Roadmap to Art Galleries for MFAs

Here are secrets to how you can exhibit with a respected gallery in major international critique. Learn how you can initiate relationships with curators, collectors, and gallerists in an efficient manner.

short overview video: all the steps beginning to end

outline chronologically

The art world is a BIG place where it’s easy to get lost, and waste a lot of time barking up the wrong tree because you don’t have accurate, up to date information.

Most likely, you’ve been watching videos with tips on how to get into a gallery. Those videos are too generic for you to get real results. What you need is specific, concrete actions that are customized.

What is Art Basel Miami?

Art Basel is a series of contemporary art fairs that occurs in Paris, Miami Beach, Qatar, Hong Kong, and Basel. Galleries pay very high fees (think $100k) to rent a booth.

Galleries show a selection of artists, or sometimes a solo presentation of 1 artist.

Art Basel Miami is a part of Miami art week, where local museums and galleries host parties, lectures, and other events. There are other fairs like Untitled, Scope, and NADA happening as well.

Everyone in the art world shows up to these art fairs: collectors, curators, museum directors, auctioneers, high end galleries, and artists from all over the world.

Usually contemporary art is a small part of a museum that is largely historical (like the Met) or, it’s a small museum that is entirely contemporary.

An art fair or something like Miami Art Week are the only places you can see this much contemporary art within an arm’s reach.

When do you try again with a gallerist?

If a gallerist acts super rude and uninterested when I visit their booth, I won’t try again. In my opinion, we need some degree of being nice regardless of having a bad day!

I did talk to a gallerist who was plenty polite, but I definitely knew we wouldn’t be great friends. So I’m wondering if that would be an okay relationship to get into.

Obviously I would prefer one who I really loved and could be friends with, but perhaps that’s enough? I feel like that gallerist I would try again with.

I saw a gallery yesterday and I LOVED their work and while the gallerist was polite enough we didn’t instantly connect like another gallerist where it was so lovely to chat with them. Not writing off the polite gallerist, but it’s super obvious who you vibe with in a minute!

My goal is to show my work at a well regarded gallery in NYC. You’ll get to see the nitty gritty of what actions I’m taking. I’ll discuss in great depth my own strategies for breaking into a high end gallery and networking.

This part of the art world really is a whole other universe, with its own etiquette and culture. I’ll provide accurate info on how collectors, curators, gallerists roll.

Mia has work at Aqua Art Miami with Arch Enemy Arts in Philadelphia! She has recently started exploring the gallery scene and has been building her relationship with this gallery.

Instagram Stories

Please post your Instagram handle in #miami-chat to access private Stories. I’ll add you as a “close friend” on Instagram so you can see them.

Tech Support

We can answer your questions promptly, everyone needs tech support at some point. Lots of members are happy to help too, ask, ask, ask!

Videos

We will be posting sloppy videos and posting them here! You’ll get to see behind the scenes, and definitely some salty comments.

Live Streams

I’ll do live streams before and after the fair, where you can ask questions and we can chat about contemporary art. These live streams will not show up on our YouTube channel.

Live streams links will be posted in #new-videos. If you can’t find it, just ask in the channels and someone will help.

Bass
Rubell
Perez Art Museum
ICA Miami
Wolfsonian

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