#1: Ideation: what’s the big idea?

• Choose a theme for your gallery exhibit

• Design a poster that represents your theme and reflects the people in your group. Be sure to include:

• Exhibit name

• Location

• Times open

• Time for reception (if you plan to have one)

• People presenting in the gallery

• Gallery logo 

• When designing your posters, handouts, and stickers, consider:

• Color Palette: The colors you choose say a lot about your work, make sure to choose a group of colors that fit your theme

• Lettering/Fonts: The typeface you choose also has an impact on how viewers perceive the poster, make sure to pick a font that fits your theme and has good readability

• Composition: Pay attention to the spacing and layout of your poster to make sure it is readable and is eye-catching

• Hang posters and hand out stickers IN ADVANCE OF YOU SHOW! 

#2: Preparation: getting organized

• Choose which pieces to display (if you have any digital pieces, make sure to print them ahead of time)

  1. 1. All work should be finished, clean (cropped properly and free of smudges etc.) and fixed/sealed

• Decide whether or not you’d like to display your pieces on matboard or other presentation methods

• Any work that is very small, low in contrast, ‘delicate,’ or quiet ought to be mounted (glued onto larger board) or matted (cut board over the work)

• Write an artist's statement:

1. Creativity:  how you are using the elements of art (line, shape, color, form...). Describe the artwork: size, media (materials), subject matter, composition (arrangement of imagery on the page)

2. Concept of Sustained Investigation: the ‘big idea’ for this work. Remember, the ideation of a project happens in the sketchbook so you might look back at that...What is this piece about? How did you choose as subject matter and why?

3. Craft: the care and attention paid to the artwork which starts with learning methods and materials, and refining/reworking an artwork to its fullest potential. What techniques did you use in this piece? Were you drawing from life or using your imagination? What techniques are unique to the media you used? How did you engage the page?

• Create tags for work listing artist/title/media

• Do your preparation beforehand and make sure you give yourself enough time to print and hang your work

#3: Hanging Art: making it look good

• Lay your pieces in front of each wall to decide where you want to hang each piece, and the space between them. 

• Art should be straight---not crooked (unless that’s intended)

• Art should be hung with the same materials throughout: tacks, tape, nails, hangers, use the same approach for everything. Ensure work is flush against the wall.

  1. 1. for 3D pieces, find or create stands for pieces.

• Eye level; pieces should not be too high or too low---if you are hanging in a single row all art should be hung at eye level for an average height, it can be aligned top, center or bottom but should be consistent throughout

• Gallery Style: two or more artworks stacked on a wall-this is a good option when you have a lot of work, and work of a great variety of media. 

• Adjust lighting to properly light pieces

• Cross lights to prevent harsh lighting on any of your pieces

• Other things to be conscious of:

• Make sure your pieces are properly spaced apart

• Try not to over or underpopulate each wall, too many pieces can look cluttered and too few pieces can look empty

Tags/Interpretation:

• Should be mounted the same, in the same place (bottom right if possible) 

• Interpretation should be formatted the same: font, size, alignment, margins, mounting, & placement

• Tags/articulation should be free of grammatical and spelling errors

• All work is marked with artist/title/media

#4: Exhibition: running the show

GALLERY SITTERS/DOCENTS:

• Arrange and organize gallery sitters to come each day to open gallery at lunch

• Close doors to classrooms

• Turn off dome lights/turn on track lights

• Use door stop to open door

• Be friendly and answer questions to guests

• Use stool and table to eat

• Shut down: turn off track lights, turn on dome lights

• Make sure the floors are clean with no stray items

• Snacks & beverages are bought for reception

#5: Closing: clean out

• Make sure you take photos of your show: always document!

• Take down work in a timely manner so the next group can get started.

• Remove posters on campus

• Floors should be clean