How to Show at Mirror Pond Gallery

Mirror Pond Gallery is proud of its mission to promote Central Oregon arts and fine crafts by encouraging emerging artists, providing a first rate space for established artists as well as showcasing several special exhibits per year. Having said this, it's important to understand that not everyone gets into every gallery, including ours.
All work is juried. There are a multitude of factors that are part of the equation for accepting artwork including, uniqueness of work, availability of space in the gallery and how well your work will fit in
with what the gallery already has.

Each gallery will have a slightly different way they like to handle potential new artists and their artwork. Here is the way it is done at the Mirror Pond Gallery:

• First of all you need to set an appointment with the gallery manager to bring your work in. Stopping by unannounced is not a great idea since gallery managers are generally busy doing business and it's often hard to break away.
• At the appointment you'll need to bring two or three examples of your work, which you will then need to leave for approximately two weeks. Since Mirror Pond Gallery is a non-profit we decide entrance by jury and it can take a bit of time to get all the jurors together.

If you are not accepted it is reasonable to ask why and find out if you could try again later. If the jurors feel the work isn't something that would sell at Mirror Pond Gallery, we will most often try to suggest places we think would be a better fit. What may seem like a rejection is generally done with the artist's best interest at heart. In the end it usually works to the artist's advantage by perhaps pushing them to increase their skills, find a gallery better suited to their particular style or challenge the artist to try again. As hard as it is for the artist to hear a rejection, it is equally hard to be the bearer of tough news but the gallery manager wouldn't be doing you a favor by accepting your art and then simply "warehousing" it. After all, you want your work to reach the right clientele so that it will sell, sell, sell!

If you are accepted, congratulations! You will first need to become a member of Arts Central, our parent organization. Then you will be given a contract to sign. The contract will also explain that you will receive 55% of the sales price of your work and we will retain 45%, as well as go over other details of our relationship.

Pricing is always at the discretion of the artists and we refrain from making any suggestions on price. We find that by looking in other local galleries and shops as well as checking items on on-line sites such as e-bay, you can come up with reasonable prices on your own. You might also check with other artists whose work is already being displayed, understanding that length of career and notoriety are important factors in how much you can charge.

It's important to note that another part of our non-profit mission states that Mirror Pond Gallery does not have an exclusive contract with our artists. This means we not only allow but also encourage our artists to show their work in other spaces as well as in our gallery. We find many of our artists appreciate this flexibility. While most other galleries in town do have exclusive contracts with their artist (which has its own perks) almost all will allow you to take part in one of our month long special exhibits. We are very grateful that the Central Oregon arts community is so supportive and co-operative with one another!! Along with being a well established and centrally located, Mirror Pond Gallery also advertises in most of the local publications and submits articles for publication.

We also have an established "Art at Work" program which places artwork in 11 different Off Site locations, generally corporate and government offices, which we also promote. So there are many ways to have your work seen through us. The manager usually schedules special exhibit shows about a year in advance but we are always open to suggestions.

Most special exhibits are open to the public and allow up to three works of art with an entry fee for each with a member and non-member rate (you do not have to be a member to be in one of the special exhibit shows). Please check the prospectus for the show you are interested in which will give you all the parameters including dates, number of pieces and costs. Prospectus's are available at the Mirror Pond Gallery or on our website http://www.mirrorpondgallery.org/exhibits.htm.