Hanging a show part 1

Are you alone on this one?
Hanging a show can take a lot longer then you think. If you’re alone try to spread out the prep work. Make yourself a list if your a list person. If you know someone with experiencing hanging, even the arrangement on their home walls that you’ve admired, ask them for help!

Learning?  Where do I begin?
Learn from other peoples mistakes so you make a few less of your own.  My first show was in college. It was our Senior thesis to have a series of work, to prep the walls and hang a show, make and send out postcards, and organize an opening night. Just creating a series of work that is finished and framed is time consuming. Our professor put his whole heart into teaching us which included bellowing and criticizing our work and clumsy attempts to frame and finish if need be. It was a high stress time and there were a lot of tears and frustration. We opened one hour late, exhausted and weary and the crowd waiting for the opening ate all our food before we’d unlocked the doors. The only way we could have known how much work and time went into a show opening is by doing. We were dragged through the wringer and then some.  But experience is grand and I haven’t had as much trouble since.

Hanging? I thought you said hanging.
Yes, this post is “entitled Hanging a show part 1”. And I know your saying so when do I begin. For me hanging a good show has a prep list.

As I write this, I am currently organizing a group of 10 artists to hang a show in 2 weeks. Right now the postcards have just come in, the flyers are printed, I’m looking into ordering further signs and I am stressing to the whole group to send, send, send! Tell people!  Spread the word! This will not be a successful show unless people know it’s happening.

If you haven’t done postcards yet, a great company for business cards and postcards is Vista Print.  They’re easy to use, have a very professional look and are some of the best priced around.  You can also look for a local printing company, which is what our College Senior group did.  That was back before anyone ever told me about Vista Print.  But either option works great!

What’s the next step?
In my 2 week count down, it’s finish up art work that I want to be hung, make a trip to the store for some hanging purchases I’ll talk about in the next post and send off my postcards. This is a church show, a part of a larger community show called Art-a-Whirl.  I’ve sent out slides to the church with the information for the projector info that is flashed up front as people sit down before the service and have entered an invitation to the church publication to let them know we’re having a great event and they’re all invited.

Now that part 1 is all wrapped up or in good form I’ll begin on the next step:
“Hanging a show part 2“

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