At the moment (and perhaps very briefly), I'm director of an art gallery. It claims to have a performance component, but I'm not satisfied with how that component's set up. And heavens forbid that we do anything differently than what's been done before and not been very successfully. The gallery is actually quite satisfying to perform in and it would be a shame to not take advantage of such a lovely space.
Do y'all do shows in small venues? W/o giving away any business secrets, what do you expect in terms of contract? What is supplied by the venue? What is supplied, but you have to reimburse? What are your parameters of acceptable? What makes a "good" space and time vs. the "not good"?
Lelia
Do y'all do shows in small venues? W/o giving away any business secrets, what do you expect in terms of contract? What is supplied by the venue? What is supplied, but you have to reimburse? What are your parameters of acceptable? What makes a "good" space and time vs. the "not good"?
Lelia
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Re: The Biz of Mime
Thu, December 28, 2006 - 3:03 PMMy primary experience with small venues have been with the artist-run venues that don't make a lot of money.
What I have found is that there is no general rule. The most successful of these venues always do the right things as far as publicity and treating the artists with honesty, but they are inconsistant with how they handle the issues of money. Some rent out the place for the evening to the artist and others give the artist a share of the door, others give the artist a minimum-- but pay the artist more if a certain attendence threshhold is surpassed (which is how most nightclubs handle musicians.)
So why do I like these alternative venues? Because they are where I cut my teeth as a performer and in my neck of the woods, many of the people running them are personal friends of mine, so I'm willing to be less of a business person when working with a pal and I know the business situation of the venue, and I usually have complete artistic freedom.
Better paying gigs have almost always meant less freedom. -
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Re: The Biz of Mime
Fri, December 29, 2006 - 6:43 AMYou'd so LOVE this little gallery, then. Check out art6.org; there's a picture of me over on the right (unless the webmaster actually updates it on a schedule or anything).
So, what would make up the perfect small venue for you; how'd you make it happen? -
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Re: The Biz of Mime
Fri, December 29, 2006 - 12:09 PMI'd need a very good reason to make the expense of a trip to Richmond. That's what makes alternative art spaces economically tenuous as a performance space: only the locals can afford to perform there regularly. Looks like a cool space though! -
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Re: The Biz of Mime
Sun, December 31, 2006 - 5:37 AMWhich is ZACKLY what I'm trying to change! Write me off list with your thoughts as to how this could work. In order to get out of the same-old/same-old cycle of bands and (middle-aged) poets, I need to be able to present something to the gallery. Your poetry and mime event on the 13th would be perfect - and it's the only way I'd get to see it.
What you can't see are the lovely large gallery on the first floor which would be performance area and would be a great place for a large (15-20) workshop and the little gallery on the 2nd floor that would be just perfect for a small (8-12) workshop.
(Hint, hint / nudge, nudge)
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Re: The Biz of Mime
Thu, December 28, 2006 - 7:05 PMTwo threads came up on the !Vaudeville tribe on the related issue of how much the artists should charge for a gig:
vaudevillage.tribe.net/thread...486a727
vaudevillage.tribe.net/thread...e7fde37
