How to Invite Members of The Press to Attend and Publicize Your Art Exhibition

Congratulations! You’ve just received an invitation to have a one-person exhibition. Now, this is the perfect time to invite members of the press to attend and publicize your art exhibition. Let them spread the word about you and your art to thousands, if not millions of art enthusiasts around the world. The sooner you begin working on getting your press list and press release in order the better. You don’t want to have regrets later about missing opportunities to expand your audience and recognition.

This article has been designed to eliminate the intimidation of developing a press release.

Learn the Ground Rules

* Ask the publicity department of the exhibition venue if they will be preparing a press release on your behalf. If they are, you’re very fortunate and can save time and effort. However, you still may want to do one of your own. Many nonprofit and alternative exhibition venues don’t provide this service so it is good for you to be prepared.

* Make sure you understand the venue’s protocol and procedures for publicizing artists’ exhibitions. You don’t want to infringe upon their policy or break any rules.

Gather The Facts and Necessary Materials

* Title of exhibition and dates, date and time of opening reception, viewing hours, name of venue, address, and website
* Your artist’s statement
* The mission statement for the exhibition
* A condensed version of your artist’s biography
* Any facts about this exhibition that make it unique, such as “this is the first exhibition being presented by the XYZ Gallery devoted to (insert theme, subject or medium)”.
* Unique facts about the venue
* A quote from a representative of the exhibition venue about why they offered you this exhibition. This will give more credibility to the press release.
* Facts about major news events that may tie in with the theme of your exhibition. For example, your exhibition may commemorate the anniversary date of a historical event.
* A good quality jpeg of the artwork that best represents the exhibition, perhaps the one that you’ll be using for your postcard.
* The contact information for the press to use should they need additional information and images. In most instances your email address and telephone number will suffice (or the venue’s contact information if they approve).
* Links to your website, blog, social media pages, where the recipient of the press release can view images from the exhibition.
* Links to videos about you and your artwork

Write the Press Release

* A press release should be typically 1-2 pages long
* The headline includes the title of the exhibition, location and dates.
* At the top of the page provide the line “Contact: (followed by your email and/or telephone number)”
* The content of the press release should be concise and newsworthy, written in an inverted pyramid style.
* Include information extracted from the materials listed under “Gather the Facts and Necessary Materials”.
* Normally, the press release is written in a word document and saved as a PDF document.
* To view sample press releases visit the press dept on the Guggenheim Museum website where you can download PDF files of press releases.

More to Know

When you prepare your list of publications, both in print and online, find out their deadline dates to receive press materials. For instance, a monthly magazine may have 2-4 months lead time, whereas a blog may have 3-4 weeks deadline.

Let the press know if you’re available for a phone or in-person interview.

Send a press release after the exhibition opening with pictures from the reception. The publication may be interested in doing a follow-up story, incorporate your event with other related stories, or write a feature story about you.

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