How do you realize your dream of a private gallery of your art? 

Hi my name is Carrie Brummer and here on Artist Strong I help artists like you build your skill and develop your unique artist voice. Today I have a Q from some in the community. Edward asks,

“In life I have a dream to fulfill…the dream is to make a small museum or private gallery of my artistic works. I like to collect all my painting, sculptures, designs, posters, post-cards etc… and let the people visit for free.” How can I accomplish this?

I have 3 steps I encourage all of you to consider when aiming towards larger goals:

(1) What does my big goal REALLY look like?

Do you want to own a physical space for your art or do you want someone to host your art for this gallery? Hosting our own physical space means rent, insurance, and possibly hiring help, not to mention your time showing up every day to open the space. There is a big difference between owning your own space and partnering with a separate institution or team to help realize your goal.

My husband and I LOVE board games. For a time we thought about setting up our own retail store. But then we talked about it and realized we would hate managing the store. We just like playing the games.

When you think about your big goal do some brainstorming to ask yourself what tasks and responsibilities are involved in your larger goal and are those things you are willing to do in order to move closer to your goal? 

This reminds me of Elizabeth Gilbert’s discussion of a sh*t sandwich, which she says is a regular part of any creative process: what are the ugly, boring or annoying things you are willing to put up with to make your art?

(2) What smaller actions can help lead you to your larger goal?

Edward mentions a small museum of private gallery. This is an awesome goal. And what a lot of people don’t understand when thinking big is there are often lots of small steps toward a larger goal. In this circumstance, the first thing that occurs to me is he needs a body of artwork, a portfolio ready to show. If the artist does not yet have a distinct voice or a body of art ready to exhibit, renting or buying a space is completely irrelevant.

Once he has the art, then we can think about what to do with it. If we want to run a physical gallery we need to test the sale of our art to make sure the local community or people who travel there will actually buy it. Going to a local art market, or creating a smaller show with family and friends, or even renting a small space with a limited time exhibition (sometimes called a pop-up) could test this out.

So back to your goal, What are some of the smaller steps you might need to take to reach towards your larger goal?

(3) What are you doing RIGHT NOW to honor your dream?

I catch myself daydreaming about the goal I imagine all the time but avoiding actually making my art. Showing up and developing a regular artist practice is one way I can honor my goal of a solo or group exhibition of my Anonymous Woman series.

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Thanks to Edward for the great Q and if YOU have a question you want answered I’m here to help. Ask your Q in the comments below and I might use it for a future episode of Artist Strong. 

Now, let’s start that conversation: Talk is just talk. Walk the walk! What are you doing right now in your life to work towards your art dream? Comment below and tell me more.

Thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time here on Artist Strong.