"displaying" your work for free

A couple weeks ago I received an email from a chiropractor in the area who just opened a new office. (I seem to recall this same person also approached me at an art fair in the fall and "convinced" me she would be back the next day with her husband to purchase some pieces. Apparently she also "convinced" another photographer of the same thing). Her recent email to me asked if I would be interested in "displaying" my work in her office. On one hand, it seems like an opportunity to show my work, tho' how many people are looking to buy at a chiropractor's office. On the other hand, I'm agitated that she is just trying to fill her office without paying. We haven't really discussed it, and I like to have my pieces available obviously for any art shows. Also, I just sold two pieces on Etsy, over the weekend which was a welcome surprise. The buyer (local) came to my house and in an hour I made the sale. I obviously couldn't have done this if my pieces were somewhere else. I have in the past displayed my photos at a local coffee shop/art gallery for a month. The work there is rotated every month and each showing artist has a reception after hours.

Someone told me I should rent the pieces....others said a good opportunity to show my work. I'm inclined to not do it, just because I am irritated....plus, I would need to have access to my pieces. I could maybe agree to a very short term and hope my work is missed once it is gone...leading to a sale. Any advice??

Suzy, people don't go to the doctor's office looking to buy art. That is the last thing on their mind. Your work is more likely to sell where people are to buy and shop. I worked for an artist who did great work. He let a local restaurant that was a favorite of his display his work for free. His work hung there for years. I would go and rotate in new stock occasionally. The framed pieces I brought back to the studio were splattered with food and yellow from cigarette smoke (before the smoke-free laws went into affect). The restaurant did well. They should have bought a few pieces a year at the very least because his work definitely came back dirty and that would have been the appreciative thing to do. And I could never restore the framed pieces back to the pristine condition they were in going into the restaurant.

Why don't people realize artists are creating their work because they are trying to make a living? Would the Chiropractor like to provide free work in hopes of maybe getting one patient? Probably not.

Suzy, hang your work where you can afford to.

Jacki B

Replies

Jacki Bilsborrow August 6, 2011 at 12:39am

Suzy, people don't go to the doctor's office looking to buy art. That is the last thing on their mind. Your work is more likely to sell where people are to buy and shop. I worked for an artist who did great work. He let a local restaurant that was a favorite of his display his work for free. His work hung there for years. I would go and rotate in new stock occasionally. The framed pieces I brought back to the studio were splattered with food and yellow from cigarette smoke (before the smoke-free laws went into affect). The restaurant did well. They should have bought a few pieces a year at the very least because his work definitely came back dirty and that would have been the appreciative thing to do. And I could never restore the framed pieces back to the pristine condition they were in going into the restaurant.

Why don't people realize artists are creating their work because they are trying to make a living? Would the Chiropractor like to provide free work in hopes of maybe getting one patient? Probably not.

Suzy, hang your work where you can afford to.

Jacki B
Dave Hinde July 27, 2011 at 5:54pm

It may depend on the duration of your display. A couple local organizations that I belong to hang their work in different business places, normally for a month at a time. I've sold several pieces this way. One location was an eight story bank building, another the local Botanical Garden. Several members sold pieces at both places.
Alison Thomas July 27, 2011 at 4:17pm

I've done this twice in my early years. The first was a new age beauty shop that had a meditation room and oxygen bar. The owner closed the shop and disappeared with my work, never saw it again. The second was a real estate office. I figured all I needed was one new home buyer to see and like my work, right? Didn't sell a thing and when the real estate business tanked and the firm moved to a smaller office they took all my work down and stacked it in the new office before calling me to re hang it. Scratched the frames all up.

I wouldn't do it. I've had plenty of people buy work for their office.

On the other hand I gave a framed photograph as a gift to my long time vet when I left Florida and I have made a sale from that.
- Suzy Richman > Alison Thomas July 27, 2011 at 4:20pm
  
  Thank you all for your responses.....a unanimous, "Don't Do It!". I just sent an email to the chiropractor politely declining.
  - Larry Berman > Suzy Richman July 27, 2011 at 4:23pm
    
    You should have them contact me. My Color Xrays would be perfect in their office and I'll pay you a commission.
    
    http://ColorXrays.com
    
    Larry Berman
    http://BermanGraphics.com
    412-401-8100
    - Suzy Richman > Larry Berman July 27, 2011 at 4:28pm
      
      I just sent her your site....good luck!)
Robert Wallis July 27, 2011 at 1:47pm

I'll chip in and say the same thing, don't do it. It's decoration for free for them. I've hung some work in coffee shops and had a few sales that way, and hung a bunch in a metaphysical bookstore and sold a couple. In both cases there was repeat traffic. I don't see that in a chiropracter's office, and their traffic flow isn't that great. Rent the pieces and rotate them every month would be a workable deal, perhaps with free rental for that month if the piece sells.
Larry Berman July 27, 2011 at 12:40pm

Chiropractors offices are like restaurants where people sit and wait for something to happen. They do not go there to look at the art. Kind of reminds me of the restaurants that had signs on the salt and pepper shakers saying "for sale here ask your waitress". I wonder how many they actually sold.

So my answer is not a good idea at all. Even putting your stuff in a gallery on consignment is not a good idea. If they want to decorate their offices, they should pay for the art. It's deductible.
Can't you just imagine the conversation at the office; "I have an idea. Lets ask artists to hang their work here so we don't have to pay for decorating the office."

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
- Art on the Lawn: Barbara Berney > Larry Berman July 27, 2011 at 12:55pm
  
  Agreed. It's one thing to hang your work for a defined period in a coffee shop or other local venue, as we do for First Fridays each month, where there is traffic on the opening night, as well as throughout the month.
  
  Asking an artist to place his/her work on the walls, in lieu of decorating their office, does little or nothing for the artist. There is limited, repeat traffic, which, as Larry says, are people waiting for something to happen, and in this case, often in pain!
  
  I know of a few artists who rent out professionally framed prints of their work, with a notation that the original is also for sale by contacting the artist directly. Don't know if it has resulted in any sales, but it's not something I would do.
- Suzy Richman > Larry Berman July 27, 2011 at 12:47pm
  
  Thank, Larry...I'm sure that's exactly the conversation they had!!!

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