Co-op Galleries: Pros and Cons

by Georgia Lange

The most important part of being an artist is showing your work to the public; otherwise, you are just wasted talent. Having said that, how does one go about showing his or her work? Of course, there is the online option; social networking sites like flickr, artslant, and facebook are great ways to get your work seen by others who you might never have met otherwise. However, there is a big difference between seeing a work of art on a computer screen and seeing the real thing in person. This brings me to the subject of galleries; galleries are the primary way that artists get their work shown to the public and build up their reputations. There are several different kinds of galleries, and finding the right one can be a challenge. Traditional galleries provide a client base, all or most of the expenses including the advertising, and take the highest percentage of your sales (usually about 50% of the sale price). Traditional galleries are also the most picky when it comes to taking on new talent.

There is an alternative to the traditional gallery, and that is the cooperative gallery. Co-op galleries are usually run by a group of artists working together to show their work. There is usually a membership fee, and the additional expenses often are shared by the   gallery members. Co-op galleries are a great way to connect with other artists and to build your exhibition experience. Co-op galleries will usually take anything from 10% to 40% of the sale price on a given piece. To learn more about different kinds of galleries, take a look at the blog Artist, Emerging. You can also go to Sylvia White’s blog to hear her advice on co-op and rental galleries.

I have been involved in several co-op galleries, and I have come out with both positive and negative experiences. When a co-op gallery works, it is a wonderful and rewarding experience. It all comes down to teamwork and making new connections with other artists and art-lovers. Each co-op gallery that I have worked with has been run differently. The common thread in all these experiences is that the amount of exposure you get is what you make it; it is your job to bring in as many people as you can to see the work, and hopefully, all the other artists involved will do the same. In short, you have to do your own groundwork and follow-up when working with a co-op gallery. Some co-op galleries will produce flyers and postcards for their shows for you to hand out to people you want to invite. The problem I have run into here is that I have rarely received these flyers until the week of the show, which is usually not enough notice for the people invited.

Some of the negative aspects of co-op galleries (this is not always the case, but it does happen) involve poor security, damaged artwork, failed teamwork, and downright stupidity. Traditional galleries are invested in protecting the works they display because they are in it to make a percentage. Co-op galleries are more about community, and will usually do their best to make sure that the work is protected but are less invested than a traditional gallery. Again, co-ops are all about shared responsibility; members usually take turns babysitting the gallery, and some of those members prove to be irresponsible leading to stolen or damaged artwork. It is also a very unfortunate scenario when co-op members forget about or ignore the sharing principle of costs. This is something that I have witnessed when entering a co-op gallery with friends, which is something that is highly demanding of investment and responsibility from each individual. When one person flakes out or decides not pitch in his or her share of cost and responsibility, it forces everyone else involved to pick up the slack creating tension within the group.
The most aggravating thing I have ever had happen with a co-op gallery was when I had three pieces in a show, (two paintings and one drawing, each labeled with title, medium, and price) and one of the other members responsible for hanging the work managed to mix up the labels (how do you confuse a monochromatic drawing with a painting?). This resulted in one of my original paintings being sold for less than half of its intended price without my consent or knowledge until it was too late. The other members insisted that they would make up the difference, but I have yet to see any of that money.

My advice with co-op galleries is to go for it but tread with caution. Do your research on the co-op galleries that interest you. I wouldn’t enter into or start a co-op gallery with friends unless they are really responsible and trustworthy. Start locally with co-op galleries, and be careful of galleries that are really vanity galleries disguised as co-op galleries (galleries that claim the prestige of a traditional gallery but charge a fortune for membership). Again, the co-op gallery experience is only as good as you make it. The only way to know if it’s worth it is to try it out and learn what you can from the experience.