the gallery that wanted me to pay for the opening catering
ok so i was talking to a gallery a few months back, small one, seemed nice, and then near the end they go "oh and we ask our artists to cover the opening drinks and food, about 200€, standard thing" and i just sat there like... is this standard??? i said i'd think about it and never wrote back.
what's the wildest thing a gallery has tried to make you pay for? i need to know if i'm too suspicious or if that's actually crazy.
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omg no that's absolutely not standard, you were right to bail. i've worked with a few small galleries and none of them ever asked me to cover catering, that's wild. like they're already taking a cut of whatever sells, that's where that stuff comes from.
the wildest i've had was a gallery that wanted me to pay for the framing of my own pieces before they'd hang them. and i was like... you want me to pay to prepare the work you're gonna take a commission on??? i did not do it haha.
honestly the more of these stories i hear the more i think some of these smaller places just see artists as a revenue stream instead of the other way around. you dodged one.
the framing one is wild but also... i wonder how many artists actually said yes because they were told it's normal. that's the part that gets me. you second-guess yourself like "wait, maybe i'm the one who doesn't know how this works" and then you find out everyone else ran into the same thing and said no.
literally that. the second-guessing is the worst part. i spent like a whole week going "maybe i'm the amateur here" and it's just... no. they're counting on that doubt. i'm still mad about it honestly, and it's been months lol
the framing one is actually insane lmaooo like what?? so they wanted you to do the work AND pay to make it hangable AND they still take their cut? that's not a gallery that's a hobby with a room