General Information about Exhibiting at Wallkill River Center for the Arts

Exhibit with us!

All artists are welcome to apply!  Generally there is no fee to submit, but there is usually a hang fee, per piece, for non-members.  General exhibit terms are below but please consult the show’s prospectus for detailed and specific information about the exhibit you are interested in.

General Exhibit Terms:  The Wallkill River Center for the Arts will collect a 30% commission on all sales which take place in the gallery or online.  Wallkill River Center for the Arts will collect sales tax on all sales and make the appropriate filings and payments to New York State.  A check for 70% of the sale price will be available for the artist to pick up within 30 days of the show closing.  Artists will need to return a completed and signed Form W-9 and will receive a 1099 tax statement if their sales exceed $600 for the year.

The artist agrees to exhibit these works, and holds harmless the volunteers and staff of Wallkill River Center for the Arts. Any damage incurred is the responsibility of the artists. The artist agrees to pick-up unsold works in a timely manner. The Wallkill River Center for the Arts is not responsible for any paintings left in the gallery after the designated “pick up” dates.  Works left in the gallery for more than 30 days following the exhibit date will be stored in the basement and considered to be a charitable contribution to The Wallkill River Center for the Arts.

All works must be clean and in good repair. All works must have a HANGING WIRE in the back.  All work must be framed or have finished edges (such as painted gallery wrapped canvas). We reserve the right to refuse any work for any reason (any fees paid will be refunded if we decline to show your work).  If a frame, glass or wire breaks, it is the responsibility of the artist to collect the piece and make repairs.

For full details see here:  Exhibiting Artist Policies

For a full list of 2024 Exhibits, see here: Artist’s Guide to Exhibiting 2024 (Be sure to click on it to enlarge it)

Hallway Exhibits:  Hallway exhibits are included in Artist & Joint Artist yearly memberships and there is no fee to exhibit.

• Two (2) pieces which meet the theme requirements may be dropped off.  Occasionally we will request more than two pieces per artist.  At least one piece by each artist will be hung if it meets the theme and we try to accommodate all theme appropriate  works submitted.
• Work drop off dates can be found in the above Artists Guide to Exhibiting 2024
• Pieces must be no bigger than 20 x 20 Inches. Oversized matting and frames are discouraged.
• Sign work in and out on the clipboard in the foyer and fill out an art label and attach it to your piece with a roll of tape.

Juried Exhibits:  The works included in juried shows will be selected by the announced juror who is typically an art professional or art organization. Not all submitted works will be accepted to the show. The art selected for the show is the choice of the juror and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Wallkill River Center for the Arts.  Work will be presented to the juror anonymously.  Submit via email to info@wallkill.art with the show title in the subject line and include the following information:

• Your Name
• Phone Number
• Title of the Piece
• Medium
• Size
• Price
• Attach a JPG of your piece(s).  Up to four (4) pieces per show are allowed.

There is no fee to submit, but there will be a $20 hang fee per accepted piece.  Two (2) hang fees per show are waived for Artist, Joint Artist and Represented Artist Members.  Results, both accepted and unaccepted will be announced via email.

Group Exhibits:  Group shows are typically un-juried exhibits which are open artists who are in a group or meet certain criteria.  Our Members Exhibit, Senior Exhibit and Teachers Exhibits are examples of this type of show.  See the show prospectus for specific requirements.

Solo Exhibits:  Solo exhibits are by invitation, but if you would like to be considered for a solo exhibit, please email all of the following information in a single email to info@wallkill.art with “Solo Exhibit Request” in the subject line:  1). digital portfolio of 10 or more jpeg images   2) show title   3) artist statement   4) brief bio    5) photo of yourself    6) an Artist CV is appreciated, but not required.   Your request will be reviewed by the Curating Committee which usually meets in September to confirm and plan exhibits for the next two years.

Receptions:  Wallkill River Center for the Arts will hold a reception which is free and open to the public for most main gallery exhibits.  Receptions are usually scheduled for Saturdays from 5-7:00 pm the first weekend that a main gallery exhibit opens.  Light refreshments will be served and we gladly accept cash donations as well as food and beverages to defray reception costs.  This is a wonderful opportunity to see the new works, enjoy refreshments, and engage with local artists.

 

Additional Information about the gallery practices at Wallkill River Center for the Arts:

February 5, 2022

Response to Comments at the Annual Meeting

Hello Members,

Thank you to everyone who came to the Annual Meeting on the 22nd and/or sent in your votes and proxies.  We appreciate your commitment to making this organization succeed and carry on into the future.

We received feedback and written comments at the annual meeting from a couple of artists about the curatorial process at Wallkill River School (soon to be Wallkill River Center for the Arts) which probably means some of their questions are on the minds of other artist members as well.  This is a long and detailed response but I, and the curating committee, have given the gallery policies and goals of our organization a great deal of earnest thought which may not be apparent to all of our members.  We are going to lay out our thinking, talk a bit about the art business and look at how we compare to the art industry in general. The gallery is the emotional center of our organization, so a thorough and thoughtful response is warranted.  

Nonprofit:  Keep in mind that we are a nonprofit arts organization, which means that we have a responsibility to serve the public, not only our members, in order to maintain our 501(c)(3) status.  Part of what we offer the public is free access to high quality art with an emphasis on local artists.  Within that goal, we promote local artists and assist them with building their careers by fleshing out their resumes, providing a community network of other artists, opportunities to exhibit and sell art and we are often the first formal gallery new artists have contact with so we often teach artists the ropes about exhibiting their work professionally.  

Artist Membership:  With an artist level membership (Artist, Joint Artist or Represented Artist Member) members may exhibit one piece (two if space allows) in the hallway every month.  Also, all members are invited to exhibit a piece in the member’s exhibit annually.  This means that at least thirteen pieces can be exhibited without undergoing any selection or jury process.  Main gallery shows are arranged by the curating committee and are usually solo exhibits and group shows.  Anyone, member or non-member may apply for either a solo exhibit or to juried exhibits.  We waive the hang fees for our artist members if they are accepted to a show.  

2022 Hallway:  The hallway exhibit has always had themes and accordingly we have published a list of themes for 2022.  However, we will try an experiment – we will still have monthly themes, as usual, but we will also allow artists to go outside of those themes and bring works of their choosing.  Artist members may bring 1-2 pieces every month.  The second piece will be hung if space allows. Art work will still go up and come down every month and the same piece may not be exhibited twice in a year.  This should give artists a sufficient chance to put their best foot forward in the hallway and those who like themes may follow the list.

Pick-up and Drop-off:  To make things easier for our artists, we will add an extra hour of staff time, from 5:00-6:00 pm, after the gallery closes to the public, on the Sunday before the exhibits change.  Artists can use this time to pick-up and drop off in a single trip.

Member Sales vs. Solo Artist Sales:  We are providing these statistics because they were requested.  Our artists are not competing with the jurors and we also caution artist members about being overly competitive among themselves.  Our organization was founded on the principle of goodwill and artists supporting each other.  A focus on ranking and arguing over small amounts of sales can sour the culture and have a negative impact on the endeavor for everyone.  Some artists have a more “saleable” product than other artists, but salability isn’t an appropriate metric when thinking about art.  Artists should also consider the intangible benefits from displaying their artwork such as exposure, promotion, subsequent commissions, etc. and not least, the social interactions or participating in an artist member organization.    

We sold 59 pieces of original art.  The question was asked how many of the pieces were sold by the juror of the exhibits versus artist members.  Please see the table below for a breakdown of the sales for the year.  You will see that Artist Members were the vast majority of the pieces, claiming more than half of the gross sales, and 22 of the sales were from hallway exhibits.  

2021 Statistics:

59 Pieces Total	Artist Status	Total Gross Sales $20,646
7	Hudson Valley Plein Air Festival (of the sales, 1 was a member, 6 were not)	$3,925
5	Non-member solo artist and/or juror	$1,480
1	Non-member artist in a juried show	$200
46 (22 from Hall)	Artist Members in hallway, group & solo	$11,148
	Member prints & cards	$1,286
	WRS merchandise & donated art sales	$823
	Art of Seed Fundraiser	$1,784

Small Works Exhibits:  We just closed a small works show which had several sales.  We have done fundraisers in the past with a full wall of 8×10 canvases in 2018 and 2019, but we did not sell more than a handful of pieces.  I am very pleased to hear that another gallery is having success.  We currently have 86 artist members and it would take some time to figure out the logistics of hanging all of those works in our gallery.  If a member would like to organize (and help execute) a small works exhibit for the hallway, we would welcome that.  

Commissions & Fees:  We collect a 30% commission on art sales.  The industry standard is 50% and big galleries sometimes charge 60%.  A commission of 30% is inline with our local arts organizations, however, most of them are all volunteer run and do not pay rent, and so have minimal overhead.

30% commission on $20,646 is $6,194.  Bear in mind that in 2021 staff spent 548 hours on gallery work which cost WRS  $8,552.32 (we keep detailed timesheets now), and this does not include the volunteer hours involved in the HVPAF, switching exhibits and hosting receptions.  The commissions we collect do not cover our expenses.  We do not want to raise our commission or fees, instead, we would like to increase our volume of sales, and we are making progress toward that goal. 

Where we were:  Until 2019, artists paid $600 for one month’s use of one gallery room in addition to their own costs for framing, advertising and the reception.  We needed 33 artists per year to fill our gallery slots (1 month was allocated to the Member’s Exhibit).  This amount is the bare minimum required to pay our rent for the gallery space, but is not enough to cover staff, insurance, software, utilities, and other overhead.

In 2019, even though we had lowered the fee to $300, we didn’t have any artists applying for exhibits.  We offered a large number of group exhibits to fill the gallery.  We also found that reception attendance and sales were extremely low.  Our reputation as a gallery was poor and public perception was that we were a niche gallery only exhibiting landscapes and traditional subjects.  

Where we are now:  There is a great deal of nuance which we can’t cover here, without truly boring everyone, but here is a breakdown of our main policies and guiding principles to build our gallery.  You will see a recurring emphasis on building our foot traffic through social networking and cross promotion, which has paid off with larger receptions and sales than we have seen in many years.  Our short term goal is to break even and our long term goal is to make enough money to hire more staff for the organization and pay out more substantial artist commissions.

1. Our nonprofit goal as a gallery is to give the public free access to the highest quality art exhibits possible.  We aim to become a major cultural center for the area.
2. We now have regular gallery hours: Friday, Saturday & Sunday 12:00-5:00.  We used to be closed on Sunday and to have classes running all weekend, impeding gallery visitors.
3. We are offering consistently high quality exhibits which are bringing visitors back, reviving our reputation and attracting new visitors.
4. Artists no longer have to pay large fees to exhibit with us.  
5. We invite local artists
   1. The “pay-to-play” or “vanity gallery” model formerly used resulted in inconsistent quality and we didn’t have enough demand from willing artists.
   2. We now invite established, successful, local artists, who bring their robust and proven social network of friends, collectors, and good press which lifts up all of our artists.
   3. Solo artists’ work usually has higher price points than our members, and does not sell as easily; they agree to exhibit with us to support our artists and local culture since we cannot guarantee them sales.
   4. We partner with other nonprofits and organizations, such as the Hudson Valley Seed Company last January.  Both organizations benefit from the cross promotion.
6. Juried and group shows are a staple in every exhibit cycle. 
   1. It gives our members and other local artists more opportunities to exhibit in the main galleries.
   2. In 2021, we only charged hang fees if non-member artwork was accepted.  We purposely removed the risk from applying, so that no one would be discouraged by it, and so we could look at a large number of submissions and choose a strong show.
   3. Receptions are more crowded because every artist in a group show brings new people to the gallery when they promote themselves.
   4. Juried shows are prestigious and can be listed on artist resumes.
   5. The jurying process keeps our exhibits fresh by bringing in a variety of tastes and opinions, which gives all our artists a fair chance during the course of the year.
   6. Jurors do the necessary work of selecting the work to fit the finite space available in the gallery.  This takes the burden off of WRS staff, instructors and members who would be in an unfair position if they had to choose the works (we recognize all of our friends’ work).  Artwork is presented to the juror anonymously and as an outsider, they are a more impartial judge.
   7. Jurors do not always exhibit work with us (Mary Endico juried “Watercolor!” but didn’t exhibit), but they lend their name and social connections to the organization and bring people to the reception.
   8. The more foot traffic we have, the more sales we make.
   9. In 2022 we will hold our first national call juried exhibit.  Artist members will still have all fees waived for this exhibit, however, we hope to reach new artists, new communities and generate income for the gallery through upfront jury fees.  We will also offer cash prizes at this exhibit.
7. Two month exhibit length
   1. This allows time for promotion such as press releases, posts to community calendars, events websites, graphic design, social media, etc.
   2. A longer time frame allows us to offer all of our main gallery exhibits for sale online. 
   3. Staff time spent on gallery tasks is reduced by about a third, freeing time for administration, classes, programs, fundraising, marketing, etc.
   4. Longer exhibits mean more time for people to visit the gallery and see the work.
8. Overarching themes & variety
   1. The Gallery Calendar is planned a year in advance and published annually to give sufficient time for promotion and for professional artists to prepare/frame their work and to secure our spot on their calendar, among their other commitments.  
   2. We select the shows in any given month to support each other thematically and boost everyone involved.  Example: 
      1. Joseph Sundwall, solo exhibit  of paintings of dogs titled “Unleashed” 
      2. Group Exhibit Juried by Joseph Sundwall, “Unconditional: Portraits of Dogs”
      3. Walden Humane Society “PAWS: Paintings by Dogs” silent auction to benefit the humane society.  
   3. Common threads or ideas running through the exhibit give focus to visitors and make great press releases which are more likely to be published
   4. We appreciate realism, but we also branch out to other modes of artmaking such as illustration, abstract works, surrealism, photography, etc.
   5. Exhibiting a variety of styles and approaches brings more artists and art lovers into the fold as well as sparking inspiration and innovation among our members and visitors.
9. Represented Artists
   1. Our old model of charging $600 to be a Represented Artist which included a one month exhibit, selling prints in the hallway and a bio on the website was no longer functioning.
   2. To keep our gallery relevant in the current times and to make representation meaningful, we have partnered with Artsy.net, a premier, international art sales platform only open to galleries in order to make being a represented artist relevant again and put our artists alongside the biggest names in the industry. 
   3. We hope to reach collectors from outside of our area through this program.
   4. Exposure and building a track record on Artsy.net could give our artists meaningful career assistance.
   5. Professional level artists are invited to submit a portfolio for review by the committee annually.  We only accept a limited number of artists each year.  Portfolios are reviewed, beginning in June.  If accepted, the membership fee is $300. If you are interested, please inquire for 2023.
10. Legacy Exhibits is a new program where the family of deceased artists can apply to have an exhibit at the gallery to honor their loved one’s life work.  This is a real need in the community and a service we are honored to provide.
11. Offsite exhibits and partnerships are important to the gallery, but we are limited in how much we can do without over extending our staff.  We currently have relationships with Garnet Medical Center and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rock Tavern to exhibit our member artists several times a year which has the potential to generate additional sales and advertise our organization.
12. We occasionally have fun artist opportunities which we extend to our members such as plein air paint outs and local festivals which promote our organization and our artists.

Gallery Spaces:

1. Hallway – Open to artist level members (Artist, Joint Artist & Represented Artist) exclusively.  Monthly rotating exhibits.
2. Main Galleries (Sandra Anderson, Devitt and Patchett Galleries) – Solo, group, curated and juried exhibits planned by the curating committee the public is welcome to apply. 1-2 Month exhibits.
3. Stairwell – Discretionary space used by the executive director to feature classes, donated artwork, new artists, fundraisers, etc.
4. Glass Porch – Available seasonally for fundraisers, classes and artist use.

What are juried shows anyway?

There seems to be a good deal of confusion and discontent surrounding juried exhibits so we would like to talk about them in a larger context.  

It is always disappointing to not make it into an exhibit, however, it does not mean your work isn’t good.  It may not fit the juror’s taste or their idea of what the show should look like.  Sometimes they select the most technically superb pieces, sometimes they choose works based on variety or emotional content. Sometimes the quality of the submissions is outstanding and truly gorgeous works are declined. Each of us would select a different show.  It is understandably hard not to take rejection personally, and yet, it isn’t personal and it is as fair as we can make it.  We have to have a mechanism for focusing and slimming down the exhibits to fit our gallery space.

Juried shows are an industry standard with potential benefits for both the gallery and the artist.  Juried shows usually have an up-front application fee which is non-refundable and does not guarantee you a piece in the exhibit.  A Juror is announced with the title and theme of the show.  The juror is typically not the gallery owner, but an artist or art professional who is brought in to lend their expertise and curatorial taste to the exhibit and is paid a fee for their time and services.  Galleries will receive many more submissions than they have room available to hang.  Sometimes there are cash prizes offered which will be awarded by the Juror.  Shows with well known jurors or high cash prizes can be extremely competitive.   

There are several reasons galleries benefit from juried shows.  Open calls for art gives a gallery (and the public) a chance to see artists and artwork they may not have seen before.  They get to borrow the name and notoriety of the Juror who has their own following of collectors, friends and contacts and so bring new people into the gallery to see the work.  Galleries also make money from the jury fees which they collect, in some cases, more reliably than through art sales; the gallery business can be extremely unpredictable and galleries frequently fail.  

Artists benefit from juried shows because they have the opportunity to have their work hung in professional galleries and seen by notable artists, gallery owners and collectors.  Artists who apply to juried shows often research the juror and gallery before submitting to shows (maybe don’t submit a still life when the juror is an abstract painter) since it is a modest financial gamble whether their pieces will be accepted, much less selling the piece or winning an award.  Juried shows help artists build their artist resumes, which often include long lists of juried exhibits before they have their first solo exhibition.  Juried shows are often how artists are “discovered.”  Artists without an extensive resume or body of work can get into the show, build their CV, network with artists and art community people and have a chance to win prizes and, maybe, sell their art.

Solo exhibits are a huge financial risk for commercial galleries and exhibitions of new artists are usually a loss for the gallery for many years until the artist is established enough to reliably sell work.  Most galleries only exhibit artists with proven track records of sales behind them.  Our organization focuses on quality instead of sales when selecting artists.

At Wallkill, we don’t charge our artist members application fees or hang fees if they are accepted.  This removes the financial risk from applying, but it also means that we usually can’t fund cash prizes and the organization forgoes the potential income from jury fees.  

In 2022 we are making our first national call juried exhibit.  We hope the proceeds will help  stabilize our gallery finances and promote our gallery more widely.  Rather than paying shipping fees, many artists who apply to national shows actually live locally or within reasonable driving distance of the gallery.  They often hand deliver their work, and can attend the reception and bring people with them.  We will still waive all of the fees for our artist members.  We will be able to offer cash prizes for Best in Show and Honorable Mentions with some of the revenue.

Why do you make art?

Many people would like to be famous artists, make a living off of their art or have their work in a museum someday.  We would like to help you get there by providing professional support for your careers, give you your first exhibits to add to your artist resume as well as community and networking opportunities.  We cannot provide you with a career, but we could be the help and support you need to get started.  

Covid paused our plans for Next Step Seminars, which will cover topics important to professional artists, but we haven’t forgotten about them.  We would like to get them going soon and offer free workshops such as: photographing artwork, stretching canvas, writing artist statements and artist resumes, press releases, self promotion, etc.

Have fun.  Live a fulfilled life.  Money may or may not be your primary motivator.  Most artist members want to make and exhibit their art regardless of sales, and why wouldn’t they?  I think I am preaching to the choir if I say art making is a wonderful way to spend your time.  Art is meant to be shared, so make it and exhibit it, let’s see it and talk about it and fill our lives and our community with art, that’s what it’s all about.