In this article, we want to talk about Future of Art Galleries . Join us .
In the 1980s, before the Texas oil boom ripped through our state like a whirlwind, there were only three companies making pump jacks. Pump jacks are those things that look like a grasshopper going up and down in the oil fields. The odd looking machine pumps oil from the ground after the well has been drilled.
At the apex of the oil boom, the number of companies building pump jacks grew to eighty three. It was said anyone with a welding torch was getting in the pump jack business. When the boom crashed and the price of oil hit bottom, all those new companies building pump jacks folded their tents, leaving the original three still standing.
There are a lot of similarities between the pump jack business and the art industry. Both require a robust economy to thrive. Both cater to a specialty nitch. Both have a narrow market and both are extremely vulnerable to change.
When I began as an artist in 1970, there were two art galleries in Austin along with a few frame shops. In ten years, the number of art galleries grew to a dozen.
I remember visiting Taos when most of the streets were dirt roads and there were less than a dozen places that could be called an art gallery. Kit Carson Street had only a couple of businesses – none were galleries. I sold my art to a place west of the square called Little Gallery. The owner weighed over 300 pounds, thus the gallery name.
Before the economy went into the tank in 2008, Taos had close to 70 art dealers. I doubt if there are more than 20 open today. Our gallery downsized from a wonderful 5,000 sq. ft. space with 18’ ceilings to a 1,000 sq. ft. in an older building. They are holding on by their fingernails.
The future of art galleries is dependent on us and those artists who follow. Art galleries cannot stay open if artists continue to sell work behind their backs.
If your work is in a gallery that produces a sale in your studio then you are obligated to pay the gallery the full commission agreed on. If you sneak a sale behind their backs then you are no better than a common horse thief. We hang horse thieves in Texas. Maybe we should add cheating artists to that list.
The answer to how long galleries will remain open depends on how many honest artists there are left in the world. I think we will always have art galleries, but not in the abundance we see today. Those who know how to sell will survive and thrive. Galleries not knowing how to close a sale without a huge discount will fade into the woodwork.
To remain open art galleries are dependent on artists they can trust and a strong knowledge of closing sales. Those of you reading this are the stewards of the future of art dealers.
The above statement produces a question, “What if someone comes to me that didn’t see my work in any gallery?” Then treat them as yours. But first become Sherlock Holmes and do your detective work.
Make absolutely certain they didn’t see a gallery ad or your art on your gallery’s website or in their space. You know if you are being honest, you don’t have to ask. Let’s band together to insure our galleries have a sunny future. We are the key to making that happen
