it’s a partnership
I’ve had some great conversations with about 20 artists during the past fortnight.
A question that is asked by the more savvy artists is, “How does one hundredth gallery get people into the gallery?”
This is a quite an interesting and multifaceted question, and one with no simple answer.
Like any other business, we could do endless advertising and promotion to get people through the doors; however if there is nothing of quality for them to look at, then they won’t be back and the exercise would be a huge waste.
one hundredth gallery aims to partner with aspiring and emerging artists to 1. provide a space to exhibit, and 2. determine the best ways to commercialise artists’ work (if that is the artist’s objective).
Rather than use a blanket approach to advertising and promotion, we will work with artists to define the objectives of their exhibition and devise the best plan to support those objectives.
We aim to keep our rental fees and commission as low as possible so that we can provide artists with an opportunity to determine what works and what doesn’t when it comes to comercialising their art.
It’s a partnership.
open book – how much does a gallery cost?
I’ve been quite conflicted about writing this post as it relates to a taboo subject… money. As a culture, we don’t talk about money or our finances unless we absolutely have to. And even then, it is usually to someone like a bank manager or a partner.
I’ve recently been reflecting on the purpose of this blog. It is about documenting my journey and being able to share it with you. With this in mind, it is only fair that I open my books and share the financial side of one hundredth gallery with you.
There is another reason for my sharing. Up until now, everything I have done has been for free, including the Grand Opening Exhibition. However, logically this can’t continue as I don’t have an endless supply of funds. After reading the financials below, you will see that one hundredth gallery is my ‘passion project’ for aspiring and emerging artists and is not a business that is ever going make me rich; well at least not in the financial sense of the word.
| Start Up Costs | |
| · Floors | 3,400 |
| · Walls | 5,000 |
| · Lighting | 3,200 |
| · Hanging | 820 |
| · Council | 1,000 |
| · Furniture | 2,500 |
| · Interest | 8,550 |
| · Running Costs (Bills) | 2,700 |
| · Total | 27,170 |
| Monthly Costs | |
| · Interest | 1,710 |
| · Council Rates | 100 |
| · Body Corp | 170 |
| · Electricity | 200 |
| · Water | 100 |
| · Advertising | 100 |
| · Insurance | 100 |
| · Total | 2,480 |
| Potential Monthly Income | |
| · Rental | 6,088 (100 per metre per fortnight) |
| Forecast Monthly Income | |
| · Rental | 4,262 (based on renting out 70% of the wall space) |
| · Commission (10%) | 300 (based on 3,000 worth of work selling per month) |
| · Total | 4,562 |
| Forecast Profit (before tax) | |
| 2,082 per month | |
| 24,984 per year | |
So, there you have it! My forecasted profit, which is also my forecasted salary is just under $25,000 per year before tax.
However, before I actually make any money, it will take over 13 months to recover my start up costs.
As with any financial planning, there are a number of variables at play with all of these numbers. If the gallery wall space rents at less than 70%, then I will make less than $25,000. On the flip side, if 100% of the gallery space rents out, then I will make a $47,000 profit/salary before tax… Look out seaside mansion in Brighton, here I come!
Commission is another variable; however one hundredth gallery is dedicated to increasing the exposure of aspiring and emerging artists, giving them the opportunity to build their CVs. If we do sell artwork, it will be at a lower price point, and 10% commission on a low number is a much lower number.
The last major variable is the interest rate. For every 0.25% they go up, $750 per year is added to my costs.
So the lesson here is, don’t open an art gallery for aspiring and emerging artists if you want to make money. Open an art gallery for aspiring and emerging artists for the love of art and to help a segment of our community get a head start.
I hope you have found this post interesting, and I hope that you will tell your aspiring and emerging artist friends about one hundredth gallery.
Our success and ability to support aspiring and emerging artists well into the future depends on it!
open day for artists
As you know, one hundredth gallery in Porter Street, Prahran is positioning itself as the Australian gallery for aspiring creatives to exhibit their work.
This Saturday (25 June) we will hold an open day for anyone who has ever thought about showing their pieces to the public. Creatives across all mediums – photography, film, paint, digital, sculpture, fashion (the list is endless) are encouraged to come and talk about the commercial potential of their work and what it takes to have an exhibition.
You’re invited, even if you have never exhibited before.
Who: Aspiring and emerging creative types
What: Gallery open day for future exhibitions
Where: one hundredth gallery | 49 porter street | prahran
When: Saturday 25 June 2011, 12 noon – 4pm
We look forward to seeing you there!
realise your dream 2011
now showing > michell guo
Born in Beijing to an artist father and actress mother, Michell was immersed in classical music and fine arts through her childhood years and was formally trained as a concert pianist.
Moving to Melbourne in the early 1990’s from a foreign country resulted in the inevitable language barrier. It was during this period of adjustment that Michell learnt to rely on her non-verbal senses, expressing herself in pictures with a simple point-and-shoot camera. It was during her architectural studies that Michell’s passion for photography blossomed. In 2008, Australia and the GFC crossed paths and she suddenly found herself unemployed with a bruised confidence and unsure about the future. At this point, Michell truly immersed herself in photography. She packed a digital SLR camera and left for Japan to find herself…
The ‘eye for detail’ inherited from her late father and no formal training in photography resulted in a refreshing and sensitive approach. Years of classical still-life, life drawing and oil painting combined with strict architectural training have given Michell an innate ability to find the ideal composition, angling and lighting to sublimate any subject matter. She is able to quickly hone in on the soul of an image and turn it into a reflective, meaningful piece of work that evokes feeling and thought from the viewer.
Michell has three artworks on display and for sale at one hundredth gallery until 26 June 2011.
now showing > kylie mouat
Born in New Zealand and now residing in Melbourne, Kylie is a very strong, passionate and eclectic artist who has lived all over the world. She has a background in both visual and performing arts and her artistic pursuits have many common threads. It is her ability to use these in her paintings that gives her abstract work a point of difference. She creates both a sense of movement with her juxtaposition of texture and colour, often rendering the viewer with unexpected emotion.
Kylie has very strong environmental principles and creates her paintings using existing materials, such as the last two inches in a tin of house paint and timber off-cuts from a construction site. Her inspiration comes in many different forms including street characters, popular culture, human expression, advertising layouts, and multicultural philosophers – it’s all part of the fabric of life and the decisions we make.
Kylie has five artworks on display and for sale at one hundredth gallery until 26 June 2011.
now showing > kate hursthouse
Originally from Auckland, New Zealand Kate has been travelling and living in different countries, in between studying and working, for the last 5 years. Trained as an architect, Kate’s passion for photography began with a course in black and white film photography 5 years ago. Kate still continues to pursue the art form that is black and white film photography as she finds nothing more satisfying than developing her own photographs, but has also moved into the world of digital photography.
Each country she places her feet down in provides a new opportunity to create and capture new memories. Photography allows her to discover as much as she can about each place through the eye of her lens. Kate has a particular interest in exploring the effects of light on places, buildings and objects. Combining her passions of travel and photography has broadened Kate’s horizons and she strongly believes that “art is not about what you see, but what you make others see”. She hopes through her photographs she can share some of her experiences.
Kate currently resides in Melbourne, a city with one of the most interesting art and design cultures she has experienced. She recently exhibited at the Build New Memories fundraising exhibition for The Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal to help those affected by wide spread flooding in Queensland. She also exhibited at the 10th Annual Traditional Darkroom Printmakers Exhibition at Michaels Gallery where she was selected to exhibit at the Ballarat International Foto Biennale later this year.
Kate has five artworks on display and for sale at one hundredth gallery until 26 June 2011.
You can see Kate’s gallery by clicking here.
welcome to our new website!
This was one very long and hectic weekend and we hope that you think it was worth it!
As you will see, we have gone for a simpler, cleaner website look and feel with an emphasis on the art. There is an ‘i’ or ‘information’ icon in the top left hand corner of each of the slide-show images which you can click to get more information about each of the artworks.
We will continue to make subtle changes during the week and will let you know if anything major changes.
As always, we’re keen on your feedback, so please feel free to comment here or email me at charles@100thgallery.com.
welcome to our new website!
This was one very long and hectic weekend and we hope that you think it was worth it!
As you will see, we have gone for a simpler, cleaner website look and feel with an emphasis on the art. There is an ‘i’ or ‘information’ icon in the top left hand corner of each of the slide-show images which you can click to get more information about each of the artworks.
We will continue to make subtle changes during the week and will let you know if anything major changes.
As always, we’re keen on your feedback, so please feel free to comment here or email me at charles@100thgallery.com.