Hello and welcome to my Gallery Professional Practices Blog! I look forward to working and learning with you this semester! Leanne

Documenting Your Work Toward Realizing the Juried Student Exhibition DUE APR. 21

DUE NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, APRIL 21

Please post a short report outlining you contributed to the realization of this year's juried student exhibition. Make sure to include times, days, tasks completed. Photos would also be helpful and if you designed a poster and/or postcard, press release, etc. please share it here.

Your response should be 1-2 paragraphs.

Please also respond to these questions:

1. What was the biggest challenge in completing your task?
2. What did you learn from this challenge?
3. What would you do differently if involved in the juried student exhibition in the future. This is an opportunity for self-reflection rather than other-directed criticism.

Feel free to add anything else that you learned from this experience and the aspect of the exhibition you feel is most successful.

Toucan Gallery Response Due Mar. 17

Before or after visiting the gallery, make sure to visit the Toucan Gallery's website at: http://www.toucanarts.com/
You will find more information there about the mission of the gallery and an overview of the services they provide.
While at the gallery and after Mark's discussion with you, jot down some responses to these questions. Make sure to ask if you may take photographs to illustrate your responses.
Functional considerations:

• Has traffic flow been planned for in the gallery space?
• How has the space been designed to serve multiple purposes (frame shop; openings; boutique, etc.)? Do you see any potential problems with traffic flow or the exhibition of artworks? If so, what are they?

Formal considerations:

• Describe the typographic aesthetics: evaluate its effectiveness. How do the choices of fonts, etc. on the signs and signage complement or detract from the artwork?
• Is there visual unity of elements/components within the displays in the gallery space and within the window displays? Explain why or why not?
  Is there a clear information hierarchy throughout? If so, how is this achieved?
• Does the gallery seem to have a visual style? If so, describe it. Is it appropriate to the type of gallery this is? Why or why not?

Conceptual considerations:

• Describe the overall message of the gallery (as you understand it) in one sentence. You may wish to refer to the gallery website.
• Does the organization of the work in the gallery have a linear sequence (a beginning and ending point), or is it a fluid sequence (the visitor can start at any point in the exhibit and move to any other point?)?
• Is the type of sequence effective? If not, how would you improve it?

Visitor observations:

• What do you believe would be the most and least popular aspects of this gallery space for visitors under the age of 25?
• What are the most and least popular aspects of this gallery for visitors over the age of 25?
• Can visitors share their experiences of the art with others, or are they designed to be individual artistic experiences? Explain.
• If you could change one thing in this gallery space, what would it be? Why?

Artist Letter of Agreement and Contract DUE MARCH 3

Artist Letter of Agreement and Exhibition Contract Assignment

For this blog post you need to draft and artist letter of agreement and contract . Please make sure to post an electronic version to your blog before our class meeting on March 3, 2017.

There will be a grade deduction for late submissions.

Important Dates & Information

The Deborah Bright Exhibition (this is an imaginary exhibition!) opens Sept. 6, 2017 and runs through October 19, 2017

Artist’s Receptions:   Sept. 7, 2017

You should draft an agreement letter for Deborah Bright who will be featured in an exhibition at Northcutt Steele Gallery that includes the deadline by which a copy of the contract needs to be signed and returned to you (decide upon a reasonable date before the end of spring semester). The letter should also include an outline of the arrangement for shipping and return shipping for all artworks (choose appropriates deadlines for the receipt of the artwork and for the gallery to return the artworks that accommodates for packing and unpacking, etc.); make sure to indicate that the gallery director and gallery professional practices class will be receiving and ensuring proper handling, storage, and installation of the work. An example of an acceptance letter has been posted to d2l, but will require slight modifications.

You should also draft a generic artist letter of agreement/contract and a formatted Schedule of Artworks. Below are examples of both. Additional examples may be found on our D2L site.

AGREEMENT made as of the __________ day of MONTH, YEAR between ARTIST’S NAME (hereinafter referred to as the “Artist”), and Northcutt Steele Gallery, Montana State University Billings (hereinafter referred to as the “Exhibitor”).

The AGREEMENT as is follows:

1.     Creation and Title. This paragraph should include a statement that the Artist created and possesses unencumbered title to the works of art listed and described on the attached Gallery Listing of Artworks (to be turned in six weeks prior to the opening of the show) and has the right to loan these works for the purpose of exhibition (ADD TITLE OF EXHIBIITON HERE).

2.     Duration of Loan, Manner of Exhibition, and Fee. This paragraph should outline the duration of the loan agreement.  The Artist hereby agrees to loan the Exhibitor the works listed on the Gallery Schedule beginning XXX and ending XXX. The exhibitor agrees to exhibit these works for no less than XXX days during this time period as part of the exhibition titled: XXX. (You may wish to include the gallery hours here). These works shall be exhibited with other works by (NAME OTHER ARTISTS IF THIS IS NOT A ONE-PERSON EXHIBITION).

3.     Delivery, Condition, and Care. This paragraph should outline the responsibilities of transporting work to and from the gallery. Make sure to be as specific as possible in this paragraph and account for limited storage space, etc. (Think about what type of packaging may not be appropriate for the limits of gallery receiving/storage space, etc.). Draft a plan about when, where, and how the work will be received.

4.     Loss or Damage and Insurance. This paragraph outlines the parties responsible for insuring the artwork and during what dates. The Exhibitor shall be responsible for loss or damage of artwork for the duration of the exhibition. Insurance coverage during transportation to the Northcutt Steele Gallery, MSU Billings, shall be the responsibility of the Artist. Insurance coverage during transportation to the artist from the Northcutt Steele Gallery, MSU Billings shall also be the responsibility of the Artist. (Consider changing? Usually a gallery will insure the return of the artwork).

5.     Use of Work. This paragraph outlines the conditions of the loan and that the gallery will not use the work for other purposes. For examples of wording see the handout on artist contracts or the document posted to D2L.

6.     Condition of Work (Framing, Installation, Cleaning, and Repairs). This paragraph outlines the condition in which the artworks should be delivered to the Exhibitor. The Artist shall be responsible for delivering undamaged, ready for display artwork to the Exhibitor by the agreed delivery date. The Exhibitor shall not be responsible for proper installation of work that is not properly framed, wired, mounted, etc. All framed artwork must have a secure wire on the back and all three-dimensional work should have a sound base. In the event special installation is required for the display of any work, the labor and equipment involved shall be outlined in the Schedule of Artworks and paid for by the Artist.  Exhibitor agrees that the Artist shall have sole authority to determine when cleaning or repairs are necessary and to perform them him/herself.

                 

7.     Copyright, Reproduction, and Promotion. The Exhibitor will provide an exhibition postcard. The Artist should provide an acceptabl, print-ready digital image (300 dpi, 5”x7”, jpeg or jpeg with longest dimensions between 2100 and 3500 pixels) for reproduction at least 6 weeks before the opening of the show. The Exhibitor will make every effort to provide color postcards for the Artist. The Artist is also responsible for providing the Exhibitor two (2) copies of an Inventory List of the artworks that will be shown, including title, medium, price (for insurance purposes), and dimensions.

6 weeks before the exhibition opening, the Artist shall also provide the Exhibitor with a short Biography paragraph, Artist Statement, and Resume for exhibition and promotional purposes. If desired, the Artist may provide the Exhibitor with a list of 25 names (consistently formatted) to be included within the mailing of the announcement postcards. The Exhibitor will also provide 25 cards to the Artist prior to the opening that the Artist may choose to mail. The Artist will note that the bulk mailing label located on the postcard that says “postage paid” is a bulk mailing label that used by the university and will need to affix postage.

8.    Right to Refuse works not listed in the schedule. The exhibitor shall retain the right to refuse for inclusion in this exhibition any work that has not been listed in the schedule of artworks.

9.    Anything else you feel is important for the smooth installation of the exhibition.

Artist and Northcutt Steele Gallery, Department of Art agree to the terms of this contract

____________________________________                        _______________________________

NAME OF ARTIST                                  Date                        YOUR NAME                      Date

Artist                                                                            Northcutt Steele Gallery Representative

Northcutt Steele Gallery, Department of Art, Montana State University Billings                                          

Exhibition Loan Agreement

Exhibition:   

Dates:            

Artist Contact information:

Name:

Address:

Telephone:                                                                                   Cell:

Email:

The artist assumes the responsibility of updating the gallery in a timely manner regarding any and all changes to contact information.

Artwork(s) List (Will likely be longer than 2 works  . . .  so creatively imagine this.)

1.   Title:  

Dimensions:

Medium/Media:

Price: NFS/ Insurance value: $

2.  Title:  

Dimensions:

Medium/Media:

Price: NFS/ Insurance value:

Lender Contact Information (Lender’s contact information is necessary if any of the artwork(s) are part of a gallery/museum or private collection.)

Address _________________________________________Telephone #_________________________

Email____________________________________________

Credit (Exact form in which Lender’s name should appear for labels/publicity):

Additional Blog Responses Due Feb. 24

In addition to working on your press releases, please read the following chapters and answer these questions in your gallery blog. Responses must be posted by Friday, February 24.

In Barbara A. Beall-Fofana, Understanding the Art Museum, please read Ch. 4 "How Do Museums Know What They Know?" and Ch. 9, "Ongoing Challenges."

Answer the following "For Your Consideration" at the end of Ch. 4:

What is provenance and why is it such an important issue in the art world? The Universal Leonardo project, launched in 2005, focuses on the techniques and processes used by Leonardo da Vinci rather than claiming to determine attribution. Why do you think this shift has taken place?

AND the following "For Your Consideration" at the end of Ch. 9:

Review the information presented in Ch. 8 on Marcel Duchamp's work called Fountain (see Fig. 12). If you had been on the committee that decided what could and could not be exhibited at the American Society of Independent Artists, where Fountain was first exhibited, would you have allowed this work to be in the show? Why or why not? What would have been your criteria for acceptance or rejection?

Press Release Assignment DUE Feb. 24

BLOG POST RESPONSE DUE NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, FEB. 24

During this week, please review the PowerPoint on publicity and the examples of postcards for exhibitions.

You may also conduct research on your own.

Devise a draft of a press release for a solo exhibition of your work at the Student/Project Gallery. Focus on the structural elements of a press release. Do your best by emulating the other press releases and postcards you have reviewed and we will discuss in person your drafts on Feb. 24.

Upload your press release to your blog and print out your release. Bring it with you to our meeting on Feb. 24 (Your draft call may be single- or double-spaced).

EXAMPLE OF PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  October 12, 2010                         

COD’s Marks Art Center Presents Rhino Ideologies / Wild Biology

by Lauren Evans and Margaret Lazzari, Oct. 18 - Nov. 11, 2010

PALM DESERT, CA—In Rhino Ideologies / Wild Biology, artists Lauren Evans and Margaret Lazzari explore themes of biological and social structures; definitions of health and illness, both mental and physical; and experiences of struggle and survival.  Both Evans and Lazzari are classically trained artists who utilize traditional and digital media in their work, and this show includes large acrylic paintings rich with complex layers of mass and color, digital prints both large and small, drawings and video, all alongside sculptural and installation work. 

The exhibition—which is scheduled to coincide with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and follows Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 3-9, National Alliance on Mental Illness)—opens to the public on Monday, October 18, with an artists’ reception that is also free and open to the public on Wednesday, October 20 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.; musical entertainment will be provided by DJ Nagual.  The Marks Art Center is open Monday through Thursday from 12:00-4:00 p.m. and by appointment (760-776-7278).

Lauren Evans’s work, Rhino Ideologies, addresses through various media the psychological push and pull that we all struggle with along the strenuous developmental journey of personal growth.  The metaphorical images that she uses suggest social and medical representations of mental illness, the stigma of labeling, and the isolation that often ensues.  The rhinoceros is a symbol of the powerful yet endangered inner being that resides in each of us: a prehistoric creature that, despite its strength, is also vulnerable and fragile.  The charge of the rhinoceros evokes the overwhelming force of emotional turmoil, and the animal itself carries with it connotations of both presence and absence—the absence of paternal love, personal security, and trust, alongside the excessive presence of anger, sorrow, fear, and anxiety.

Margaret Lazzari’s work, Wild Biology, embodies and communicates the robust, wild exuberance of the biological world, a world that, while apparently solid, is underneath a void filled with dispersed specks of matter animated by vibrating energy.  Her paintings have developed as visual equivalents to this fundamental quality of the physical world, incorporating natural phenomena that have an open architecture or network structure—including star clusters, aerial views of landforms, erosion patterns, waves of liquid, turbulence, entangled plants, medical imaging body, and flocks of perched birds—and is inspired by various scientific and artistic sources that include fractal diagrams, historical landscape paintings, and the line drawings of Leonardo da Vinci.  The dense compositions of her paintings, with their rhythmically repeating imagery, allude to the concept of growth—the healthy sense of flourishing growth that indicates vitality, as well as the concept of overgrowth as disease, as uncontrolled and destructive proliferation that manifests perhaps most painfully as cancer.  Lazzari has also made animated sequences based on her drawings and paintings, adding movement and creating changing points of intersection amongst all the layered imagery in order to mobilize the feelings of fear and anger that often accompany the emotional and physical disfigurement associated with sickness, and specifically with treatment for breast cancer.

Evans, who teaches sculpture, design, drawing, and art history at College of the Desert and Los Angeles Southwest College, is a visual artist who works in a variety of media.  Evans received her BFA and MFA, with an emphasis in sculpture, at the University of Southern California.  She has exhibited nationally, and has been commissioned to work on several public art projects in Los Angeles and San Diego counties.  Lazzari, whose work has been exhibited internationally, is a painter, writer, and professor in the Roski School of Fine Arts at the University of Southern California.  Lazzari received her MFA from Washington University in St. Louis; she has received a National Endowment for the Arts award for her works on paper, and is the author of The Practical Handbook for the Emerging Artist, and co-author of Exploring Art: A Global, Thematic Approach.

BLOG POST #5 DUE FEB. 17 by beginning of class
                                     

Drafts are DUE on FEB 17

Please visit the following websites and review each of the following Calls for Submissions (also sometimes referred to as "Exhibition Calls"). 

You may wish to print these calls out for easy reference and in order to take notes and highlight important information.

(Remember that you may print out such information in the library upstairs or in university computer labs).

You may also conduct research on your own and bring in other examples of exhibition calls. If you choose to do this, please remember to print out the call along with the web address and/or post your research to your blog.

STEP 1. Review each of these sites and take careful notes about the structure of the calls. Print out the calls and highlight significant information.

http:// http://maep.mnartists.org

http:// http://box13artspace.com/proposals/

http://www.akimbo.ca/submissions/?id=18558

STEP 2. Answer the following:

What information is found in each of these calls?

How is that information organized?

Consider the design choices in each call. Name one positive aspect of each of the call’s organization of information and one negative aspect. How does the design relate to/reflect the content of the call?

STEP 3. Devise a template for a call for Northcutt Steele Gallery exhibitions (fall 2017) at Northcutt Steele Gallery. Focus on the structural elements of the call. Do your best by emulating the other calls you have reviewed and we will discuss in person what we might want to keep and eliminate.

STEP 4. Draft a call for artist proposals and upload to your class blog prior to our meeting on February 17 (Your draft call may be single- or double-spaced; conventional or creative in design). Be prepared to discuss the calls you have reviewed (assigned and otherwise), and then we will review your drafts and draw some conclusions about what we collectively feel should be included in a Northcutt Steele Gallery call for submissions.