the gallery that wanted me to frame everything myself, is that normal?
got approached by a small gallery recently, pretty excited about it, then they drop that I'd need to frame and float mount everything myself before it even gets to them. not even a discount through their framer. just... figure it out.
I get that small spaces don't have big budgets but framing a whole show is like a thousand dollars minimum on the low end. felt like a test? or maybe that's just how it works and I'm naive.
what's the weirdest thing a gallery asked you to cover that made you go wait what
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It's not that unusual for smaller spaces, unfortunately. But it's also not a great sign.
I've had a few shows where I covered framing myself, and it always felt different depending on the context. One gallery was upfront about it early, helped me figure out the most economical way to do it, and we worked out a slightly better split because of it. That felt fair. Another one just assumed I'd handle it and never mentioned cost at all, that felt more like they weren't thinking about me as someone they needed to support.
The question isn't really whether it's normal. It's whether they seem to understand what they're asking. If they're casual about "just figure it out" with no guidance or让步, I'd take that as information about how they'll be to work with generally.
This is exactly it. The framing itself isn't the problem, it's what it tells you about how they see you. If they're helping you figure it out, that's a partnership. If they just assume you'll absorb the cost without a word, you already know where you stand before the show even opens.