Art Show Checklist

        This weekend I’ll be at Roslindale Open Studios, so today is all about finishing preparations and packing up.  For most of my weekend shows I prefer to set up on Friday when possible, but Roslindale is not somewhere I want to drive at rush hour on a Friday, so for this one I don’t set up until early Saturday morning.  Moreover, it’s a far enough drive that having to rush back home for some forgotten item is at best a terrible, frantic, stressful inconvenience, and at worst simply impossible.  This makes it all the more important that I actually remember to pack everything I’ll need.  To that end, I have put together a checklist.  This one is personal to me, my work, and my display, and obviously each artist’s list will be a little different.  Nevertheless, I offer it in the hope that it may be of some help to anyone thinking about showing or showing for the first time or so.

Display Stuff                                                Other Stuff

- hanging racks                                            - block(s) to carve

- hardware                                                   - carving tools

- hooks                                                          - sample rubber

- binder clips                                               - stamp pad

- multitool                                                    - test paper

- long table                                                   - business cards

- medium table                                           - networking cards

- small table                                                 - cash box

- tablecloths                                                 - square reader

- print racks                                                 - change

- card rack                                                    - record-keeping notebook

- card display baskets                                - price list folder

- book rack                                                   - pens, pencil

- labels                                                          - tape

- signage                                                      - camera

- easels, stands                                            - cart

                                                                      - bags for purchases

Goods                                                            Last Minute Stuff

- framed work                                             - phone

- matted work                                             - lunch/snacks

- card/necklace/etc. box                            - water bottle

- holiday cards                                            - glasses

- books                                                         - sweater

- framed posters                                        - phone charge cord/battery  

- box of posters                                           - purse (which includes essentials such as

                                                                               chapstick, tylenol, pads, scissors,

                                                                               tape measure, etc.)

        The binder clips, by the way, are for hanging unframed signs, unframed prints, and similar stuff from my wire racks.  The stamp pad and test paper are for checking the progress of the block I’m carving, at the end of the day when I think I may be about done with it.  I never bother bringing lights, but many artists do, in which case they’d also need to remember extension cords and gaffer tape.  Some artists bring an entire toolbox.  I think I’ve only once been in a location that didn’t provide a chair, but some artists bring their own special stool or higher chair.  I’ve always found the other artists extremely generous with tools, tape, making change for a customer, and other necessities that apply to all of us, but of course it’s more convenient to remember your own - and nice to be the person who can be generous to someone else when needed.

        You’ll be substituting your own artwork for mine on this list, your own display system for mine, and so on.  But perhaps there might be something on my list you wouldn’t have thought of.  Certainly my list has been developed and refined over my 14 years of doing art shows, and I’ve learned the hard way how handy it is to have some of the less obvious items, and how easy it is to forget some of the smaller ones - or even large ones, if they happen to get shoved out of sight out of mind.  So I hope this checklist is helpful to some of you, and I hope it’s helpful to me this evening as I load the car!

        If you’re in this Bostonian neck of the woods this weekend, be sure to come by and introduce yourself at Roslindale House.  It’s always a wonderful show.

[Picture: ROS 2017, photo by a helpful neighboring artist, 2017.]