Ever had a gallery ghost you after saying yes?
Had a small gallery tell me they wanted to show my work, loved it, the whole thing. Then nothing. I sent one polite follow-up, silence, and I let it go. Months later they opened with a completely different artist and never said a word to me. I still don't know what happened.
Am I the only one who's had a gallery just disappear after a yes? And did you ever find out why, or did you also just quietly move on?
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That's so frustrating, I'm sorry. It's one thing to get a no, at least you know where you stand. A yes that just evaporates is worse.
I haven't had a gallery do that to me, but I've had a couple of local shops take my work on consignment and then go quiet, and I never really found out what happened with one of them either. I think some of these places are just disorganized and don't know how to say "changed our minds" so they hope you'll forget. Which is its own kind of disrespectful.
Did the follow-up ever get a response at all, even a "we'll be in touch soon" kind of thing? Because that's the part that would bug me most. I could handle a straight answer way better than silence.
No, the follow-up got nothing. Not even a we'll be in touch. That's the part that stuck with me, honestly. I've had rejections that were more respectful than that.
And you're probably right about the disorganization thing. I've worked in conservation long enough to know most small galleries are running on one person and a wish, so I get it. Doesn't make the silence easier though. I think I'd have respected a two-line email more than the nothing.