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Art Gallery, Dealer, Agent Mailing Lists
Worth it or Not?

Q: What do you think about buying mailing lists with names of art dealers and galleries? I heard about a company that sells art dealer mailing lists. I can also buy lists of hundreds of galleries, agents, dealers, curators, corporate art collections, museum curators, and more in all parts of the country. I plan to send them information about me and my art. The lists don't cost very much.

A: First off, you can get much of this information FREE by going to your local library and looking through references like Who's Who in American Art, The Official Museum Directory, and The American Art Directory. Art in America also publishes an excellent Annual Guide containing names and contact information for thousands of galleries, museums, non-profits and more. Secondly, buying an art dealer or gallery or any other kind of mailing list is a complete waste of time and money, and in the overwhelming majority of cases, they won't do you one bit of good. Let's say, for example, that you live in Texas and you buy a mailing list of 200 art galleries in Texas. That mailing will include all kinds of galleries that sell all kinds of art-- much of that art bearing absolutely no resemblance to yours-- art by living artists, art by deceased artists, abstract art, French art, Russian art, Chinese art, limited edition prints by famous artists, Native American art, representational art, paintings, experimental art, sculptures, glass and ceramic art, art by Houston artists, art by Dallas artists, art with Cowboy and Western subject matters, art with Gulf Coast subject matters, and so on.

But wait; it gets worse. Some of these lists can be terribly outdated. I once asked for a list of local names from a website that claimed to get the word out about your art to thousands of galleries, museums and arts organizations across the country. What did that list include? Dead people, galleries that were no longer in business, galleries who were no longer at the listed addresses (some addresses were ten years or more out of date!), and other completely useless contacts. And now for the odds of a mailing list paying off big for you...

No matter what kind of art you make, only a small fraction of the galleries on any mailing list will likely sell it. Only a fraction of that fraction will be looking for new artists to show. And only a fraction of that fraction of that fraction accept unsolicited submissions from artists who they've never heard of or who haven't been personally referred by people who the gallery owners already know and trust. So out of that list of 200 galleries, no more than a handful will even bother to look at anything you mail them. That's your best-case scenario.

And think about the money you'll spend (waste) after you buy the mailing list. The mailing list itself might be cheap, but designing and printing up hundreds of brochures or other promotional materials, putting them together, addressing the packets, and mailing them out can easily cost several thousand dollars if you want to do it right, not to mention the many hours of your time you'll also spend (waste). The bad news is that no matter how much time and money you put in, most of your materials go straight from the mailbox to the circular file without ever getting looked at. Why? Because the galleries you mail them to know the difference between serious solicitations and spam... which is basically what your mailer will be. Speaking of spam, mass emailings don't fare any better; it's far easier to press the delete button than to toss something into a wastebasket.

Any art gallery owner will tell you that huge numbers of artists continually approach the gallery looking for representation or wanting shows, many of those artists having no idea whether their art even remotely matches the art that the gallery sells. They'll also tell you that exhibiting the work of artists who walk in off the street is highly unlikely, and that exhibiting the work of artists who send information in the mail, cold-call them by phone or email them out of the clear blue is extremely unbelievably unlikely. And geographically speaking, unless you're already well-known in the region where you live and show, the farther away a gallery is mileage-wise, the less likely they are to have any interest in your art.

Your best bet is to forget about mailing lists altogether and combine whatever online presence you already have with a more hands-on approach. To begin with, get a free list of all art dealers and venues in your area either online, out of your local phone directory, or from arts and entertainment sections of area arts or events websites or hard-copy publications. If you're interested in showing your art in nearby cities or regions, do the same for those locations as well. The less well-known you are, though, the more you should focus on working your immediate area, and also networking your profile online. If the place where you live has little or no art scene and you're serious about becoming an artist, show where you can and continue your online career-building activities. Perhaps you'll get some traction online in terms of positive response to your work (hopefully including sales), and at some point when you're feeling more confident about your potential for success, consider moving somewhere with a more substantial arts community.

In the meantime, take your local art dealer list, visit each gallery website, find out what they sell and see how closely it matches the art that you make. Personally visit those venues that seem appropriate for your work and get a better feel for what they're like. At the same time, begin to immerse yourself in your local art community. The best way by far to get your name and your art out there is to regularly attend art openings, lectures and events, and to get involved with local arts organizations, museum groups and non-profits. Eventually you'll be presented with opportunities to show your art, but take your time with that part and get to know people first. This may sound a little on the labor-intensive side, but it's what you have to do in order to get noticed and establish yourself as a working and exhibiting artist.

If you'd rather stay local in an area with little or no arts scene, focus your energies online and experiment with options such as actively participating in higher profile art and social networking sites, and putting your art up for sale on your own website, at artist sites and perhaps at online auctions as well. Try everything. This takes time, effort and dedication, practically as much as networking in person and especially if you're just starting out, but if you hang in there and do it right, it can work. Keep in mind though that if people don't know who you are, then they can't type your name into search engines like Google, so if you can possibly combine your online activities with bricks and mortar exhibitions, do so.

Buying and working off of mailing lists might make a little more sense if you're already an established artist, but only if you're experienced at representing yourself and handling all of your own business affairs. Then again, if you're at that level already, you likely don't need mailing lists; you can find out who the main players are without too much difficulty from people you already know. However you find them, target those galleries or dealers who show your kind of art, and present not only your art, but also facts and figures (based on past sales) about how much art they might expect to sell if they decide to work with you. The closer you can come to providing them with a complete show and presentation package, the greater your chances of success. Even so, only a small fraction of galleries on any mailing list or similar database will be right for you. Getting names from current issues of online arts publications and magazines, fellow artists, art organizations, dealers who already sell your art, and other art community resources will be a lot more effective.