What to Expect at Your First Art Exhibition as an Exhibiting Artist

Getting selected for your first exhibition is exciting and then immediately confusing. Nobody tells you what happens next. Here is the whole thing, start to finish.

After you are selected

You get a confirmation with the show details and your place is secured. From that point the gallery handles curation, installation and promotion. Your job is to get your work ready and to the venue on time.

Getting your work ready

Physical work needs to arrive framed and ready to hang, with hanging hardware fitted. Keep frames simple, a clean black, white or natural wood suits a group show. Use acrylic rather than glass for shipping, it is lighter and does not shatter.

If you are exhibiting digitally, you simply send a high resolution file. Nothing to frame, nothing to ship.

Drop off and shipping

Every show has a drop off window, usually one or two days before the exhibition opens. Send your work to arrive inside that window, not before, so nothing sits unattended. Use a tracked and insured courier. For international shipping, include a commercial invoice describing the work, its value and that it is for exhibition.

Install day

You do not need to be there. The gallery team hangs the show, lights it and labels every piece with your name, title, medium and Instagram handle. This is where curation happens, and work is placed so it sits well with everything around it.

Opening night

The first evening is the private view. Drinks, a full room, and a mix of collectors, press, artists and people who walked past and came in. If you can attend, stand near your work for part of the night. The question you will be asked most is what the piece is about, so have two sentences ready.

If you cannot attend, nothing is lost. Many artists exhibit internationally without travelling.

During the show

The exhibition runs for several days and is open to the public. Your work is also on the digital screens and in the exhibition catalogue, which stays online after the show closes, because buyer interest often continues once a show has ended.

Collecting your work

There is a collection window after the final day. You can collect in person, nominate someone, or arrange a paid return courier. Arrange the return label in advance so it can be attached to your package.

What you walk away with

Photographs of your work on a gallery wall. A line on your CV. The catalogue. And usually a few people you met standing next to their own work who turn into friends and collaborators.

Our open calls are live across Amsterdam, New York, Athens, Milan, Paris and Tokyo. Free to apply, all mediums, open theme.

Apply at theholyart.com

Where art meets the world.