REVIEW of Victim of the Arts Exhibition 2019
Things that went well:
-show was up in time
-the curation of the work in the space took into consideration aspects of the artworks such as size, shape, colour, material, textures, subject matter and looked great all together
-press releases looked very professional
-social media posting drummed up an excellent audience
-all the drinks and foods were consumed
-floor plan fit the artworks in the gallery space
-the artists had a great night
Things I did not expect to come up:
-stand-alone wall not being able to move
-projector technical issues
-issues of x2 audio files playing out loud
-the need for explicit content posters
-extra responsibility of who looks after the keys to enter and exit the building safely
Issues:
-time management of group crit, overrun by 2 hours without completing everyone's crit
(=set 15 min timers for each artist to discuss their work and firmly move on when it's up)
-teams causing some lag by not doing their section at all or in a timely manner
(=enforce roles by expressing how important their section is)
-info for press release collected very slowly
(=start collecting the info sooner, make it easier for the artists to give information, perhaps in person)
-not all information collected before deadline (leaving "unknown" sections in Press Release)
-very small turnout for take down team on the Friday after Private View
-woolwich ferry was closed at one point, prolonging van journey to/from Gallery/UEL causing minor delays in install
-last minute moves in the solidified curated space at 8pm night before the Private View, when the gallery building closed at 9pm
-needing to clean up the Gallery space before the night was over, not the next day
(=clearer and more specific communication with the gallery to organise this)
-arguments about how much exhibition space each artist should be getting
(=maintain a fair way of showing all the work, taking into account the size and shape of the work itself, encourage some artists who are less vocal and explaining to more confident artists that the space needs to be shared evenly as it is a group exhibition)
Improvements for next time:
-posters leading to the Gallery space
-better organised teams for each section
-more evenly dispersed responsibility
-stick to budget more carefully
-artists' business cards printed and presented for visitors to take
Budget:
-£200 covered alcoholic (+non) drinks, snacks
-needed to pay out of pocket for printing (didn't end up hugely expensive but should've been covered in budget)
Things we didn't do:
-posters outside the building leading visitors to the Gallery space from the street
-send out formal invites to local artists (for example Bow Arts down the road!), magazines and societies
-organise a professional photographer (did we really need to in the end? --> 3/4 artists in the show took beautiful photographs during the show)
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