The most difficult hang imaginable, is what it was. Lots of work, each piece of which required its own breathing space and with late entries making an early and relaxing hang a redundant idea. It was all done on time though and on Thursday night a fair few people came through the doors to view the show - not quite so many as we had predicted due to a horribly unpleasant weather front passing through and dousing us all. But Jeff did well with an improvised ciggy shelter from his fishing umbrella, which proved popular with smokers and non smokers alike.
As an open exhibition it was a first for the gallery. We kept the show small so that we could learn from any mistakes without the mistakes costing us dearly - if we had been inundated with submissions then we may have hit some real problems.
As it was we only really had a couple of grumbles - of which one wanted to submit a large number of prints but also wanted to negotiate on the cost of submission - obviously a 'no goer' one rule for all on this one. The other was a different matter in relation to submission fee and commission.
We're not sure where the idea came from that we were renting out wall space - something we have never done, the £10 submission fee was, and will be in the future, an administration fee. It goes someway to paying for publicity, man hours for the hang and hospitality for the private view.
We did our research before deciding to do the open and followed the general theme - most submission fee's varying between £6.00 to £15.00, with commission at around 25-30%. So we, with our £10.00 and 22% (2% percent of that commission walks out of our big red door and makes its way across the road to our principal benefactor - a donation to St Thomas' Church...) can sleep easy in our beds.
It may be the norm' to think that galleries are all out for making a fast buck on artists, if we really wanted to make a quick buck let's face it we really wouldn't have gone into the gallery business. I reckon the bloke selling the Big Issue outside M&S makes more than we do at the moment...
But above all of the stress, we have a great exhibition of photography and that's all that is required. Our thanks go out to all those who have contributed to the show and have made it the success it is.
Judy
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Fishbone Gallery
- Who, What, Where, are Fishbone Gallery ?
- Longford, Coventry, United Kingdom
- The Fishbone Gallery is something of a rarity. A gallery committed to promoting the diversity of the visual arts of the West Midlands, that supports new artists and encourages them to show work that otherwise might not receive the attention it deserves. We are not primarily a profit making enterprise, and therefore we can afford to show experimental work that would never gain proper exposure through commercial channels. We also host a wide range of community projects and events, clubs and classes, run by specialist practitioners with thorough knowledge of their particular disciplines. We welcome all people of all ages and all cultural backgrounds, to come along and be part of what we do. Our mission is to make art and art practise an integral part of the lives of the people of Longford, and to encourage a broader audience for the visual arts in Coventry and the West Midlands. The gallery is run by Judy Kay and Jeff Hatt
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