My artist in residence with the Durham Art Guild is nearing an end, and with that is my solo show. The artist in residence is approximately 6 months in length. The show should be new work that you’ve made during the show. There’s a lot to do to fill the space for the show, and a lot of background activities. So here’s my list below.

Space Planning

• Make sure with the event space what insurance is with the space and what additional insurance you may need.
• Think about a contract with the event space so it is clear what you are responsible for and what they are. Like installation and what systems they may want you to use.
• Ask for a plan for the space and if there are any restrictions.
• Visit the space so you know where things can’t hang because of air vents, security doors, alarm or light switches etc. The plans usually have windows and doors but not these other things.
• Make a plan/map that eliminates or marks these spaces. I using use newsprint and divide all measurements (use inches) by 20. A 20 x 20″ piece will represent 1″ for example. Make sure you leave space between you pieces, so they can breathe.
• In your plan put a thumbprint photo of the work piece (just from a normal printer) in the space you want it to be so you can see if it looks cohesive. Also, when you go to hang its a great plan for everyone helping to know what goes where.

Core Material for Show

• Create a Title for the show, an Artist Statement and Bio. The event space or yourself may want to get this printed in vinyl text so you can add it to one of the walls or on a display board. Check out my previous post for my Title, Artist Statement and Bio.
• Take 1-2 marketing photos that you want to use for your marketing material. Images need to be at a high quality so for printed material they look good.
• Labels for each piece. These vary, mine have the name of the piece, size, material and price and a QR code for purchasing.
• Hanging devices. For me that mostly means d-rings/wire or rods and screws or just screws. If you are working with paintings or photography you may want to purchase frames or make frames.

Event Planning

If your event runs for more than one week, you may want to think about other events to run in the space (with your gallery or event space), especially if you are local. I am doing the following for my solo show:

• Opening Reception (3 hours) with 2 types of white wine (avoid red in case it spills), non-alcoholic beverages, and Charcuterie.
  
• Afternoon Tea (bringing in something kiwi to the activities) with a reading from a friend who is a well known author, a pop-up shop with a local store and then a makers circle for those that want to stay.
  
  This is accompanied with tea and coffee and finger food (I’m thinking Ginger Crunch, Apple Squares, Sausage Rolls, Bacon and egg or Spinach and egg bites, and a Sponge with cream and Strawberries or Date Scones).
  
• Tiki Tour (Artist Walk through) where I’ll personally walk through the show and talk about each piece and I’m hoping for a good Q+A.
  
  This is in the evening so I am providing light refereshments with wine and non-alcoholic drinks, cheese, grapes and crackers.
  
• Lastly, Private Studio Tours which I’m using calendly for managing the bookings. You will need to pay for a license for a couple of months.

Other ideas include classes, a community project (which I’ve been running through the residence), lectures, tutorials, partner with other artists like poets or music and use do a joint event.

So, to summarize what you will need to organize:

• Dates and times for each event
• Beverages and Food for each event. Also you need to think about coffee and tea dispensers, plates, napkins, utensils and cups too.
• License Calendly for booking if doing private tours
• Confirm others you are working with
• Organize Marketing around each event (more shortly on marketing).

Marketing

• Design and print event postcard/flyer for a take away. It should use one of your marketing photos, title, event dates and time and location.
• I did create a second postcard with a back that has room for me to write a message and send the postcard as an invitation.
• Ask the event space if they have a press release mailing list. Use this to write a short (150 word) description about you and the show and send it off to the list for immediate release.
• Drop off flyers to local businesses or businesses that will drive traffic to your event.
• Use your social media to launch your event and publicize your event. Ask friends to share on their social media too. You can reuse your postcard images for social media marketing too.
• Do a social media takeover for a week with the event space social media person/account. Include and introduction of you, your work, 1-2 reels on the process and walk through of the show.
• Contact local guilds or art societies to ask them to put it in their newsletters for members who might be interested.
• Write a couple of blog posts that support your event.

Additional Items

As I wanted to share my art process with this show, I had to organize/order the following too:

• I ordered posters that had 1. the story/description of each piece, 2. Design and 3. Creation notes. 18 x 24″ and frames for each. Each one I would with a graphic designer as we will be creating a book from these.
• I ordered canvas prints (8×10) for each of the inspiration photos. This meant I also had to remember to take the photos and edit the photos as well.
• A couple of my pieces had furniture required so I made two wood benches and purchased a book case for storage of pillows and other smaller items.
• If you aren’t local, you will also need to consider shipping.

For printing activities I used:

• Moo.com for postcards (I always use for business cards and postcards though they are more expensive). Other options include Staples and Vista Print.
• Posters, I used Staples due to easy access.
• Canvas Prints I used Snapfish.com making sure it was during some of their coupons.

Let me know if you think I missed anything, or if you have questions.