Whether you are submitting to exhibitions, creating an art portfolio, or selling your work online, photographing your work is a key part of the art making process. A great photograph not only shows off your talent, it helps viewers connect with you and your work in a matter of seconds. 

For our next installment of the Business of Art, we're sharing a few tips and tricks for photographing your art. You do not need professional equipment to take quality photos of your art, but you do need to follow a few best practices.

Here are a few excellent resources for photographing your art. We hope these guides will get your work into more shows, more galleries, and into the homes of more collectors!

Cafe - Photographing Artwork: Your Essential Guide for Jury Ready Images

Will Kemp - 9 Common Mistakes when Photographing your Artwork with an iPhone

Art Prof - How to Photograph your 2D and 3D Art

Endangered! opened on August 5th to an enthusiastic crowd of nature and animal lovers, friends and family, and of course, art advocates. The Endangered theme called upon local artists to explore the idea of threats to our planet, but how they interpreted those threats moved beyond the environment.

This show embraces the somber reality of the endangered species list but also expands the concept beyond the natural world to include ways of life, values, and even laws that can be interpreted as endangered.

Endangered is a juried exhibition featuring over 40 regional artists. Winners were selected by our guest judge, photographer Patrick (Buzz) Hayes.

If you missed opening night, not to worry. We've captured the evening in the gallery of photos below and on our Facebook and Instagram pages. ​

The exhibition will conclude on August 28th with a casual chat between exhibiting artists and the public. The Artists Talk is an opportunity to hear the story and the how-to behind the artwork in the exhibition. 

Endangered is on view August 5-28. Art is available for purchase.
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Hear exhibiting artists spill the tea on their works and process at our Artists Talk on August 28 from 3:00-4:00pm. ​

Highlights from opening night

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Endangered Exhibition winners, Karla Mann and Karen Waller

Photos by Christopher Tolton and Jaimie Choi
​written by Jaimie Choi

We are so excited to kickoff a new blog series about the business side of art! To start things off, we have created a free, downloadable checklist to help artists during the exhibition application process. We have many topics to follow - everything from preparing your art like a pro to marketing and selling your art.

​Below is an Art Exhibition Checklist. It is available for you to download. Just click on the button below the image that says, "download PDF."

Every month, we will tackle a new topic and announce it through our newsletter.  So, if you aren't already subscribed, please do so! ​

For our Focal Local exhibition, artists were asked to submit work that reflects the lore of Hampton Roads. The coastal area we call home features waterways, marshes, high and low tides, ocean life, lighthouses and tourist attractions for days; but it also features farmland, barns, horses, and strawberry fields - city centers, downtowns, and rows of historic houses on cobblestone streets. This region is eclectic and that is what makes it special.

Focal Local is a juried exhibition judged by Kate Pittman, Executive Director of the ViBe Creative District. Here is a taste of Focal Local and the award winners that captured Pittman's eye. 

Focal Local is on view through July 31st. Stop by to see these works in person, visit with our resident artists, and shop for local art.

Photos by Christopher Tolton and Jaimie Choi.

As locals, the ocean is our backyard. The Chesapeake Bay and Back Bay are just around the bend, and there are countless smaller water ways on marshes all around us. Many of our local artists are inspired by the water that surrounds us, so it's not unusual to see water-related works of art in the area. But this show, H20, is different. This show is national. And H2o takes on a whole new meaning when you open it up to the rest of the country. Take a look at the national artists who stole the show at H2O.

Judge: Chuck Larivey, signature member of the Oil Painters of America

H20 is on view from June 3-26, 2022.