Are CDs a Good Replacement for Slide Sheets?

[Alessandra Kelley]

I realize we're a pretty specialized community around here and this is a really general question. But ...

Three or four years ago I had a project where I sent out packets of my artwork -- 20 slides, resume, and clippings -- to galleries, two to four a week for a solid year. It kept me moving and told me a lot about galleries, although it didn't result in any shows.

Then I took time off from that and concentrated on other things, like curating my own shows.

Now I feel a sea change, and want to send out to galleries again, but the tech seems to have changed in the last few years.

I would love to send out CDs of my work (slides were so time-consuming and expensive and fiddly and vulnerable to age/fading/overenthusiastic labellers/thumbprints etc.). But I can't tell whether or not galleries will accept them. Information about galleries and their submission requirements always was hard to ferret out, and even now mostly is a mystery (Maybe they don't want to be deluged by internet artist wannabes?).

Although slides have their virtues, increasingly I feel using them is like being forced to use a slide rule to calculate. Is anybody aware of the correct current gallery submission protocol?

[Rosemary]

Wonderful question. Here, some of the juried shows are now asking for digital submissions. They are a lot better as far as color and value go, in representing our artwork. Of course, the ease of manipulating the image with photoshop makes it harder to tell if the image is representative. It was harder to adjust the slides.

I too spent thousands in slides and submissions, only to have the gallery hold the sheet up to the light as far as viewing them goes, if I was lucky.

After seeing the huge stacks of unopened submissions in one gallery, about 150 in 6 months, I quit sending unsolicited packets.

Now I try to visit the gallery in person and if they show interest when I tell them I am an artist, have them go to my website while I wait, just to see what their interest is. I try to be really low key and preface all of this with some intelligent and complementary comments on their displays and artists.

Not that I have had a lot of luck in finding new venues. There is a lot of competition out there, very strong competition. Who you know may be more important than anything else. Having one of your collectors recommend you to their favorite gallery seems to work best.

Good luck!
Rosemary

[David McKay]

Yes, digital images on a disc or referring to a website, seems to be the new way. In fact, I don't think that anybody around where I live even develops slides anymore! David.

[jeff]

I went to a seminar once a few years ago where a few gallery owners said that they definitely would not even look at anything on CD. Only one said they would. I think it may just be prejudice and habit most of the time and will disappear when enough people just send them CDs. Rosemary has it though - just visit them and hand deliver a CD if theyre interested. That way they can get to look at better quality images than on the net.

jeff

[Bill Rietveldt]

I recently accepted a position as Exhibition Coordinator at the Wenatchee Valley Museum in Central Washington - after being away from museum work for about 8 years.

Our next Museum Gallery exhibition is a juried show of local art - we asked for submissions on CD. - What an easy way to go!

I remember jurying shows in the past - Cover Letters, Resumes, Artist Staements, slide sheets with slides falling out (as you held them up to the light) - Now it can all be on one CD clearly marked with the artist's name.

It's the way I'm going when I ask for submissions!