My ‘Applying for opens’ experience

I Will Pass Through

An open art exhibition allows anybody to enter artwork for consideration by a jury, usually for a fee.  Sometimes there are prizes attached to the exhibition.

I apply to “opens” to get my work seen by new audiences, be it galleries or potential clients or even other artists.

I have been applying to open art exhibitions for many years.  I have been regularly rejected, but I pick myself up, dust myself off and keep applying.

My initial reaction when I get a rejection email is to be really angry. I sometimes go off emotionally and declare I will never apply to another exhibition again.  I know, very childish, but I take it all so personally.  We artists deal in emotion.

So how do I move forward - time heals and I can’t stay down or angry for long.  I continue to produce new work, get it professionally photographed and l keep my records up to date.  Size, date when made, price.  If I don’t do this then time gets away and I forget when I completed work. I’ve also learned that sculptures should be weighed and that information also recorded.

I mostly become aware of opens through online portals.  Often when you apply to one exhibition your details are recorded and the internet sends you details of other exhibitions.

When I see an exhibition that I feel is a good fit for my work and ambition, I print out all the information and make a note of the deadline for sending in digital images.  I need to print it out because reading the requirements online just does not stay in my head.  The printed page allows me to highlight the important bits.

I now do not wait till the last minute to apply.  I have been caught out so many times, applying on the last day and the computer is not working, or the site is oversubscribed.  It is so unbelievably stressful that I now put in place strategies to keep it all calm.

I also print the completed form so I have a record of what I sent where because I nearly sent the same work to an exhibition two years in a row.  I have folders for the exhibitions that I have applied to over the years as sometimes I am successful, well even more so now.  Not sure why that is happening.  Is my work getting better – is my website helping – am I becoming more discerning?   Perhaps because I am choosing better at what exhibitions would suit my work, or a combination of everything.

I arrived at the most recent exhibition to drop off my work which was beautifully wrapped in Stiffy Bags and had D rings attached for ease of hanging.  I obviously hadn’t read all the requirements properly.

All wrapping had to be taken home and there should have been no D rings attached.

Just when I think I’ve got myself sorted and feeling very proud that I have ticked all the boxes, the little surprises occur.  It wasn’t major, just an opportunity to remind myself to check everything more thoroughly next time.