75 – Gallery Representation Tips with Jhina Alvarado

Laura

0:07
Hi, this is Laura Lee Griffin.

Nikki

0:09
And this is Nikki May, with the Startist Society, inspiring you to stop getting in your own way and start building an art and life that you love.

Laura

0:18
We are artists who believe strongly in the power of community, accountability, following your intuition, taking small actionable steps and breaking down the barriers of fear and procrastination that keep you stuck.

Nikki

0:30
Follow along with us on our creative business journey as we encourage you on yours.

Laura

0:39
Last week, we introduced you to Jhina Alvarado, a painter who juggles a full time art practice, is represented by multiple galleries across the US, teaches calculus part time, and is raising the most adorable twins. So if you haven’t had a chance to listen to that episode yet, be sure to check it out. Today, she’s back to share with us her five best tips for getting your work in art galleries. Jhina, thanks for coming back to share more with our listeners.

Jhina

1:07
Thanks for having me.

Laura

1:09
What’s your first tip?

Jhina

1:10
Well, I would say my first tip, and it’s my tip for any artist trying to start out is paint. Paint every day. Paint when you don’t feel like it. Paint every single day, get as much artwork done as possible, because you’re going to need to have a big body of work in order to show galleries.

Nikki

1:30
That’s fantastic advice, great for anybody, no matter what their medium is. Draw every day, take photographs every day. What’s your second tip for us?

Jhina

1:41
So I would say my second tip would be, make sure that you’re posting on social media, make sure that you have a website, you need to have an online presence for people to be able to find your work.

Laura

1:52
Yeah, so what about tip number three.

Jhina

1:55
So for tip number three, I would say follow as many artists as you can. Artists that you like, not just random artists, you know, but artists that you like, make sure that you’re following them, make sure that you’re commenting on their work, because building those relationships with those artists is how you’re also going to get seen and how you’re also going to get other artists to recommend your work to other people.

Nikki

2:20
Yeah, that’s good advice. I’ve heard a lot of people complain about the fact that the only people following them are other artists; they don’t see the value in it. But you’ve definitely pointed out some really good reasons to be happy to have other artists following you.

Jhina

2:35
Yeah, you do want other artists following your work.

Nikki

2:37
Yeah. And artists buy other artists work.

Jhina

2:40
Yeah, I have a ton of artists work that I’ve bought. And I you know, to I’m a huge fan of art. And I’ve also recommended a lot of artists that I like to the galleries that represent me, and they now have gallery representation from those galleries. So it definitely helps to build those relationships.

Nikki

3:02
And what is your fourth tip for us?

Jhina

3:05
My fourth tip is research where these artists are represented, like, if you like an artist, and your work would show great with those artists, look at their websites, figure out where they’re being represented, and start contacting those galleries. If you have a good relationship with those artists, then you can even say, hey, you know, would you mind introducing my work to your gallery? And sometimes they will. And sometimes they’ll say, No, that’s not a good fit, I don’t think they’ll like your work or you know, they have enough artists. But sometimes it helps to just ask and say, Hey, can you make that introduction? And they will and then sometimes it really works out. So making sure that you look at other artists, websites and figuring out where they’re represented, is my fourth tip.

Laura

3:59
And when you reach out to the gallerist, are you just sending them an email with some samples of your work in the email or a link to your website?

Jhina

4:08
Yeah, I usually send a an introduction email introducing myself and saying, you know, Hey, I saw your gallery in person or online. And I really like these artists that you show, I think my work would be great with them. Here is a couple of images of what I’m painting right now and here’s my website, and here’s my Instagram, you know, feel free to contact me or check them out. And you might get a response back, you might not, but sending out that email and then if another artist does introduce you or does say mention your work, they now have a reference and they can now say Oh, well that’s right, that person did contact me. I should check out their work.

Nikki

4:53
And isn’t it so nice that now you can just send an email and you don’t have to send slides?

Jhina

5:01
I hated doing those making slides. I’m sure some people are like, slides, what are those? Yeah, old school, having to send out some postcards, some slides of paper letter or a CD with all of your images on there and mailing those out. Yeah, nobody ever responded to those just…

Laura

5:25
God bless the internet.

Jhina

5:27
So much easier now.

Laura

5:28
Alright, so what’s your final tip?

Jhina

5:30
My final tip is do your own research and make sure that if you are going to be represented by a gallery, that you are contacting the artists that are there and asking, what’s it like to be represented there. What are their demands? Do they want a bunch of work? Do they not? Do they return work in a timely manner to you? Are they paying you net 30 terms, which means you get paid 30 days after they get their check? Talking to other artists who are represented by the gallery, if a gallery does approach you, is my best advice to you, because not all gallerists are good gallerists. Not all of them are honest. So you want to make sure that if there are any red flags, you’re finding those out ahead of time. Then you can decide because you will know, okay, they don’t pay ahead of time. Do I want to risk that? I know that there’s one gallery that buys your work outright, but she takes 60% of the sales, so you can decide, okay, well, it is  worth it to me.  Other galleries may charge you a fee to put together a brochure and you can decide if you want to deal with that. Always do your research, because that is going to save you so much time and so much money and so much heartache than not. I’ve had a couple of galleries that have been nightmares. And had I done my research at that time, I probably would have figured that out and not had to go through what I did go through. So do your research.

Laura

7:12
Great advice.

Nikki

7:12
Definitely. Well, thank you so much, Jhina. Thanks for coming back and sharing all your awesome experience and knowledge with us.

Jhina

7:21
You’re welcome.

Laura

7:22
To get a downloadable PDF with Tina’s tips and tricks for gallery representation. Visit startistsociety.com/gallerytips.

Nikki

7:32
Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next week. Laura, that’s four episodes in a row that I didn’t mention bourbon. So for the record, Nikki still likes bourbon.

Laura

7:46
Nice. As if you could ever forget about bourbon, Nikki.

Nikki

7:51
I mean, I do still live in Kentucky.

Laura

7:53
You know, they’re doing the rerun of Sex in the City and she opens up the closet and she’s like, there you are, lovers.

Jhina

7:59
Hello, lovers…

Laura

8:00
Just imagine Nikki doing that opening up like her little bar and going…

Nikki

8:04
Hello, Lover…