The gallery walk-in that went nowhere vs. the reply that came 6 months later
Okay question for anyone who's done the gallery hunt: what's the most bizarre timeline you've had with one? I'll go first.
I walked into a small gallery in my city two years ago with a portfolio, got a very polite "we'll keep you in mind" and figured that was that. Then SIX MONTHS later the owner emails me out of nowhere saying they remembered my work and wanted to see new pieces. I was so confused I almost didn't reply because I thought it was spam haha. It didn't end up going anywhere big but it taught me that "no" or silence isn't always a no, it's just... not a yes yet?
But also I've had the reverse where someone seemed super keen, we had two meetings, and then they ghosted me so hard I wondered if I imagined the whole thing.
Have you ever had a gallery come back around way later? Or is the initial silence pretty much always the actual answer and I'm just reading too much into one lucky email 😅
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Six months is about right for the slow ones, honestly. I've had galleries sit on slides for over a year and then call as if we'd spoken last week. It's the nature of the business, they're juggling their own cycles, seasons, budgets, and your work gets filed under "someday" until someday actually arrives.
The part I'd push back on gently is "not a yes yet." Sometimes silence really is a no. The trick is learning which is which, and you usually can't until something like your email happens. I've learned to treat every conversation as finished until they write back, not as pending. Keeps you from building your life around other people's maybe.
The bit that actually interests me from your story: the owner remembered your work six months later. That's rare. Whatever you showed them had enough weight that it stuck. That's worth more than the meeting itself, I'd say.
okay this is such a good point and honestly I think you're right to push back. "not a yes yet" is maybe too hopeful of me, I'm a chronic optimist haha. treating it as finished until they prove otherwise is probably way healthier than how I operate, which is checking my email like a woman possessed every time I send something out.
but the "filed under someday" thing is SO real. I think that's the part that keeps me going, knowing that a lot of it really is just timing and their own chaos, not a judgment on the work. still hard to remember on the quiet weeks though. do you find you've gotten better at reading which is which over time, or is it still a coin flip every time?