If you would have told me a couple years ago that my first internship would have been at an art gallery, I would have probably laughed in your face. But then here I am, in my last few weeks of work before the end of an internship at a rising art gallery, which has shaped my aspirations and future career prospects. Not only have I come to terms with the fact that working within the art sector is the only field I see myself in, this experience has prompted me to embrace change and view my future with less stress and accept that there is no right or wrong way to pursue a particular career.
Homecoming Gallery is an online based art gallery, specialised in the field of photography and representing a wide and diverse range of photographers across the globe, from fashion to documentary and still life. They are gradually turning to a more and more international audience, broadening their field of action to art book publishing, participating in major art events and building their status of experts in this market sector.
Starting an internship for a company you are excited about, I can assure, can be nerve wrecking. My understanding of the art market and how a gallery fits in it was very much theoretical and grounded in books mostly out of date to give a realistic and innovative view of what working in this sector means and what possibilities there are.More importantly, marketing of the arts has been overlooked both in research and in business practice. Being the art sector one that relies on authority and established entities to dictate trends and currents, I lacked knowledge on how galleries can navigate within this framework. I was lucky enough to work with two incredible women who have incredible backgrounds in the creative industry and helped me understand how important networking and connecting on a professional level and more importantly on a human one.
This internship at Homecoming Gallery prompted me to question how communication is perceived and processed by possible customers within the art industry in comparison with generic marketing practices. Understanding what’s of value for the audience I have been working towards understanding better was definitely insightful. It was with these premises that I focused my research on the influences of prominent art institutions such as art fairs in the value perception of rising artists by the public.
Working as an all around intern can be confusing at the start. My responsibilities at Homecoming Gallery were many, the ones more closely related to my studies being development of marketing and sales strategies, content creation and planning as well as review of these marketing efforts to implement improvements. Apart from the marketing sphere, I helped with administrative general support, which entailed being in direct contact with customers for any inquiry; I was also in charge of maintenance of the website, I learned how to use Shopify and was in charge of keeping the site up to date. My favourite part of the whole experience was participating in Art Fairs and openings. Learning how to approach customers, talking about our artists and connecting to the public enabled me to push myself to trust my knowledge and use it to network for the gallery. Art might be a sale driven market, but human connection is the basis of it all and I feel I have been lucky enough to learn a lot in both domains and I can move my next steps firmly towards a career I can be fond of.