point and the number of words is kept to a minimum--resulting in a quick read. When one designs a billboard, the fewer words, the more impact. In just a faction of a second one's mind can register a word or picture if it is the only thing presented. The problem is that all too often we want to use every last inch of space and that makes our presentation less effective. Too much information, be it graphic or text cause mind to become confused. The Jury members will probably look at each slide for only a few seconds (if that) and therefore you do not want to do anything that confuses the mind. You want to do everything to make your slides, your booth, or sign to be a "quick read." THINK "FISH" versus "WAR AND PEACE."
Or, better yet, think--BURMA SHAVE. :-)
Thanks Lois, I actually create the MediaShout presentations for our church services every Sunday morning and never use anything less than a 40 font, which requires that words be kept to a minimum. Now I need to connect that knowledge with a quick presentation that is graphics only. So I guess my question is what constitutes too much information graphically?
I think you are doing fine. If I want to do ten shows I have to apply to twenty shows. I have been doing shows full time for over fifteen years. This is a part of the art show world. I just think of my jury fee as double for whatever weekend I get, and account that in my expenses for the weekend.
Thanks Courtney. Sounds like a good rule of thumb. We are not at 50% acceptance yet, but hopefully we will get there soon.
So to continue with your sports analogy, at this point you are batting 500 in your rookie year??? Dang, I don't think I have never batted 500, but then, I am always applying to both reach and safe shows on the same weekend. By all means, fine tune your presentation, but know the jury process is riddled with error, subjectivity and political favoritism... bottom line...good artists often don't get in and often good artists do get in... it's ... well... unpredictable.
Last weekend I was at a top national art show, the winner of Best in Show came off the wait list only days before.... BEST IN SHOW!! What? The jury at a top show couldn't pick this artists at application? I too have won best in category at a top show when coming off a wait list. It happens because the jury process ain't perfect. Don't beat yourself up on this... much of it is beyond our control. Just continue believing in your product.
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