Our halogen lighting system finally reached us a couple of days ago after a tortuous sea and land journey via, I believe, the Antarctic and the Andromeda Galaxy (and not a warp speed)!

The lights are installed now and will make our art glow. You’ll see from the pic that all the lights are temporarily pointing downwards in a sad but expectant stance, eagerly awaiting all the art. Not much longer to go now.

An eagle-eyed viewer recently sighted our mini-gallery director, Lady Penelope, out on the town. Sources confirmed that Her Ladyship was celebrating having signed another artist to join art251.

Also, we hear that this may be the last time Lady Penelope will be able to trip the light fantastic and sip refreshments for a while. art251 opens its doors very soon, and all the gallery staff will be far too busy for this type of relaxation!

We have a point-of-sale and gallery management system to get up an running, final fixtures to install, furniture to deliver, lights to re-position, track and cable system to install, art to hang and display…

Lady Penelope celebrating the signing of an artist for art251. Courtesy of anon.

We’ll be doing some critical (self) analysis in this episode, so I hope you’re sitting comfortably. My intent is to offer emerging artists a few tips that will help guide and focus, so I hope you don’t find this preachy.

You’re an artist. You believe you’ve created some great art and it’s your best work to date. But no local galleries or collectors are beating a path to your studio. So, now what? Well, there are many avenues available to market your art, and a good one is still the tried and tested, fine art gallery. Good galleries have the resources to market your art while you create it. However, since there are many more artists than there are display spaces in galleries, competition to get into a gallery can be fierce. As a result, many galleries are very selective and focused — art251 is no different in this respect. Most galleries have in place art submission guidelines, which are part of this focusing process. This helps both artist and gallery. Incidentally, we’ll be publishing ours very soon.

However, before you approach us, or any other gallery for that matter, before you send us slides or a CD of your art in the mail, before you email your jpeg images, and before you make the road trip to our space, art in hand (please don’t do this!), I’d recommend you first to do some very important preparatory work. It’s really just basic research, and falls into two areas. First, ask yourself what you want from a gallery and why. Second, learn more about the gallery before you make an approach. I’ll delve into each of these in a little more detail.

Step 1. Determine what you want from an art gallery and why

This part involves some thoughtful self analysis. So, breakout that old Rorschach test. I still have results from an ancient Myers-Briggs personality test buried somewhere in my attic — not pretty. If you have difficulty assessing your motivations and goals as an artist try asking a friend or family member to prod you with some questions or to play devil’s advocate with you. Or, come in and talk to us sometime. The more you dive into your psyche the better prepared you’ll be to promote your art and focus your efforts.

Here are some questions that you should ponder, in no particular order and with no right or wrong answers: Why do you wish to make art? What type of art best represents you, your feelings and your motives? Do you wish to make a living from art, or is it more of a hobby? Do you want to be making art 5 years from now? Does your creative process excite you, or is it more of a job? Who buys your art? Why do you wish to be in a gallery? Where does your art fit, i.e., is it traditional, experimental, is it 3D, it is political, is it representational? Does your art ooze emotion or tell a complex narrative or is art for art’s sake?

Up to now you may have been so busy creating art that you’ve had no time to think critically about your work and where it stands in the world. So, use your answers to these questions to construct a framework for you as an artist and to establish how and where to position your work. Remember too, this is just a starting point. I wish I had asked myself these questions back when I was first attempting to become a professional photographer — I probably would have made less mistakes, and recovered from others more quickly.

Step 2. Learn about the galleries you wish to approach

Once you’ve answered some questions about yourself and your art, you can move on to the gallery analysis, assuming of course that you’ve decided that you’d like to be in a gallery. Don’t skip this step — it’s just as important as step 1.

First, find some galleries in your area. Chances are you’ll find several especially in urban, downtown areas. art251 is strangely different, you can find us in the heart of the suburbs.

Second, make sure these galleries display art that’s similar to yours. It’s likely to be a frustrating experience for you to take your traditional Western-style bronze sculptures to an edgy contemporary art space, or visa versa for that matter! So, visit the gallery several times — visit during the day, go see a couple of the gallery’s shows in the evenings. Read its website and its blog (all good galleries should have a blog). Check out the art on its walls, familiarize yourself with the themes and currents of its shows, learn about the artists. Ask yourself what you like about the gallery or its art. You might even try befriending one of the gallery’s artists. In our case, for instance, we don’t show any Western bronzes, but we’re certainly open to new representations of more traditional themes. But, if you’re just starting out and have nowhere to turn, we’d love to discuss your options with you, and try to help, even if we and you know that your art would better fit and show elsewhere.

Third, after you’ve browsed in the gallery it’s appropriate to approach the gallery staff, strike up a conversation and tell them your learning about the gallery, to see if it’s a good match. We hope it will be easy to engage us — we’re friendly, and don’t look to intimidate or act pretentiously. Think of some interesting things to say about the space or the art or an artist. Try to remember the name(s) of the gallery staff you meet. By the way, you don’t need to visit galleries clandestinely. Though should you choose to enter art251 in disguise please make it an amusing one (I’m partial to Inspector Clouseau disguises).

Fourth, ask the staff for a business card and submission guidelines if you haven’t already seen them online. Then, take your leave, and follow-up after 3-5 days with an email. Remind the gallery staff of your previous visit (don’t be pushy), mention your positive vibes and ask them for consideration of your work. Send a couple or three clear images of your work, and describe why you now believe you and your art would be a great addition to the gallery. Your friendly art251 staff love email — it’s often the best way to reach us.

If the gallery likes your work, you can be reasonably sure they’ll be back in touch, so get your full portfolio ready, clean up any broken links on your website and air out your studio. Now, If you don’t hear back from your first email within 2 weeks you should follow-up with a quick email reminder or even a call — just keep it courteous and positive.

I hope you find some useful tips scattered throughout this article. While I cannot guarantee that this approach will work with all galleries it will work with art251, and probably quite a few others. You’ll find that the details in approaching individual galleries will vary. Generally however, you should find that the better prepared you are about yourself and your art and the more homework you’ve done on the galleries the more successful you will be. If none of this makes sense or even if it does, we’d really like to learn more about you and your art and try to help you on your way, whether or not its via the walls or displays of art251.

I’ve been thinking about our requirement for artists to have an artist’s statement, which will help connect the artist to his or her viewers and collectors. Our customers have told us this is important; some wish to learn about the artist, some wish to understand the creative process or an artist’s influences, some wish to grasp the narrative (if any) that accompanies the art. This all makes sense. Many fine art galleries and art spaces do this, and many artists offer an artist’s statement as a matter of course.

Then, I realized that we, at art251, don’t have something similar in place that summarizes our goals and motivations in plain sight for artists and others to see. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to hear why gallery “xyz” is in business — other than to make money, we assume. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know the goals and aims and desires of a local gallery owner before an artist consigns his or her precious work, or before a customer buys a piece of art?

With this in mind, I think it might be useful for you to know why we’re in business, and why we do what we like to do.

So, here’s our “gallery statement”:

While we’ve both been art lovers for life, we only started collecting art ourselves a few years ago. We found the learning curve to be high and the whole process intimidating and unnerving. We knew we couldn’t be the only ones feeling this way — there had to be a better approach. Thus, came art251.

art251 is art for the rest of us. We want everyone to own high quality art and to enjoy the experience of collecting it. Our mission is to make exceptional art more accessible to more people, one community at a time, accompanied by superb customer service. We search for the highest quality art from artists in the N.Texas area, offering original works that are unique, authentic and uncommon, and which come with a compelling narrative. We’ll have a broad spectrum of works at art251, covering painting, photography, jewelry, glass, and sculpture.

We believe that fine art and handcrafted works can be affordable and that the process of buying and collecting art can be fun, informative and educational. We provide an environment that offers an engaging and straightforward alternative to typical galleries. We like our customers to browse and ask us questions, and although we may not have all the answers we welcome conversations about our art, artists and space. Our customers are welcomed by our friendly staff who will demystify the collecting process. Prices and “lifestories” will be posted next to each piece of art, and our buying process is straightforward; we don’t negotiate over price (which hurts both customer and artist).

Later this year we plan to offer two other programs to make art more accessible. First, we will have an art leasing service that allows individuals and businesses to sample work before purchasing or as a way to refresh rooms and offices by regularly rotating art. Second, we will reproduce select works in limited, but very affordable editions, of different sizes.

Overall, our goal is that customers, artists, and the staff of art251 will equally enjoy the art251 experience, both the art and the process of collecting it.

Mike and Kim Gerra, owners art251

We had this idea. Open a fine art space. Surround ourselves with great artists and their art. Expose new artists to new viewers and clients. Educate and assist new collectors. Sell some art, and collect some money in exchange. Simple, right? Wrong.

Invariably, like many other facets of starting up a customer facing business it’s never quite as simple as it sounds, or looks. It’s really quite complex beneath the surface. Just thinking about all the equipment and peripherals and gizmos we need, some of which are temporarily boxed up behind me in our home office (while others we have yet to order), is giving me a troubling headache.

So, here’s my non-exhaustive list of retail components that we’ll need to lubricate the art251 experience and make it smooth and simple for our customers:

• Computer, monitor and keyboard
• Software to track all of our consigned, wholesale art inventory and leased space
• Printer for invoices and lots of other paperwork
• Receipt printer for our credit card receipts
• Credit card terminal and/or magnetic card reader
• Barcode scanner for our inventoried items
• Drawer to store receipts and checks
• Telephone and fax machine
• Lots of miscellaneous cables to join all this equipment together
• Wireless router to hook all our joined equipment to the internet
• Track and cable system and lots of hooks to hang our art
• Music system and speakers
• Display fixtures to showcase work
• Wall tags for our art narratives and artist bios
• Filing cabinets for all the paperwork that we’re not supposed to need

This doesn’t even touch on all the paper-based items we will need, from more business cards, artist postcards, wrapping paper, flyers, bags, boxes, labels, and on and on. I’m so thankful for the internet — without it the process of finding these items, comparing prices and ordering would have taken us months. Now, with a couple of clicks on the right websites we can completely outfit our space with all the necessities of modern retail.

The more we discuss our gallery with artists, potential customers, art lovers, friends and advisers the more we learn about what to do, and, just as importantly, what not to do.

We have a strong idea of how our space will look. We have a strong feel for the type of art we’d like to show. We have a equally strong sense of how to behave and deal with others, whether with artists or clients. We’ve tried to communicate this to the artists we’ve met — it’s certainly easier for people to get a sense of who we are in a face-to-face meeting. But for those of you we have yet to meet, I’ll try to summarize our business and personal code of ethics, and matching expectations below. It’s rather simple, and much is based on the Golden Rule.

• We strive for openness and honesty in all our relationships, and expect this of others
• We’ll not be sneaky and underhanded and appreciate artists who treat us the same way
• We don’t ask artists to be exclusive (only for the art that is consigned)
• We honor our financial obligations to our artists foremost
• We believe that consigned art belongs to the artist until sold
• We don’t negotiate the sales price for a piece of art with customers (the Saturn of art spaces?)
• We care for a piece of art as if it were our own (and we often wish it were)
• We aim to give an artist frequent feedback, both positive and negative, in a nice way
• We believe in Karma — what you give, is what you get in return (isn’t this a line from a song…)

Some artists have asked us this recently, and the answer is no, not yet. Before I go on let me explain the acronym soup:

• FWADA - Ft.Worth Art Dealers Association
• DADA - Dallas Art Dealers Association
• NADA - New Art Dealers Alliance
• ADAA - Art Dealers Association of America
• FADA - Fine Art Dealers Association

Both, FWADA and DADA represent some great galleries and art spaces in their respective geographic zones. We’re not a member of either art association for two reasons. First, we’re located in the suburban “no-man’s land” sandwiched between Ft.Worth and Dallas, sometimes referred to as the Mid-cities. We’re like the neighborhood stray that nobody wants, yet. Second, we’re a new business, and these two esteemed organizations require a new gallery to be in existence for at least 2 years before a newbie is admitted. I haven’t had time to pursue and challenge the reasoning behind this rule, yet.

NADA, on the other hand has nationwide members, mostly new and rising galleries specializing in contemporary art and emerging artists. But ironically in this case, art251 is too “new” for the New Art Dealers Alliance, and also we’re not in a fashionable or phat (you pick the adjective) part of the world, yet.

As for ADAA and FADA, we’ll, we’re not likely to even warrant a canned email response, yet.

Go further afield and you’ll find BADA (Boston), ADAC (Chicago), HADA (Houston), PADA (Private), SADA (Seattle), SFADA (San Francisco). I think you get the idea.

I suppose we could start our own art dealers association for (K)eller or the (M)id-cities, but I wonder about the negative consequences of a poorly chosen acronym that has a colorful meaning in another language. I’m worn out, the acronyms are making me feel faint — I escaped the technology industry a while ago to avoid acronyms. So, please let us know if you find some others, and your suggestions for our own personal art association are most welcome.

It seems like it’s been a long wait. We went through lengthy design iterations with Bryan Wetz, our interior designer. Our custom display units were built offsite. So, from day to day we’d see little progress inside the space. But, now most of the displays are done, and they have started arriving in art251.

Two of our main display units arrived on July 16 — it was worth the wait (see below). It’s quite an experience to see an idea go from scribble on a napkin, to an artist’s sketch, to a virtual CAD model, to a 3D miniature, to a designer’s drawing, to the real, touchable thing! Kudos to Mark and his carpenters and millworkers for shaping the crazy ideas, via Bryan, into real wood.

The curves and angles are eye-catching. The wood grains on the millwork show subtly, and the white and blue stains complement the color of the space perfectly. More units, for display and storage, arrive in the next few days. Then, very soon, we’ll be able to start doing something that we’ve dreamed about and waited to do since October 2007 — hang art on the walls, and place art on the displays!

We made our local newspaper, the Keller Citizen, on July 18. It’s good to see all the other new retailers in the cool Arthouse development getting some early press. Southern Land Company, our landlord, has done a good job of seeding the retail section of Arthouse with local, family owned businesses, and half are either art or home furnishings focused. This will be good for art251.

Early on during our design phase we took a conscious decision to make art251 kid-friendly. We have children. We have been inside many art galleries where children are not explicitly forbidden, but their presence certainly doesn’t seem to be encouraged. Not exposing kids to art is a lost opportunity for all.

At art251 we like to expose art to all age groups. So, whether you’re 8 years old or 108, you’ll be welcome inside art251. We even plan to have some great original art oriented towards children, from talented local artists. More on that soon.

Our space is still a construction zone, albeit a steadily improving one. So, before it opens, our kids have been testing out the space for aesthetics and acoustics, and the aisles for accessibility. And the verdict is in: they love it! Of course, they’ll have to slow down when the space is full of beautiful objects that need to be admired in timeless slow motion. We recommend this for adults too — slow down, let our beautiful, calm space envelop you, and let the art transport you elsewhere, with or without children.

For any eagle-eyed, legal watchers please keep in mind we’re an art space. Our objects are unique and precious, especially to us and our artists. Some of our works are fragile. art251 is not a “McJump-bouncey-play-castle” space, so bring your kids, and your great-great-grand mother — just exercise some common sense when you visit.

Growing up, I spent most of my summer months vacationing with family in Northern Italy, near Milan. Some of my relatives lived on a dairy farm, which provided milk for the local Parmigiano (Parmesan) cheese producer. The farm was in a two-building village in the foothills of the Apennine Mountains. It had no phone service, in fact the nearest phone was a 20 minute bicycle ride to the nearest Church / restaurant / grocery store / cafe. Please keep in mind this was only back in the early 1970s.

Then one day, telephone service arrived at the farm. Groups of engineers had planted mile upon mile of telephone poles, and they pulled phone wires from the nearest town, up and down a mountain, across a valley, through a forest and over a couple of streams and into the farm. It was a revelation! Though, my grandfather could never figure out how to hold the telephone handset.

The reason for this story? Thirty-plus years later, and following a global technological and communications revolution, I feel like we’ve just been through the same impossibly tortuous experience with installing phone service in art251. Nowadays it’s fiber optic cable, solid state switching, VOIP, wireless ethernet. But to me it feels the way the experience must have felt to my grandparents in Italy. Alora! Finalmente, dopo dieci anni e arrivato il servizio telefonico. Phew, it’s finally here!

We do like food here at art251. Your friendly gallery owners can concoct some tasty, authentic Italian and southern dishes. (I’m from London, but the UK doesn’t really have a cuisine other than bangers and mash.) However, food is not our connection with Ms.Ray.

We are connected through Art-o-mat, our trusty, art dispensing machine, robotic gallery director in-training, and a work of art in itself. You see, our machine once lived in New York City, at Utrecht Art Supply on Fourth Avenue. Somehow it ended up on the New York-based Rachael Ray Show during a segment on cool vending machines. Check-out the Rachael Ray vid below.

Our Art-o-mat machine, the one seen here, will arrive at art251 by mid-August, shippers and gasoline prices willing. We can’t wait to give it a new home.