gRAPHICaNATOMY

You are not a natural... born.. artist....
You studied hard and worked your ass off. And you deserved better than to be taken advantage of.  There are many, many opportunites to show work thorughout Pittsburgh.  Don't think this is your only or best route.

Pay-to-play galleries that want a chunk of money up front to give you shows or wall space, especially those that tantalize you with the prospect of exposure in major art centers like New York or London.
 To begin with, what incentive does any venue have to sell your art when you pay them in advance? Certainly a lot less than they have if the only way they make their money by selling your art (like most galleries do).

It is just a pyramid scheme for artists.

Pay to play opportunities are like vanity galleries.
A vanity gallery does not involve the mutually beneficial aspects of an artist co-op-- instead, vanity galleries benefit from the desperation of artists who want their artwork seen in a physical exhibit, no matter what the cost. Thus, vanity galleries are art galleries that charge artists fees in exchange for exhibiting their artwork. Point blank-- vanity galleries have no incentive to sell art because they have already cashed in on the artist, so to speak.

But like Gleason said, the trick is to branch out--always. These vanity spaces are not looking out for the artists' best interest in the long haul, they are merely trying to keep their exhibition space afloat.

Take the money you would have spent on one nigth show in a bar and take a class, get a professional website done, register a copyright... get decent business cards and stickers made.
The end result being that you had an art exhibit that is of little to no relevance-- and will certainly not help you to gain the reputation that you are seeking from established galleries nor gain the credibility that you want to convey to potential buyers and art collectors in general.



Sources:
http://www.artbusiness.com/osoqutscawas.html
http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2013/01/the_price_of_famelocal_promote.php
http://www.merylpataky.com/my-raw-artists-experience.html
http://www.kcet.org/arts/artbound/counties/orange/pay-to-play-oc-vanity-art-spaces.html
http://faso.com/fineartviews/25387/vanity-galleries-can-they-be-harmful-to-your-reputation-and-art-marketing-strategy
http://www.arthash.com/2011/09/artist-pay-to-play-galleries-exhibitions-publications.html

Labels: art, art show, fine art, galleries, pittsburgh