How Much does it Cost to Put on a Solo Show?

I love it when artists posts those annual reviews of their income, with pie charts of where their income came from, and in what percentage.

I’ve been thinking about all the expenses that went into my current solo show at Art Reach of Mid Michigan, and thought maybe some readers would be interested in knowing that the costs are that go into having a solo show?

To be clear, I’m not complaining about these costs!  This is how the art world works, and I’m delighted to have this opportunity to show and share my work, and see how people interact with it and respond.  It feels like “publishing” the work, and a very important step.  There’s so much value in selecting the work and creating a cohesive show.

Making the Art

The largest single expense for a solo show is my own time, making the art. Not only the actual making of the art, but creating a life where I have dedicated studio time and space, and a paying job that doesn’t kill my soul.  (I’m a teaching artist, teaching quilting, garment sewing, cyanotype, kirigami and more.)

Then there’s the art supplies. While I use a lot of low cost, vintage linens as my substrates, I print on them with Jacquard SolarFast Dye and cyanotype chemicals, and those need to be purchased new. Those are liquids that are applied to the paper and fabric, so it’s a bit of a challenge to calculate the cost of those that went into this show.  But for reference, an 8 ounce bottle of SolarFast dye costs about $15.00.

I made some of the art for this show back in 2022 and 2023. The quilts and The Healing Quilts I made last year and into this year. I used new fabric, vintage fabric and linens, fabric from Spoonflower, (which is about $20.00/yard when not on sale), new batting, and new binding.  The batting I use, in queen size, costs about $30.00.  Since my quilts are smaller than queen, I get the batting for at least two quilts from that.

Implied in all of this is that I already own all the tools needed to get all of this done.  I’ve invested in a quality sewing machine and UV light box, to mention just two pieces of equipment.  I also used various hand tools, a flexible shaft drill, and had to buy a specialized pipe cutting tool.  We already own all the basics like saws, screwdrivers, etc.  So those costs are included here.

Preparing the Art for Hanging

This gallery, like the library where I had a solo show in 2023, uses a gallery wall system with bars and hooks. This means that to show my hankies and doilies, I have to hand stitch them onto canvases. First I wrap the canvases with fabric, then do the hand stitching. Expenses include the canvases, the fabric, my time again, and also the D-rings and wires for the backs of the canvases, which makes them hangable. I spent about $30.00 on new D-rings and picture wire to wire the 6-7 canvases that needed them. I didn’t use all of it, so I have extra for the next show.

Because some of this work had been shown before, some of the works were on canvas already. I had to prepare seven canvases for hanging for this show, mostly for the title wall cyanotypes. Some of those canvases were already in my studio, left over from previous projects, that I hadn’t used yet. I remember that I bought at least one new 14″ x 18″, one 12″ x 12″ and two 12″ x 16″ canvases. Using the prices from Blick’s website and doing a rough estimate, that’s over $40.00 for those four canvases.

For the five quilts on the wall, I bought curtain rods, which I didn’t end up using, and wood lattice strips, which I did use.  I cut those to length, drilled holes in the ends and used monofilament to hang them.  Those wood slats go through the quilt hanging sleeves that were laboriously stitched down by family members and me.  The sleeves themselves, I purchased pre-made, as regulation quilt sleeves (yes, that’s a thing) have a special pleat in them to help the quilts hang straight.

Here’s what that quilt sleeve looks like, pinned in place on the back of a quilt.  The stitches for this have to be hidden, not for looks, but for function, so it takes a lot longer than you might think.

The Healing Quilts had additional expenses:

• making the hoops to suspend them from, and the two kinds of rope.
• adding hook and loop closures to attach the quilts to the hoops.
• building the custom speaker system, times 2.   This includes, for each quilt, an Arduino micro controller, amplifier, MP3 player, the speaker itself, the project box to put the electronics in, plastic domes to direct the sound, baffles, and the motion sensor.
• time, for the audio engineer/musician to create the audioscapes with original music.
• to hold the Arduino project boxes, I sewed two little bag/baskets and bought two carabiners to suspend them from.

I admit that I have not added up the cost of all those electronics. An Arudio Rev 3 costs almost $30.00, and the major components were each about $10.00 each so an additional $30.00 for those, plus the domes and speakers, for a minimum cost of $86.00 per unit. Though that’s low, that doesn’t include various wires, the solder and the foam padding/baffles, or shipping.

Installing the Show

This show is a four and a half hour drive away from me, that’s if I drove straight through without stopping. According to the trip estimator Gas Buddy, a round trip to and from Mt. Pleasant would cost $71.65 in gas. I’m making the round trip three times – once to install, once to attend the opening reception, and once to de-install the show.  Gas Buddy finds you the lowest price gas along your route, so it’s possible the actual cost would be higher.

That’s an estimated $214.95 in gas. Plus hotels, food, and road trip snacks.

Let’s Talk about the Unpaid Labor

As the artist, I’m not paid for my time when making the art. Obviously, I hope that some of it will sell, and that’s how I’ll get paid. I’m also not paid for any of my other work – my work as an art preparator, delivery driver, installer, or marketer. I knew that going in.

In addition, my family members have contributed to making this show happen. My teen, Midi, built the speakers, did the computer programming and audio engineering and also came along to assist at the install, to ensure that everything worked correctly with the speakers. Midi also filmed and edited the time lapse of the installation (with two phones!) and the walk through tour of the show. My brother was an essential and appreciated advisor on the speaker build and programming. My Mom and my daughter each sewed one sleeve onto the back of a quilt. And the doilies that had already been sewn to canvas for that 2023 show – they helped stitch those down too.

Betsy Zacsek, an independent artist, curator and teaching artist, designed the layout of the show. My husband drilled the 4″ holes in the sound domes (that the speakers go through) and is an ever-present source of support and encouragement.  (He’s also a great cook.) The members of my art collective group supported and encouraged me through all the aspects of the show, including making the art, all the way back to the “what do you think of this crazy idea?” stage.  And the collective sent me flowers at the opening!

What’s the total?

So, counting only:

• gas, food, hotels.
• cost of recently purchased canvases, D-rings and wires.
• rough estimate of the cost of the speakers build.

That’s a total of $782.00, not counting shipping costs or any of the material costs of the actual making of the art.  While that is figure-out-able, since I made the art over multiple years, that would be a bit of a challenge to figure out.

Other costs would easily get that up to at least $1,000.00, I’d guess.

The unpaid labor that friends and family contributed is worth hundreds of dollars.  Because of their help, I didn’t have to find, evaluate, hire and pay: audio engineer, musician, videographer, or show layout designer.  This was a massive savings in not only money but also time.  (I do have a wonderful photographer who I work with on local shows, but couldn’t pay her enough to make it worth her time to travel to document this show.)

Why Do It?

I was talking with someone who is not an artist yesterday, and I mentioned my show and this blog post. Confused, they asked, “Then why do it? Do you hope to sell some of it?” Fair questions. Yes, of course I hope to sell some art. But even if nothing sells, it’s still been worth it. Here’s why –

Creating a solo show is like publishing a book on my art – it’s an organized, public facing debut of this work. Thinking through this body of work, how to present a selection of it in a cohesive way, that’s a valuable process for an artist.

Two of the large pieces in this show – The Healing Quilts – need people to walk into them and experience them. Lots of artists before me have said that the art isn’t done until someone views it – I’ve never really felt that one before. But these – these are experiential. I needed to see how people responded to them. Those really aren’t done until they’re on display and experienced, and now they’re out there, alive and some folks are having strong (positive) reactions.

And lastly, each show builds on the previous one. This is the largest gallery I’ve been able to fill with my own work. It’s a fabulous looking show and we’ve taken tons of photos and videos. This will give future galleries and museums the confidence that I can also fill their spaces with a cohesive show of excellent work.

P.S. A friend pointed out that I didn’t mention the time involved in creating the exhibition proposal and sending it out to various galleries until I got a yes. Good point. I do spend a lot of time on that kind of work. It’s such a constant background activity that I honestly kind of forgot about it.

P.P.S. I should have mentioned W.A.G.E.- Working Artist and the General Economy – a not for profit that that guides organizations to pay artists fairly.

From their about page:

“We see the contemporary fight for non-wage compensation as part of a wider struggle by all gig workers who supply content without payment standards or an effective means to organize. In the context of contemporary art, where the unpaid labor of artists supports a multi-billion dollar industry, W.A.G.E.’s mission is to establish sustainable economic relationships between artists and the institutions that contract our labor, and to introduce mechanisms for self-regulation into the art field that collectively bring about a more equitable distribution of its economy.”

W.A.G.E. has a sliding scale fee calculator that tells organizations, based on their annual budget, what they should pay artists. And organizations can become W.A.G.E. certified, meaning they commit to paying artists according to the W.A.G.E. scale.

Solo shows are one of the items on the fee calculator. For an example, I put in an organization with an annual budget of $200,000.00 (I have no idea what the budget is for the gallery where I’m currently exhibiting) and the calculator comes up with a fee of $1,250.00.

I have heard tell that in Canada, galleries must pay an artist just for having a solo show. That’s totally not the standard in the U.S. I get excited if a gallery is offering staff support, money for shipping or travel, or an opportunity to be paid for additional work, such as a talk or a workshop.