Have you ever sat down and really analysed
​how much it really costs to enter a juried art competition or open exhibition?
​
If you have then probably, like me, you may have had a bit of a shock.  

Here are some of the reasons why the costs can mount up without you noticing and why it can be so expensive:
  • you're not submitting to a local gallery and it's not a short local drive in the car.  You've often got to get the artwork to a place a long way from home. This involves packing costs and shipping/travel costs which you don't normally have to pay - often both ways if the work is not accepted or doesn't sell.
  • the competition isn't from your locality - it's often national or international and there's hundreds if not thousands of people all competing to get their artwork into the exhibition
  • this exhibition is prestigious and the artwork needs a frame which looks good - and unless you've worked out to keep a handle on costs that can be expensive
Hence expenses which need to be factored into the price include
  • entry fees 
  • AND commission on sales
  • nice frame
  • AND shipping expenses - usually to a destination which is much further and is not reimbursed.
I started working out the costs when I needed to work out a price for my work.  

I didn't mind making only a little money if the work sold - I understood that juried exhibitions are often much more about marketing and building a following then they are about selling per se.  

However I did object to making a loss!  Bear in mind that I also don't have the same transport/travel costs as other people as I already live in London.

It really made me start paying attention to
  • pricing and to
  • the scope to manage costs (eg buying frames which were standard sizes rather than custom made so that they can be reused with the mats custom made - by me).  ​
Setting the costs out on paper helped me to focus on what costs could be better managed, what costs could be eliminated and what costs you just had to take on the chin.
There's only one thing worse than a nasty shock after you've worked through the numbers
​- and that's a nasty shock because you didn't work through the numbers!
NOTE: This page is a reproduction of How to calculate the cost of entering a juried art exhibition (22 January 2013) - a blog pot on my main art blog Making A Mark

Analysing the cost of entering a juried art exhibition - Practice Worksheet

I've created a spreadsheet to help artists calculate the real cost of entering a juried art competition or open exhibition

A Making A Mark Guide: Analysing the cost of entering a juried art exhibition - is available BELOW. (PDF FILE)
This spreadsheet
  • aims to help artists calculate the real cost of entering a juried art competition or open exhibition
  • automatically summarises costs and produces overall totals and net cost or profit.
​Who is this guide for?

This spreadsheet is for artists who enter juried art competitions or the open exhibitions of art societies

It helps you to:
  • calculate likely expenses if you’ve never entered an art competition or open exhibition before
  • try and identify areas where you can manage costs better and improve the potential for profit
  • identify areas where more research is required in order to alternative options or ways of reducing costs
What does this guide cover?

This Making A Mark Guide provides a checklist of various cost items - plus notes - associated with creating, recording, entering, packaging, shipping/transporting an artwork to a JURIED art competition or open exhibition.  Plus let's not forget the commission if it sells!

The spreadsheet automatically summarises costs and produces overall totals and net cost or profit.  It includes 
  • a proforma template (yellow tab) Tailor this to your own needs if you know how to use Excel.  Just copy the whole sheet over to a new sheet to start a calculation.
  • a worked example for a work which sold (blue tab) - gives you the net gain on which taxes are payable
  • a worked example for a work which did NOT sell (red tab) - to give to you the total potential cost of NOT submitting your best work and/or NOT making a realistic assessment of your chances of getting work accepted
  • a practice worksheet which you can use again and again (green tab) just by deleting the data in the "enter data" column
A Making A Mark Guide: A Spreadsheet for Artists 
How to calculate the cost of entering juried art competitions and open exhibitions
The following publication is
  • available as an Excel file (58KB) and
  • can be downloaded FREE below
  • for personal use ONLY (see copyright notice).
making_a_mark_-_how_to_calculate_cost_of_entering_juried_art_exhibitions.xlsx
File Size: 56 kb
File Type: xlsx
Download File
COPYRIGHT NOTICE:   
Copyright Katherine Tyrrell - All rights reserved unless otherwise indicated
  • You may NOT copy or use any of the Guides on this website for commercial purposes in a workshop or in any other fee-paying context. 
  • If you wish to use these free publications for commercial purposes please contact Katherine Tyrrell for LICENCE and details about FEE rates. 
REFERENCE
INDEX
​SELL ART