------------------------------------------------------------
Tim McShane, Assistant--Cultural History
Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery
1302 Bomford Crescent S.W.
Medicine Hat, AB   T1A 5E6
Tel: (403) 502-8587
[log in to unmask]

>>> [log in to unmask] 09/21/05 9:33 AM >>>
 I can't tell you how  many times I've stood at an art museum
exhibition reception for which I've 
dedicated tons of my time and money and effort and emotion, and thought
to myself, 
"I'm the only one here that is not being paid." 
>snip<
Only twice in my 35-year career have I ever been paid for participating
in an art 
exhibition.

Without trying to sound snarky, may I ask how many times artists have
to >pay< to have their work exhibited?  After all, gallery space needs
to be heated/air conditioned, lit, cleaned, maintained, insured, and
guarded; these represent real dollars spent by the institution.  Gallery
space in major centres is often prime real-estate that may carry a
burden to the institution in rent/taxes.  Galleries often provide
publicity and promotional materials and valuable exposure for the
exhibiting artists, and if a gallery should broker sales of works during
the run of an exhibit, there's considerable costs involved with retail
staff and overhead of a sales operations as well.  These are all
concerns and costs for artists operating High Street commercial
galleries that generally aren't (at least, in my experience) passed on
to artists exhibiting at public galleries.

Money is always tight for cultural institutions, regardless of their
size.  I've always thought of exhibits as a partnership between the
institution and the artist, not as an adversarial relationship of the
gallery exploiting the artist.



Disclaimer: The information transmitted is intended only for the 
addressee and may contain confidential, proprietary and/or privileged 
material.  Any unauthorized review, distribution or other use of or
the taking of any action in reliance upon this information is
prohibited.  If you received this in error, please contact the sender
and delete or destroy this message and any copies

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).