by Jessica L. Porter,
Ladies Who Launch member, New York City
Photo by Lone Morch Schneider

During law school I heard rumors that top law firms would throw your resume directly in the trash if the watermark on your resume paper was backwards when held to the light. I believed every word of that.

I soon learned that the art world has its own strict rule as I watched a Chelsea gallery owner throw a CD of an artist’s work straight into the trash without looking at it because it was “unsolicited.” I didn’t expect the two worlds I thought of as being so different from one another to be so similar.

The fact is that gallery owners/directors (regardless of size, location, or reputation) are bombarded with submissions from artists on a daily basis from all over the world. Some of them don’t even accept submissions unless they advertise for a particular show, theme, or exhibition. It is therefore important for you to determine the best way to promote yourself in order to obtain representation by a gallery for your artwork. The way that you submit your work is essentially (and hopefully) the beginning of a longstanding mutually beneficial business relationship.

With that in mind I have provided the following suggestions for improving your chances of acceptance to a gallery:

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