Art Galleries

Cooperative Art Galleries

As long as there have been artists who are disgruntled with gallery owners, there have been cooperative art galleries. Its one of the art worlds traditions and an interesting one too.

The reasons for cooperatives are many. One of the primary ones is that many artists resent the high percentage traditional art galleries take from the sales of works. It can be as high as 50-60% and for poor artists thats a lot of money. In a coop situation, the artist does give up some percentage of their sales toward rent and utilities but much is saved by the members of the coop doing the gallery sitting, mailing out their own invitations and doing other work usually hired done by a gallery. Sometimes, the bookwork is as simple as an annual fee and days spent working in the gallery but theres every kind of configuration to make it work. The commitment on the part of the artists is important but there is also a great camaraderie too. Each coop tries to come up with a particular manifesto of sorts to say to the world what it is they believe in. You will find coops that are all artisans who work in clay or artists who only work with multi-media imagery. Its almost like a giant collaboration yet artists remain highly individual within the group. The rules for admittance to a coop can seem strict and can be a rigorous process but thats what makes them work. Other members want to ensure that whoever they admit will be like minded and ready to make it work.

Cooperative galleries are an interesting and necessary alternative to traditional art galleries. They are time tested and a wonderful option. native american art gallery