how long does it take to set up your own art gallery from scratch?

[Sam]

I've been gathering up my art in order and I am thinking of setting up my own art gallery. Would some one guide me through the procedure from what materials are required to achieve a good level of customer attraction to the pricing, display, lighting, catering, advertisement etc basically making the gallery a complete success. What precautions should I take and little tips here and there to improve the overall presentation. I haven't attended art school or anything but fortunately happen to be really talented in this area. I would say art is definitely my passion but am not in the favor of turning this passion into a full time career. its more like a medium where i can escape to whenever I feel like getting away from the rest of the happenings in my life and forget about everything and just paint away. setting up my own gallery was a recent idea which popped up in my head and i have been doing research over it but am still confused. Would really appreciate some detailed help and guideline in the matter. thankyou

[kindboundary781]

As for the time you'll need, it's between two to three weeks- if you are not very active and quick.

You'll need to have a nice poster and of course a good pamphlet containing synopses about the key works or the theme or idea... Then it is of great importance how you arrange your artworks. Consider the nature of the place, the colors of the paintings and also the moods and ideas. Framing or not framing the works depends on how the paintings look like and what reaction you're aiming to get! Sometimes we never frame our works! But backgrounds are extremely important; pay much attention to this!

The lighting should go in harmony with the entire atmosphere and take care not to make it too dark unless necessity requires this. Nicely employed sound tracks will also help you if you find them "related" to the entire thing; if not, just let it.

Take good care of invitations and publicize for your gallery at social-network websites and at your personal website also... Care to invite critics and journalists and contact them earlier enough before the show starts- but make sure you're done and are ready to receive them!

You can buy some roses or use the ones you'll get to make the place look good. Sometimes roses are not most needed beside the works. We seldom serve things; but you could offer chocolates if you wish!
Best of luck.

[Mik]

you can write a book on starting galleries, and no one can cover the subject here. it is impossible. the undertaking is MASSIVE, the pitfalls are almost infinite. really, the only thing to do is ask a HELPFUL gallery owner who would give you of his time.

i can tell you this, galleries have a very very high mortality rate.
you need to be a salesman.
you DON'T need an art background.
you need start-up cash.
you need location.
YOU NEED CONNECTIONS.
you need saleable artists, not artists you think are good but artists who ARE GOOD. if that artist is you, i will tell you that there is something amatuerish about setting up your own gallery for your own art because it doesn't help validating you as artist.

here's something you must understand. you will be in the business of trying to convince people to buy something they really don't need,,,to dig deep into their pockets and give you THEIR money that could be used for paying bills.

[JD]

the main thing is to find a location. after that you can always build your collection. i know someone who set one up and it took a couple of months and wasn't a big deal. the problem was having enough inventory and moving that inventory, in other words, selling. yes you will want to do some promoting and come up with a 'theme', things like that. it's fun to have your studio in the gallery, so folks can watch you work.