Art galleries and dealers are continually deluged with requests from artists to get involved with their art in one way or another either by showing it, selling it, representing it, critiquing it or otherwise helping them advance in their careers. They make contact by email, phone, in person, by mail, through friends, and so on. Unfortunately, a substantial percentage of these attempts fall far short of what galleries require from any artist who is approaching them about their art.

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One critical mistake artists often make is offering little or no information about either themselves or their art other than maybe including a few images of their work or providing links to their websites or image pages. Another common error is failing to give reasons, specifically relating to whatever gallery or dealer they're contacting, about why they're contacting them in the first place, and even more importantly, why they should take time out of their busy schedules to spend time reviewing their work, let alone respond. In other words, many of these requests amount to little more than "Look at my art" or "Do something for me," with hardly any information or explanations about what's in it for those galleries if they do. It's your responsibility-- while keeping your inquiry concise and to the point, and abiding by a gallery's submission guidelines if they have them-- to explain exactly why you're making contact and what's in it for them to consider your art. If you can't come up with a really good reason that has the gallery's best interests in mind, don't bother contacting them.

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Once you've established your purpose in making contact, the most important details to provide are specifics about your art-- not all of your art, but your most recent work, what you're currently producing or working on, not everything you've ever created.

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