Do you ever accept a gallery show you know won't sell just because you respect the space?
I did that last year. Small room in a collective space downtown, knew the people running it had zero budget and the foot traffic was basically the other artists. The work didn't sell. I don't regret it though, the hang was respectful and they treated the work properly.
I keep going back and forth on whether that was naive or just... fine. Part of me thinks a quiet room with the right person handling the work is worth more than a bad gallery that moves pieces.
Anyone else take shows knowing they'll be a financial wash? Do you ever consider that a win?
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I've done the same thing and honestly I'd do it again. Last year I showed in a tiny framing shop that also did small exhibits, maybe 20 people walked through the whole month, and I sold nothing. But the guy running it hung everything perfectly and actually talked to people about the work in a way I couldn't have done myself. That was worth more to me than a couple of sales from a gallery that treats your pieces like inventory.
There's something to be said for the alternative too though. I had a piece in a busier space once that moved quick but they never really looked at the work, just priced it and moved on. I didn't feel good about that sale the way I thought I would.
So no, I don't think you were naive. Respect for the work is a real thing and it's not nothing. Maybe just don't make a habit of it if you actually need the income from shows, but if it's about keeping the love of it alive, I think that quiet room counts.
The framing shop one lands for me. Someone who hangs it properly and talks about it like it's your work rather than a product, that's rare enough that I'd take the empty room for it. The inventory treatment is the thing I can't swallow. I'd rather have twenty people who actually looked than two hundred who glanced.
I think the line for me is whether they respect the work. If they do, the show was worth something even if nothing moved. If they don't, a sale feels accidental. So no, I don't think it's naive. I think it's just a different metric.