How To Prepare for Your First Art Show or Exhibit

Whether you offered to add your artwork to a show or exhibition or someone selected you, you’re ready for fellow art appreciators to recognize your hard work! If this is a brand-new experience for you, the entire prospect can seem overwhelming at first. There are many things you might need to plan; you’ll need to choose which pieces you want to show off, and getting everything to the location might be an entire trial in and of itself. However, don’t worry too much if you feel like it’s a lot to deal with. Every artist felt the same the first time they showed off their work in public.

Preparing for your first art show doesn’t have to be a stressful experience. In fact, it should be something you enjoy doing since you get the chance to show off your work to people who appreciate it, not to mention possibly buy it if they’re so inclined. To ease your nerves a little bit more, we’ve prepared a few tips on how to prepare for your first art show or exhibit. Follow these steps, and you’ll enjoy the show rather than stressing out the entire time you’re there.

Understand Your Audience

Before you go too overboard thinking about which pieces you want to display or if you need to make even more to add to your lineup, it’s a good idea to consider the kind of people that will attend the show or exhibit. Even a show that is completely open to the public might have specific demographics of people that you can tailor your choice of display pieces. Of course, you can always ask whoever created or runs the event for information on the kind of audience that might come. Playing to their proclivities could get you more recognition or more sales.

Choose the Best, Not Your Favorite

Every artist has at least one piece of art that they are proud of personally, yet also know that the piece wouldn’t mean as much or be as impressive to someone else. The best-case scenario is that your personal favorite art projects are also your best, and this does occur every now and then. However, an art show or exhibit is a good time to be a little harsher with your self-critique. Being honest with yourself about the pieces you know are more technically impressive or have a broader appeal could lead to more sales or more professional accolades during the show.

Stick to an Overarching Theme

Theming is a great idea for any artist when they want to display their work at a show. For newcomers and beginners, deciding on a theme to stick to can make choosing pieces less of a struggle. Properly theming your space during the show will also help others at the art show or exhibit better identify your work and remember it better since they can keep that theme in mind later on.

Plan Out Your Given Area

When you’re thinking about how to prepare for your first art show or exhibit, it’s smart to find out how much room you have to work with and what your designated space will look like. Once you have the layout of your area, you can better set it up so that it draws more attention or evokes the right feeling you want it to have. If your aim is to sell more pieces, setting up your area so that passersby can more easily see the best or most striking artwork could convince them to check out your area over somewhere else.

Focus on the Small Polish Details

Displaying your pieces in a show or exhibit is about more than just showing up with the raw artwork and calling it a day. You’ll need to consider even the smallest details if you want to make the best impression. For example, newcomers to art shows can sometimes forget that framing their artwork can be just as important as the art itself. Cleaning up the sides of the piece and investing in a good frame can make the entire piece more attractive. Also, don’t forget to put your signature on your artwork.

Prepare Your Online Presence

While you want to make your physical space in the show look its best, you also need to think about what people do after the show. If you’ve amassed a number of people who enjoy your work and want to see more of it, they’re going to search for you online. Before your show up to the exhibit, take some time to polish your online presence. Your online portfolio should be available and easy to access for anyone looking for you. Your social media profiles are another great way to stay connected to customers and admirers after the show ends.

Promote Your Presence in the Show or Exhibit

Promoting oneself can be a difficult task for a lot of artists. However, it’s one of the key parts of showing off your work in an art show. Promoting your presence at a show or exhibit through social media channels is an effective way to increase turnout and broaden the audience that shows up. Compared to the old-school ways that artists had to promote themselves in the past, online promotion for art exhibits is much simpler and far more effective.

Don’t Be Afraid To Socialize

It’s tempting to try and let your work speak for itself since everyone reacts to art differently. While you can let your audience draw their own conclusions about your work and decide if it’s for them, that doesn’t mean you should ignore them or shrink away from talking. Many people enjoy hearing about the artist’s perspective on their work, and being more personable and approachable may make your audience more likely to want to support you.

If you have an upcoming art show or exhibit that you want to be a part of, The Stackhouse has all of the art printing services you need to make your pieces look their best. Please take a look through our website to see how we can make every piece shine.