Welcome to the tenth episode of Smart Art Business, a podcast created to help artists thrive.

If you are reading this, you are most likely an artist that invests a lot of time, energy and resources into creating your artwork.  Over the coming months, we will be chatting with artists and industry professionals to bring you ideas and suggestions on how to refine your work, increase your sales, and broaden your audience.

In this episode, we chat with gallerist and curator, Melissa McCaig-Welles on what galleries look for in emerging artists.

Melissa McCaig-Welles is an independent curator and founder of McCaig-Welles Gallery, one of the first galleries to establish themselves in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in March of 2000.  

About Melissa

McCaig-Welles focuses on mid-career, cutting edge artists that have emerged from the urban aesthetics that figured prominently in cities around the U.S. leading up to the millennium. 

McCaig-Welles is recognized for her curatorial endeavors discovering contemporary art talent and placing it at the forefront of her programs, presenting artists recognized as pioneers of the new contemporary art movements including Swoon, Tristan Eaton, FAILE, Shepard Fairey, FUTURA, Maya Hayuk, Olek, and Tim Okamura among many others.

Melissa was selected as the lead curator for several Pratt MFA exhibitions and was honored by The City of New York as an elected judge on the NYC Curates Panel of Judges. Mayor Bloomberg announced Curate NYC in 2009 as part of a suite of initiatives designed to strengthen the City’s cultural sector.

 

Reviews and articles of Melissa McCaig-Welles have been featured in The New York Times, The Economist, The NY Observer, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, The National Public Radio, New York Press, Juxtapoz, The New York Post, NY Arts, Art and Antiques, ArtNet, The Village Voice, The Wooster Collective, The Columbia Spectator, Paper Magazine, Nylon, and others.

In this episode we discuss:

  • How to approach a gallery when seeking representation
  • Gallery etiquette
  • Making connections that matter
  • What’s hot! What type of work is selling right now
  • Knowing where you fit in the art market
  • What not to do when approaching a gallery
  • The changing landscape of the art-world
  • Selling online

Here is a list of resources mentioned in this episode:

We hope you find this episode packed with value and resources that help you with your art business. We wish you ongoing success.

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