Doing IT

I’ve done it. You may have done it. There are people doing it right now. But should you?

No, what did you think I was talking about? Entries. That’s right, those fat envelopes that come after you respond to a Call to Artists. They have all those confusing papers with places for you to fill in the blanks and sign?

And what do you do with them? That’s right, you chunk them in the drawer and forget about them until the very lastest moment. Or you fill in the entry forms and then toss the rest ‘cause once you’re in the rest doesn’t matter.

But it does and part of being an artist is having respect for other people’s time and effort. It takes a ton of labor to get a show on its feet. You know those labors Hercules was set to complete? They actually gave him a choice between mounting a show and doing the twelve labors and he picked cleaning up the stables ‘cause it was easier and cleaner!

The papers which come in the fat envelop are the necessary documents to keep a show running. They include registration, insurance, shipping and receipt. And they are a big deal.

Registration tells the organizer just how many and how large the entries are so they can prepare the space and if, (I know painting art the only real ART, but on the oft chance you don’t paint) you do three dimensional works they’ll have to make special arrangements. A gallery isn’t like the holodeck where you can change reality to fit any fantasy. It’s a space and someone has to make it fit all of those fantastic pieces of art.

Insurance is what will pay for your work if some deranged art critic tosses a Molotov cocktail into the museum. Okay so more likely we’re talking roof leak or storm damage, but if your irreplaceable work gets damaged, you’d want some measure of compensation and the gallery sure isn’t going to have the ready cash. They’ve got a fund raiser scheduled to help cover the light bill.

The shipping page in that package tells folks how you expect to get your stuff back if it doesn’t sell. Now I know you are an artist in demand and you don’t have to bother with this stuff ‘cause you sell out everytime. But just in case you don’t, fill in the paper work. And if you’re a local do it anyway. The staff wants to be sure all the art work goes back to the right place and if you are going to walk it in they need to have that on file so they don’t accidentally give your work to the FedEx guy and it winds up in Bugtussel and you definitely don’t want that.

And don’t forget to fill out the receipt. I know you know what you have entered and I know that you are so famous and recognized that no one could possibly mistake your style for anyone else’s but do it anyway. And then keep it and bring it with you when you pick up your art.

Do all of this and you’ll be a favorite with the staff and organizers and your entry will be a welcome addition to any show. They give their time to get your work on the walls. Shouldn’t you make their job a little easier? You do want to be invited back…