I painted for free for a hotel lobby and I'm still not sure it was the wrong call
There's a hotel in the old town here, small one, maybe fifteen rooms, family-run. The owner saw my work at a group show and asked if I'd do a large piece for their lobby, a view of the Saône at dusk, something calm. I said yes before I'd even thought about money.
When we sat down to talk, he told me honestly he had almost no budget. The hotel barely survived COVID, they're still digging out. I said fine, I'll do it, just cover my materials. He looked relieved and ashamed at the same time.
So I painted a 120x80 for the cost of oil and linen. About €280. The painting took me maybe sixty hours. I don't need to do the math again, I already did it and it's stupid.
But here's the thing, it's in a place where people sit and look at it every morning over breakfast. The light in that lobby at certain hours is actually beautiful and the painting sits in it the way I hoped. I see it sometimes when I walk past. I don't regret it.
I'm not saying this is a sustainable strategy. But a painting that lives well somewhere, even for nothing, I don't know. Sometimes that matters more than the hourly rate. And then sometimes I think I'm just telling myself that because I'm bad at business.
Anyone else done a free or nearly-free piece that you still don't feel bad about?
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I get why you're second-guessing yourself but honestly I think you did the right thing. That painting is going to hang in that lobby for years, maybe decades. Every guest who sits down across from it gets something calm and beautiful, that's real. And the owner will remember you made that possible when he couldn't pay. That kind of goodwill matters.
I did something similar a couple years back for a little café near me. They were just opening, no money for art, walls were bare. I painted them a small still life for supplies cost. Every time I walk past and see it through the window I'm glad I did it. Wouldn't do it for a chain hotel obviously, but a family place trying to keep going? That's different.
The only thing I'd wonder is if you can put it in your portfolio or get a photo credit somewhere. Not for money, just so it's not invisible work.
That's the thing though, I know it was the right thing and I'd do it again. But sixty hours is a lot of right thing. I think what sits with me is less the money and more that I didn't even stop to consider what my time meant. I just said yes because the work felt right.
Your café story though, that's lovely. Walking past it and seeing it still there, that's a real payment. Does the owner ever mention it still?