Artist Linda Brenner Talks About Her Experience of Writing Her Exhibition Proposal for "The Ghost Cats".

One of the great things about writing this blog is all of the fantastic and incredibly interesting artists I get to meet.  

I met Philadelphia-based artist Linda Brenner while I was writing “How To Craft a Killer Exhibition Proposal”.  The 39 sculptures she created, as a site specific installation at Eastern State Penitentiary, represent a colony of feral cats who took up residence on the prison grounds after the closing of the Penitentiary in 1971. 

Linda's proposal for “The Ghost Cats” was so incredibly good, of course I had to interview her about her experience of writing it: 

In your experience, what is the most difficult part of putting together a strong exhibition proposal?

The writing! Specifically, making your concept understood. Writing about your work is a process of translating the visual into a completely different medium—written language.  So making your proposal clear and precise can be very difficult.

How do you know if a venue is a good fit for your work?  How would you recommend artists go about researching and choosing exhibition venues?

I only apply for projects that I know will be successful - often the curators have their own agenda and have little regard for the public they are reaching - the artist has no control of this - How do I know it will be successful? Well I just know!

When choosing a venue be sure to be honest about what you do - try to connect to the history or social significance of the place - think about the people who will see your work there and how they may respond to it (involve them when possible) don’t be afraid to be entertaining!

Many artists find the prospect of writing incredibly daunting. What advice would you give to an artist who is writing their first exhibition proposal?

Get help from a professional. When I wrote the "Ghost Cats" proposal I was lucky enough to have the help of a friend who was an art history student. She helped me construct good solid sentences and removed all of the extra adjectives—many extra adjectives. 

It’s very important to keep your proposal short. In this day and age of emails and text messages, almost no one is willing to read a long proposal. Be short and be clear.

You can learn more about Linda and to see more of her amazing work, visit the Senior Artists Initiative: http://www.seniorartists.org/brennergallery.html

Also-- a great video of Linda talking about her work in her studio! http://bit.ly/MTHfr2

BIG Love,

-Kesha★