Online Galleries

You read that right! ONLINE GALLERIES......the new promotion to assist artists in selling their art. Yes they exist and this is real! How do I know this you ask? I am part of CARFAC, Canadian Artists' Representation/Le Front des artistes canadiens, and every two months they send their members a newsletter, which is more like a small booklet. This "booklet" contains upcoming exhibitions, opening receptions, artists who have recently passed, workshops they are running and where they are located, job openings and news regarding other galleries. It also contains....ONLINE GALLERIES! This is one of the things I adore about being a member of such an establishment. Of course there are many other reasons but they support the businesses of artists and the rights we have as artists who have our own businesses.....but I can get into those later.

I was also wondering if they existed and searched for them but the one thing about online, some are real and most are not. Artists are cautioned about this small titbit regarding online galleries, even CARFAC mentions this. So if you are interested in submitting your works on these sites, DO YOUR RESEARCH.....or become a member of CARFAC and read the all amazing CARFAC booklet.

So, what are online galleries? Well, as the name suggests, they are galleries which are online that assists artists in selling their works. Some of these galleries do an online submission requesting high resolution images of your artwork (I know a daunting job and task considering copyright issues and our right to protect our artwork), your artists resume or CV, while others simply request you sign up and post pictures. Yes this may take you some time to update that pesky CV or resume you have been putting off for many months.....or years, but it is a great time to start doing the update and take advantage of these online galleries.

Now some of the galleries offer the artists a full commission of their asking price but when I was researching, I stumbled upon a "full commission" sites and they were asking me for more than what was expected, such as your computer ID and that did not seem right to me. So, when I said watch yourselves and do your research, I literally mean this. Obviously, I high tailed out of that site and never went back to it. Some galleries ask you to sign a waiver form or for better terminology a contract for a certain commission amount, ranging anywhere from 15-20%. This is low compared to what you were expect walk-in, commercial, artist run, etc. type of galleries who will ask for 30% and up.

If you happen to take the plunge and put your art on these sites, read the fine print! Sometimes there are hidden fees, just like any other online purchasing endeavour. Usually some of the fine print will tell you whether you are to pay for the shipping costs of the work to the purchaser while others stimulate the purchaser pays this fee. Other galleries will include a hidden "buyers fee" to your sale and this could be anywhere from 5-20% of the sale price. Personally opinion....I think buyers fee are a fancy word for commission.

Other stimulations from the fine print could include anything from:

• works under $300

• works in the last 3 years of your career

• small works

• large works

• Canadian only artists v. other country artists

• emerging artists only

• professional artists only

Most of these other stipulations can also be found in the "rules" section when you first sign up for the galleries. Also, if a gallery is located on the East coast, this does not mean the gallery is strictly supporting the artists in that particular region of your country or wherever you may be. Just because you read the reviews, do your research, find its social media page and all you see are reviews and such from people residing in that area does not mean they will not support you and your business as well. If you are unsure, ask! Contact them via phone call, email, mail address, fax.....whatever it takes! There is no sense in wondering if they will or will not accept your work without you asking your question(s) and believe me, I have asked my fair share of questions. I would rather ask then assume. If people judge you for your questions, let me because chances are they were wondering the same thing but were too shy or nervous of others judging them for the same questions.

Anyway, here are two online galleries that I will also be signing up with:

• Bestkind Gallery - http://stjohns.artistsincanada.com/gallery/view/bestkind-gallery?id=10196

• Artailer - https://www.artailer.ca/

These are both Canadian based online art galleries!

I hope this has given you some food for thought for those artists reading this.

All the best to you and your families during this Easter Holiday season as well!

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