Tomorrow I head to Annapolis to pick up Tangled Up in Blue, and to drop off Osso Bucco. I'll be working with fellow MFA folks, taking down the Small Works show and readying for the juried Winter Members Show (That I hope to be accepted into).
I realize that art shows, visual art specifically looks very easy to curate. Tall white walls with good light are all that's needed, right? No. Not right. Galleries plan shows a year in advance or more, choosing a theme, an exhibition chair, and then a juror, then place various ads through various media to generate interest and submissions by artists. Months later, after the deadline arrives, the works begin to trickle in or arrive all at once. There are slow days and there are crazy running around days at a gallery.
Each piece is tagged and numbered, scanned and entered into a database. From there, the juror chooses who will stay and who will get the reject email stating your piece sucked and they hate it (just kidding, but that's what it feels like).
Artists on the reject list must then do what equates to a professional walk of shame. Going in to pick up works that were not accepted and need to move out of the way so that the work of the superior artists may then inhabit the square footage for two months, shining in their glory, taking home little red "sold" circle stickers or even a ribbon that says best in show or honorable mention. It's all quite terrible because one must still put on a brave face and show up for the artist's reception, even if one's art was rejected. Boo. Talk about eating crow.
Then there are the ones who have gotten the thumbs up. You are a real artist now, having survived the juror's selection. This is the best feeling in the world, and no amount of acceptance emails voids the initial thrill of getting that "yes!" email each and every time it arrives. It's better than that thing people do after hours. That simple "yes" can validate one's entire existence.
So, tomorrow, I drop off my piece, then wait for an entire week to find out if I'm a yes or a reject. Ugh. I wish patience was something that I'm good at.
Wish me luck. Will have some goodies for you to look at later in the week. Clam Digger is not going so well and I'm embarrassed to show my progress (or lack of) tonight. Very frustrating.
Hope everyone has recovered from Christmas (and Chanukah) dinners and parties and is able to just relax for a few days until the craziness of New Years arrives.