Exhibiting my work - Cafe Sobar - Funding - Sale of images

Looking up how to exhibit work

I have xhibited work before with college at our end of year shows which most of the work was done by tutors. This will be the first time it will have been my responsibility to sort everything along with the person I am collaborating with - Alison Mckeith.

As I have never done my own exhibition I decided to look up a few things just incase there's anything I haven't thought of already.

http://photsy.com/blog/?p=484 - I found this site which gave me some bullet points as to what I need to think about in order

They had a pres-set list but I've changed it a little as they added a few things I felt were not necessary.

1) Planning
2) Location
3) Theme
4) Printing and Framing
5) Marketing
6) Souveniers
7) Setting up the exhibit
8) Selling
9) Cost
10) Checklist
11) The opening

1) Planning  3) Theme

We already had our theme of mental health and indiviual ideas of the final images we wanted so we had to think of a place suitable to exhibit work in so we had to think of somewhere related to mental health. We found a great place called Cafe Sobar in the centre of nottingham, running with recovering alcoholics in mind with an alcohol free bar. Alcholism is something that fits within the mental health category and so if the customers are going to be the majority recovering alcoholics, this would be perfect as they could relate to our imagery and it would help others understand more about mental health and why mental illnesses that lead to alcholism do lead to it. I hope that this will help give people a better knowledge on the subject so as not to judge people more easily on their lifestyle.

2) Location

We had to look for a Gallery and we chose to enquire at Cafe Sobar as this was an alcohol free cafe/bar with recovering alcoholics in mind, it was in the centre of Nottingham so would be regularly visited and we thought it would be a good idea to show our mental health themed images there as alcholism is related to metal health.

We got in touch via email. We originally set up our own joint email but after many failed attempts at remembering the password, we decided to use Alisons email to communicate with Cafe Sobar:

The manager replied in an informal manner so the replies were informal from then on

4) Printing and Framing

I am yet undecided on how I shall be printing and framing my work but at the moment I want large prints of each of my images with no frame as my prioritised idea but;

 I also had in mind to have a thick white border of card around each image and put in a black frame.

Another idea I had was to have 3 boards 1 metre (width)  by 2 metres (height)  with 3 images on each board and a description of the work on the board. The reason for this being that they would be easier to set up and transport rather than having to by extra materials to prop up images.

If funding isn;t an issue I will print on canvas'.

Large prints ideas

White boarder with black frame ideas

Boards 1 metre by 2 metre ideas

Canvas ideas

5) Marketing

We are going to create flyers to hand out at our end of year show (we are showcasing some other work their) advertising our exhibition that will be in July. We shall create and print these at the beginning of June. We shall also advertise on social media so that friend/family and public can see and the post will be shared around hopefully attracting people.



6) Souveniers

If we have enough funds this is something we will consider. Our souvenirs will consist of smaller prints of our images in a little gift pack that people can purchase. We would sell them for more than we paid for them to get a profit.


7) Setting up the exhibit

We are going to plan a layout to make setting up our exhibit easier and whilst we are setting up we will take in to consideration the health and safety aspects e.g. trip hazards and sharp edges.

8) Selling

As we are funding our own prints we will be selling our images to try and make our money back. We have in mind that we might not make any sales but we shall price up our images just before we exhibit them.

9) Cost

We are being given the space at Cafe Sobar for the month of July for free so we do not need to provide funds for the space. We both have funds to print and mount our images but Depending on price depend on the quality of this.

Cost based on 8 images:

White board and black frame -£85+
Canvas - £200 (25 each)
Large prints - £34 (for foamboard and large prints)
Boards 1mx2m - £99

10) Checklist

We shall make a checklist ensuring we have all our materials and equipment ready to set up a couple of weeks before exhibition gicing us time to correct any issues or buy new materials.


11) The opening

We will set up our exhibition on the first of July before the time we advertise to give us plently of time to set up and sort out our equipment/materials. We will stay at the exhibit for around 4 hours to see if people turn up and to see what they think of the work, we will then visit every other day across the month of exhibition to check our work is still displayed correctly/secured correctly and to see how many people show up to see our work.



Funding

I originally set up a funding page to gain funds to pay for our gallery hire but this ended  up being free so I will use the money towards my prints.

We added the description:

"""We are students at New College Nottingham. We are currently studying for our final year of our photography degree. As we are in our final year, we have been given the opportunity to write our own project briefs to fit around our own ideas. This has given us the chance to go ahead with a project we have been wanting to do for a long time which is to create two series of images that are based around the subject of mental health. This is something we both feel strongly about and we feel that we can create images that make people understand the feelings and emotions of ‘invisible’ illnesses. Illness that many do not understand. 

Idea 1 (Alison Mckeith) - The subject areas surrounding mental health hit close to home for me as I have suffered in some areas over the past two years and even now, in many ways I still battle with them every day. I want to use the photographs that I take to only help other to understand these, but also because I think that art is a great way to escape from the feelings inside your own head. My images will be based on Disney characters as I think that this will help gain views from the younger generation who I feel suffer in silence as they don’t really understand the thoughts and feelings they may have.

Idea 2 (Shannon Jaques) - My aim is to give people a better understanding of the thoughts and feelings surrounding Depression and Anxiety. I would like to be able to give a clear visual understanding of the everyday struggles that are faced with these illnesses. 
Both of our images will be taken in black and white. The majority being taken with film cameras. 

The money from this fund will be used to cover the cost of the venue hire as this will be between £300 and £400. Alongside this we will be purchasing materials like chemicals, equipment, photo paper and film as well as paying for printing. The money will also be used for any travel expenses as we aim to put on smaller exhibitions with charities at support groups and rehabilitation centres. 

We will also be looking to sell our prints after the exhibition to donate to supporting charities. Any small contribution will help us on our way with this project.
Thank you.

Help spread the word!"""

We  have both shared the fund page on our social media sites to get people's attention and will continue to do so on the lead up to the exhibition.