Picture this: You walk into a gallery and spot a stunning ocean-blue ceramic vase with a flared opening. About 24 inches high. The craftsmanship is exquisite, the glaze luminous.
And attached to its inside lip? Half a torn sticky note with “$275” scrawled in ballpoint pen.
Not even a whole sticky note! Just a ripped piece of paper stuck to a $275 piece of art. I can’t make it up, so I took a photo to prove it, though I protect the guilty by not sharing it.
That vase deserved better. And so does your art.
Here’s an uncomfortable question: Are you undermining your art’s value without realizing it?
Context Shapes Perception
Your art doesn’t exist in a vacuum. When someone sees your work, they’re taking in everything around it: the space, the walls (digital or real), the floor, the lighting, the other art nearby, the label, whether they found you on Instagram or at a museum show.
All of this sends signals about your work’s value before anyone looks closely at the piece itself.
Think about the gravitas of the Mona Lisa hanging behind bulletproof glass in her own special room in the Louvre. That same painting at a yard sale might be easily overlooked.
Or consider the famous Subway Experiment. In 2007, violin virtuoso Joshua Bell posed as a busker with his $3.5 million Stradivarius during rush hour in a Washington, D.C. Metro station. Only seven people stopped in 45 minutes. His open violin case collected a paltry $32, twenty of which came from perhaps the only person who recognized him.
Many people blame the busyness of commuter life. But I side with those who point to context. We expect to hear street artists in the subway, not Joshua freakin’ Bell. We expect to have coffee in coffee shops and see art in galleries. Context isn’t everything, but it’s not nothing either.
Every context either elevates your work or diminishes it.
Listen
Audit your current opportunities.
For each place you’re showing or planning to show, ask yourself: Will this venue elevate my work and help collectors take me more seriously?
Out of Your Hands
Once you’ve said yes to showing somewhere, much is beyond your control. (As you’ll see, you should exert your control before saying yes.)
You can’t control how organizers behave after you’ve committed. You can’t control how they hang your art or whether they feature it up front or in a dark corner. You can’t control their messaging or whether they promote the show at all.
[ See The Venue’s Responsibilities for Your Art Exhibition ]
That sticky note? The artist probably didn’t choose that, but it affected how everyone perceived the work.
You also can’t control who else is in a group show with you. If your work hangs next to pieces that look amateurish or unprofessionally presented, it affects how viewers see yours. You’re judged by the company you keep.
Online, you can’t control algorithms or what work appears around yours in someone’s feed.
This is exactly why what you CAN control matters so much.
What You Can Control
You have more control than you might think.
Choose where you submit. Research venues before saying yes. Visit in person. Check their Instagram and past shows. Talk with artists who’ve participated. Ask yourself: Does this venue align with my prices and goals? Will being here make collectors take me more seriously?
Set your criteria. What are your non-negotiables? Proper lighting? Adequate promotion? Professional communication? Pay attention to how responsive organizers are before you commit.
Raise your standards regardless of venue. Whether it’s a coffee shop or a gallery, your work should be finished properly and hung beautifully. Insist on decent lighting. If labels look sloppy, offer to make them yourself.
Ask for what you need. Get a contract before leaving your art anywhere. Ask about lighting, security measures, and display plans. These aren’t unreasonable requests. They’re the baseline for treating art and artists with respect.
Control your online presence. Choose quality photography. Write compelling descriptions. Include credit lines. Curate which images appear next to each other. On your website, you’re the boss: fonts, colors, image sizes, the story you’re telling about who you are as an artist.
These choices signal that you have standards and take your work seriously.
Aim for the Next Level
Once you understand what you can control, use that knowledge to aim for increasingly prestigious venues.
[ See The Career Journey of Growth-Minded Artists ]
What “prestigious” means depends on where you’re starting. If you’re showing in coffee shops, a juried gallery exhibition is a step up. If you’ve done juried shows for years, a solo gallery show is next. The point isn’t to judge where you are—it’s to keep moving forward.
Too many artists’ resumes look like they’re on repeat: the same organizations, the same juried shows, year after year. It feels safe, but safe doesn’t build momentum or increase prices.
Ask yourself: What’s the next level up from where I am now? What do I need to do to get there?
Start Being Selective Now
You don’t have to wait until you’re established to be selective.
Yes, when starting out, you need experience. You might say yes to opportunities you’d decline later. That’s understandable.
But even early on, choose the best option available. Each choice builds credibility for the next opportunity.
One more time: Context shapes perception. If you want to command higher prices, context matters.
Your selectivity is a form of self-respect. Your art deserves better than a torn Post-It note. It deserves context that honors the work you’ve put into it.
