Baylor College of Medicine Art show/fundraiser

[auddii]

I work at Baylor College of Medicine, and they will be having an art show, from which a percentage of the sales will be donated to Texas Children's Hospital (TCH).

I have gotten the okay from organizers to spread the word, and y'all can submit photos for sale or other peices of art (up to a total ten) through me. I guess I'm kind of your "sponsor", although it would just be my contact info for the organziers, everything else would obviously be listed under your name and whatnot.

Ok the details - you would need to submit for each piece of are (up to 10), the name of the peice, what you want the starting bid to be, and what percentage of the price that it's sold for to be donated to TCH (minimum of 30%). Starting bid and percent donated can be different for each photo/piece (so if you had to buy a frame for one and needed to recoup that money, you could donate less of a percentage or raise the starting bid).

The art sale will be from August 13th - 19th, and artwork can start being submitted the week of August 8th. This art sale is in Houston, TX, and I will need to submit the physical artwork for you. So, you will need to get the artwork to me. If you really want to participate but are out of state, you can ship it to me, if you are local, I can meet you some where to get them from you. I attend most of the Houston meetups, or I can meet you halfway to your house or we can figure something out.

Feel free to use this thread as a sounding board for which pictures you should submit or advice for PP on photos you do want to submit. Let me know if you have any questions, and please try and submit at least a few for this great cause!

[groovyone]

So just to be clear, the 10 pieces are 10 unique pieces with no duplicates, correct? Not 10 different prints with a few copies of each.

Did the specify any restrictions on entries? Do photos have to be matted, framed, or anything?

I plan on trying to support this! Texas Children's was really good to us when we were there with my second daughter, and I hope I can help.

Huge thanks to Audrey for letting us know about this, and playing the role of coordinator!

[groovyone]

A question to those who have sold work and/or done gallery displays.

What are your suggestions for displaying photos/prepping them for sale?

My current practice is a basic framing of the straight print. It is decent, but not great. I tend to use basic black frame in most cases. I do not currently mat prints. I do have a couple metal prints (from Bay Photo) that I may offer up as part of this, and am considering something like the Bay Photo thin wraps to keep it simple for me.

[iCe]

Carrying Keith's question even further - is a frame necessary? Matte? Just a print? Based on what I learned in a fine art printing class (or should have learned depending on how you look at it) the best is to use an acid free matte and not frame. Frame choice is subjective.

Ship to address?

If no sale then is the print returned?

Copyright retained?

[auddii]

Yes, this is 10 individual pieces of art. There is no specification of framing requirements, but would imagine that plastic/metal/wood frames can be subjective to what the person want. I went to several of these sales during my graduate degree at UT (across the street from Baylor), and work was often matted, but not framed. I imagine that you can do whatever you prefer. The thin wrap or printing on glass might be an interesting option, but I'm not sure what would sell the best.

You can ship the prints to me at work, just PM me and I will give you the address. Prints not sold will be returned (if you ship them, I will ship them back). You retain copy right of the photos, but I am not sure if they may use photos for promoting the art sale. I can ask about that.

This is not a huge art sale at a gallery like many of you will be used to. This will be set up at Baylor's campus, and mostly students, faculty and employees will be the targeted buyers.

[iCe]

Forgot one (probably more)- What size print?

[rab3rd]

I would say matted and not framed is best. Be sure to matte to a standard frame size. Custom frames are very expensive and if you do an odd size it will force the buyer to purchase a custom frame. A plastic bag for protection is probably not a bad idea.

[groovyone]

Originally Posted by rab3rd

I would say matted and not framed is best. Be sure to matte to a standard frame size. Custom frames are very expensive and if you do an odd size it will force the buyer to purchase a custom frame. A plastic bag for protection is probably not a bad idea.

That is what I was thinking. Frames are very subjective so I was thinking standard matte size and a bag of some sort.

So Rob, any tips on matting?

We've also been kicking the idea of a print review get together around in the chat. I think it would be a great opportunity for forum members to get together without their cameras and just bring some prints and/or laptops and help pick out photos to contribute.

[auddii]

Originally Posted by iCe

Forgot one (probably more)- What size print?

Any size you want, although keep in mind that anything huge/mural sized will be hard to sell

Personally, I have purchased two photos, both of which were 4x5 (I think), and were matted. He also had 8x10s for sale, so I think it will just depend on what you want to print, and what you think will sell.

[rab3rd]

Keep it simple. Don't go for crazy colors or weird textures. Mattes can be subjective too, not quite as much as frames as they are usually driven by the content of the print. A basic white or black matte is pretty neutral and will work with most images. I like textured mattes that look a little like natural paper. Not super textured but not smooth either, it gives the matte a little depth on the surface.

[groovyone]

Originally Posted by rab3rd

Keep it simple. Don't go for crazy colors or weird textures. Mattes can be subjective too, not quite as much as frames as they are usually driven by the content of the print. A basic white or black matte is pretty neutral and will work with most images. I like textured mattes that look a little like natural paper. Not super textured but not smooth either, it gives the matte a little depth on the surface.

I am with ya there. Would you single mat or double? How do you correctly mount the print to the mat?

[rab3rd]

If you want to do your own mattes, it's not that hard. You can buy just a cutter for around 25 bucks and with some clamps and a straight edge you can get it done. A full sheet of matte board 40x30 only cost around 8 bucks. A single precut matte can cost that much or more. On a regular bases, hobby lobby puts the matte board on sale for 50% off. I have a matte cutter at home so if we want to do a matte cutting partymwe could do that.

[auddii]

Ok, after all these posts, I think I might be over my head. And I thought the pictures would be the hard part...

[groovyone]

Originally Posted by auddii

Ok, after all these posts, I think I might be over my head. And I thought the pictures would be the hard part...

No worries. You have answered everything well. The method of presentation is something more for the guys/gals who have done this before.

[auddii]

I was just thinking about going to IKEA and picking up some cheap frames, but y'all have given me a lot to think about. Of course, I also do "bad" prints at walgreens, so I know I'm way out of my league...