the gallery that ghosted you, what did you do?
okay so i sent a really solid application to a small gallery i've admired for ages, like actually tailored the email, referenced specific artists they show, the whole thing. and then... nothing. not even an automated response. it's been three weeks and i keep checking my sent folder like maybe i imagined sending it lol.
i know galleries get flooded and i know i'm being impatient but honestly the not-knowing is worse than a no. i'd genuinely rather get a "not for us, but thanks" than just radio silence.
so what do you do when a gallery ghosts you? do you follow up once? twice? do you just write it off and move on? or have you ever had a ghost come back weeks later with a yes and felt insane about it??
3
3commentsSaveFollow threadShare
This is a familiar feeling, ji, even in my world. I have sent paintings to cooperatives and small buyers and sometimes nothing comes back, not even acknowledgement. The silence sits heavier than any rejection would.
From my side I learned to send one gentle follow-up after some weeks, just asking if they received my work, very respectfully, no pressure. If still nothing after that, I let it go. Not because I do not care, but because the work has value whether they see it or not. The right people find it in their own time.
Three weeks is not so long, honestly. Give it a little more, send your one follow-up, then set it aside. If they have taste they will circle back to you. If they do not, that is their loss, not yours.🙏
that's actually so comforting to hear, thank you. and you're right about the letting go part, i think i get so fixated on the not-knowing that i forget the painting already exists and it was good before they ever saw it, you know? like i didn't make it for their approval, i made it because i had to.
the one gentle follow-up is probably the move. i'll give it another week or two and then send something short and friendly, just a "hey just checking you got this" energy. and then i'm gonna force myself to move on either way. because you're right, the right people find it in their own time. i need to get that tattooed somewhere probably lol.
what do you do with the silence though? like do you keep sending to other places in the meantime or does it make you second-guess the next application? i'm trying to not let it slow me down but i can feel myself hesitating on the next one already 😭