Atkins Exhibition

A group of us this year decided to reach out to galleries and try to host our own group show, initially this was done by just getting in touch with galleries via e-mail, going in to talk to them, reaching out at openings or when shows are on. Many of these methods were unsuccessful since a lot of galleries already had busy show calendars. We eventually found a gallery in the centre of Hinckley that was available in February of 2022.

After finding the gallery we assigned various roles to advertising, marketing, curation and funding etc. Unfortunately over the course of the year many of the members on those teams dropped out and we were left in a situation where we had to find solutions to the outstanding issues, this involved repeating some of the duties that had already been completed. I was part of the funding team and when we lost other team members it became clear we would have to self fund in order to allow everyone the freedom and time they need to complete their studies.

We decided to self fund and chose a general theme to allow each artist more freedom instead of having to make a specific piece of work for the show and its context. There was then a period of a month or two while people completed their pieces before we needed to collect each work. In the meantime we went around and tried to see everyone’s work and get statements about the work. This was to aid in curation of the space and to ensure the artworks looked as cohesive as possible despite their variance.

The final steps were gathering work and organising transport to the gallery this was done by car and train and mainly by our leaders Jasmine and Catia. In the end the exhibition was installed and up for 3 weeks before it was dismantled, which I helped with in a minor way.

The main lessons I have learned from this experience are around managing expectations and building in buffers for mistakes or unexpected issues. Also I would not organise an exhibition for as many people (Around 26+) since it becomes a difficult logistical task. I think a group of 6-10 would have been enough to divide responsibilities whilst also maintaining a small enough group to be able to manage and communicate with.

The positives were that we received some good feedback and some of us even sold work, the gallery were also very complimentary and said if there were ever any future exhibitions we had in mind to get in touch. We were also able to finish and realise a diverse show where everyone’s work shined individually and we all achieved a lot as a group and a collective.

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