Getting people to say yes to a big idea is a skill that involves plenty of clarity around your goals. Meredith Nemirov has it.
In episode 262 of The Art Biz, she walks through how she built a sold-out show at Milk Moon Gallery in Telluride, Colorado with five collaborators, raising nearly $10,000 for a national nonprofit. The decisions she made along the way are worth studying.
It started with the work.
Meredith had been painting aspen trees onto antique topographical maps for years, filling every waterway with blue to visually rewater (her word) a drought-stricken landscape. The work had a natural connection to environmental advocacy, and that alignment is what made everything else possible. The collaboration didn’t need to be forced because the work already made the case.
She wrote a proposal before she called her gallery.
Meredith approached American Rivers, a national nonprofit, before she brought the idea to Milk Moon Gallery. She wanted to know whether the collaboration was viable before she asked her gallery to commit to it.
The proposal was a page and a half with images. Simple, visual, easy to say yes to.
Give people options, not demands
Rather than presenting one plan and asking for approval, Meredith gave American Rivers three options.
- Donate twelve small works for them to use however they wanted.
- A show she would bring to their fundraiser.
- A full collaborative exhibition in Telluride during Mountainfilm festival.
They chose the third option, which happened to be what she hoped for. But because they chose it, they were invested in it. That distinction matters. When collaborators choose their level of involvement, they become stakeholders in your idea.
Build on existing relationships.
The other collaborators were people Meredith already knew. She didn’t build the collaboration from scratch. She looked at who was already in her orbit and asked whether their work connected to hers. In most cases, the ask was simple because the relationship was already there.
Activate the show more than once.
One opening night is one opportunity. Meredith and her gallery structured the show around two opening events — one during Mountainfilm and another on a First Thursday art walk — plus a separate poetry reading. Each event brought a different audience into the gallery and gave people multiple reasons to come.
Meredith gratefully acknowledges that the gallery staff did a lot of heavy lifting. They visited her studio as a group, spent an evening understanding the full story behind the work, and built their social media strategy from that foundation.
Any artist would kill for their gallery to feature them so prominently —>
American Rivers promoted the show to their audience as well. By the time people arrived, they already understood what they were walking into.
What she would do differently.
One missed opportunity: a representative from American Rivers was at the opening and never addressed the crowd. Meredith expected a brief talk about the organization’s mission, which didn’t happen. She’d plan for it explicitly next time — not assume it was going to happen.
Busy events move fast, and unplanned moments tend to stay unplanned.
[ Meredith’s show was featured in a beautiful article with photos on the A La Luz blog, a showcase for environmentally engaged artistic practices across disciplines. ]
Listen
Think about your next exhibition and who else belongs in it. Not just who might say yes, but whose mission or work genuinely connects to yours.
The strongest collaborations require noticing what’s already aligned.
Meredith Nemirov Quotes
- “I felt that I was a vehicle for these [artworks]. I really did.”
- “I learned that people are approachable.”
- “It was win, win, win, win, win.”
- “The four women that work at the gallery did the most amazing social media posts for the show…. They just put their all into it.” (See photo above for evidence.)
- “I gave them three options to think about. I didn’t just say, I wanna do this.”
- “I felt a purpose for the pieces.”
- “All these people were involved and expecting something. That kept my momentum going in the studio. It was something to work towards.”
Related Episodes
Other artists who found deeper meaning in their art through collaborations:
About Meredith Nemirov
Meredith Nemirov was born in NYC where she studied at The Art Student’s League and received a BFA from Parson’s School of Design. After working as a freelance illustrator for 11 years she moved to a small town in SW Colorado.
Together with her husband they opened the Ridgway Gallery specializing in antique prints, maps and books of the exploration of the American West. After the gallery closed in 1999 Nemirov has been painting and exhibiting her work, and teaching, in the US and Spain.
Follow Meredith on Instagram: @meredith.nemirov
