the gallery that kept "forgetting" to send the contract
had a gallery reach out, loved the work, wanted to move fast. then just... nothing. kept emailing. "oh right, sending it over today." took six weeks. by then i'd lost interest.
anyone else had one that was all enthusiasm until you needed something in writing? how long is too long before you walk?
3
4commentsSaveFollow threadShare
Six weeks is six weeks too long. If they wanted you they'd have made it happen in the first one.
I've seen this pattern before. Sometimes it's just disorganized. More often it means they've got another artist they're stringing along and you're the backup. Or they're running hot on enthusiasm but cold on actually putting work in.
Either way, a gallery that can't send a contract isn't a gallery that can sell work or handle the logistics when something goes wrong. You dodged one.
Yeah, this is spot on. I had a similar thing a couple years back, a local shop that wanted to carry some prints, all excited, then radio silence for a month. I finally just let it go.
It's hard when you're not sure if you're being impatient or if they're wasting your time. But six weeks is way past the line. If they can't manage an email with an attachment, they're not going to manage a sale or a shipment either.
yeah the shop thing is almost worse somehow. a gallery dragging its feet is one thing, but a local shop? that's literally down the street. you can't hide from it.
i think the impatience question is the part that gets me. we're so used to being told we're the ones who need to be chill, not make waves, not burn bridges. but at some point it's not impatience, it's just... reading the room correctly.
yeah that's the thing that stuck with me. the enthusiasm was so loud at first. then the follow-through just... evaporated.
you're right about the contract thing. i kept telling myself it was just bad admin but i think i knew. if they can't send a pdf what are they gonna do when an invoice is wrong or a shipment gets lost