OVEN MITTS
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I don’t like to have anyone cook in my kitchen other than my husband.  I’m just territorial that way.  I feel judged and inadequate, and I don’t understand why.  I have also never had a guest blogger on AAAD.

But, with the holidays slowly approaching, inevitably I will have to endure guest chefs in my kitchen.  And today, we will have a guest blogger.  There is a time for most things in this life, and today it is time for this to be said, even if not by me…

INVISIBLE REJECTION

From an email received by Editor R.L. Gibson Sat, 10 Aug 2013 18:31:18 -0400: 

“One day, someone more energetic than me will compile a “best practices” manual for galleries holding juried art exhibitions. The first page of the manual will contain a list of basic commandments to be followed under all circumstances. The first commandment will read something like ‘Thou shalt always include a letter of acceptance or rejection.’

“It seems like basic common sense, right? It’s an obvious no-brainier and normally what you would expect from anyone who considers themselves to be an art professional. It’s also the polite thing to do.

“You would be surprised, however, how often such basics are neglected. Over the last year or so, it’s happened to me on multiple occasions. The deadline for notification comes and goes and there’s no word. Trying to be polite, you wait several days under the assumption that maybe the juror’s dog ate your images or perhaps the gallery director had some sort of bizarre gardening accident and the notice was delayed. Then, with great reluctance, you follow up with an e-mail asking politely if there has been a delay. Much to your chagrin, you are told that your work was not selected and that only accepted artists were notified. To make matters worse, the gallery suggests that this is actually common practice.  Well, I’m not buying it…

No matter how you slice it,
informing artists by this default mechanism
(The invisible rejection letter)
amounts to no notice at all.
It’s unprofessional,
it’s lazy,
and it’s simply not polite.

“My wife raised me to send thank you notes and I expect similar behavior from art professionals. If you don’t have the stomach to send rejection letters, get out of the juried art show racket. Alternatively, at least spell out such practices in big, bold type somewhere in the call to artists.”

–End of rant…Dave Willison

*Editor’s Note:  I completely agree with you Dave.  If they can take your money, then they should be able to send you a rejection letter.  A number of AAAD readers are gallerists.  Here’s to hope your point hits home with at least one of them. –R.L. Gibson (Rachel), Editor

Learn more about Guest Contributor David Willison!