This is part 3 of our series on getting your website seen by galleries…
Technique #3 – Send Email invitations & Queries
Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow
Galleries are quickly becoming much more comfortable with operating on the internet. Most have their own websites so it makes sense that they are willing to work with you online.
A very useful approach to a gallery is to email them to request their submission guidelines for new work. The guidelines will tell you if they will accept an invitation to visit your website, or if they instead prefer a more traditional approach such as a slide portfolio.
The big advantage of email is that it allows you to approach a far greater number of galleries than you would be able to by regular snail mail. It is also much less expensive and time consuming. The down side is that your email will probably get less attention than a nicely crafted and presented letter.
For this reason, my preferred approach would be to use email for preliminary information scouting and research. When you have found a gallery you are seriously interested in – send them a regular snail mail intro – as outlined in Parts 1&2 of this series.
Email becomes powerful again for follow up. Once you have established a connection with a gallery and made your first wonderful (hopefully!) impression – then email is a great way to stay in touch and keep them updated on news and events featuring your work.
Check back soon for Part 4…
