How to Submit Work

Art shows at the gallery change monthly. Art is delivered/picked up on the last Monday of each month (“changeover”) at the Galveston Art League gallery at 2117 Postoffice St. in Galveston from 10 am to 5 pm.

You are permitted to carry over the same pieces from a member show to a juried show or from a juried to a member show. Artists must provide new work for all other changeovers.

The show opens the Thursday following changeover. A member’s preview party is typically held from 6-7:30 pm the Friday following changeover. The final day of each show is the Sunday before changeover.

To see the full schedule of changeovers and show dates, visit the exhibit calendar.

Members can enter up to three works each month.

Fee for members who volunteer 3 hours each month:
$15 each for the first two pieces, $5 for a third piece

Fee for members who are unable to volunteer:
$30 each for the first two pieces, $10 for a third piece

All member show entries MUST be available for sale. When a work sells, the member may bring a replacement for the remainder of the show without an additional charge.

Members in good standing may have 3 unframed pieces in the art bin for 3 months. Three-month fee will be $15.00. Commission and handling fees are the same as wall entries. Work must be member’s original art or high-quality prints of original art, mounted on sturdy board (preferably matt board or foam core), in a protective sleeve, and with a label (see below) attached on the back in the upper left corner inside the protective sleeve.

Minimum price of item is $25.00. Items sold within the 3 months period may be replaced at no additional cost for the remaining time. Artists will maintain their artist log in the Bin Binder (yellow pages). Failure to keep bin work up to date will result in loss of bin privileges for 6 months.

Download Art Bin Labels

All artists, including non-members, are invited to submit up to three works to our juried shows. A prospectus is available prior to each show with the entry form, labels and information about the judge. Winning entries receive cash awards and ribbons.

Fee for Members:
$15 per work for first 2 entries, $5 for third entry

Fee for non-members:
$20 per work

The League has distinguished five categories of art, although some months additional categories may be added based on medium and/or technique of entering artists.

1. Work on canvas or panel (oil and acrylic)
2. Work on paper (watercolor or acrylic used like watercolor)
3. Photography
4. 2-dimensional mixed media (collage, fiber, assemblage in 2-D)
5. 3-dimensional (sculpture, art dolls, assemblage, jewelry, 
 pottery, porcelain, glass, wood, metal)
6. Digital art

No giclees in juried show.

Monetary awards are given in each category for first and second places and one award for best of show.

Best of show: $300
First place in each category: $100
Second place in each category: $50

When a work of art is sold at the gallery, four things comprise the price of that work:

1. The amount the artist gets for the work
2. A 30% consignment fee from the gallery which covers:
   1.  sales tax
   2. handling fees
   3. a 20% gallery commission
      1. credit card costs
      2. wrapping materials, etc.

There are two things artists need to consider when pricing their works: (1) Artist Payout and (2) the price that will appear on the wall. A chart is available at all changeovers that shows the relationship between these two figures to help exhibitors determine an Artist Payout that also reflects what they want to see as the price on the wall.

For example, according to the chart, if an artist initially wants $125 for the Artist Payout, the price on the wall will be $175. If the artist wants to lower the price on the wall to, say, $150 in order to encourage sales, the Artist Payout will decrease to $107. The wall price is the one that is entered on the entry form for both membership and juried shows. Volunteers are available at changeover to help artists determine Artist Payout and wall prices.

All pieces must meet the following criteria:

• Be framed [except 3-D pieces] or gallery-wrapped.
• Have edges finished (no bare canvas around sides, for instance).
• Be hung by framing wire, but:
  • No sawtooth hangers at the top.
  • Wire properly attached (approximately a third from top; not real tight, but taut enough so that wire does not show above the top of the piece).
  • Wire secured to the frame with appropriate and adequately attached fasteners.
• Less than 150” perimeter (150” or over counts as 2 pieces).
• If over 24” in any direction, the artwork must have Plexiglas rather than glass.
• Frame in good repair; no corners that do not meet evenly, no holes or cracks unless barn wood or other aged grain.
• Glass/Plexiglas is clean.
• Make sure artwork and mat are secured in frame and won’t fall out when hung.

Images of work submitted for member and juried shows are posted on the website for sale. Members are encouraged to submit their own photos of their work.

Beginning January 30, 2023, members will be required to submit images of their work for both member and juried shows if they want the images to go online for sale. If you don’t know how to do this, we encourage you to learn. See below under “How to Photography your Work.”

• To simplify web submission, we have changed the pixel requirement of photo submission to at least (rather than specifically to) 1000 pixels on the longest side.
• The file title of your image must be formatted as: “First name Last name Title of Work.jpg.” Example: Fontaine Jacobs White Rose.jpg; Nancy House My First Husband.jpg. No underlines or dashes or quote marks.
• Images must be emailed to gallery2117@gmail.com by 5:00 PM the day of changeover for membership shows. For juried shows, the deadline for works entered into the show only is 5:00 PM on the Thursday following changeover.

How to Photograph your Work

• Shoot the image area (do not include frame or mat) with a digital camera or cell phone. If you photographed the image with your cellphone, you may need to load the images you shot onto your PC or MAC in order to retitle the image. An easy way to do this is to email the image to yourself and then open and save it on your computer.
• Suggested image programs:
  1. Gimp (free for Mac or PC)
  2. Paint (PC),
  3. Edit.Photo (free for Mac or PC )
  4. Photoshop Elements ($$ Mac or PC )
  5. Photoshop ($$$$) Mac or PC)
• For art under glass, take the photo before framing.
• It is recommended that you turn off your flash when shooting works.
• Fill the frame of the camera as best you can with a straight image.
• Check the image in the camera after you take it. Look for reflections, dark spots, etc. If it looks off or blurry, reshoot. Take a deep breath and hold still when you shoot the photo.

How to send the image to GAL

• Images must be emailed to gallery2117@gmail.com at actual size by 5:00 PM on the due date (see above for due date for membership and juried shows)
• Before sending the image, you will first need to edit the file name to “First name Last name Title of Work.jpg.”

Assistance Available to Members

To personalize a lesson just for you we need a little information.

• Your phone model name and software version, i.e., iPhone, model ?, running IOS ?, or Android device (Samsung, Pixel, etc.), model ?, version ? On most phones, go to Settings>General>About to find model information.
• Your computer PC (laptop or desk) model and software or Apple (laptop or desk) model and software. On a Mac go to the Apple Icon in the top menu>About this Mac. On a PC go to Setting > Systems > About.
• Email the above information about your phone and computer to gallery2117@gmail.com and someone will get back to you.