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How to Curate Your Own Personal Art Gallery

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Lots of people dream of having the kind of money and home where they can amass lots of high quality possessions.  One of these possessions is a fine art collection worthy of any top notch art gallery.  Many people believe that this dream is entirely outside their reach and so don’t bother or go for knock-offs of well known works of art.  The truth is that you can curate your own personal fine art gallery right now if you know a few simple rules.

To start, an art gallery is merely a place to display a collection of art.  Most of the effort required for creating a personal art gallery is directed towards creating your own personal art collection and displaying it in a properly prepared space.  To that end, here are some rules for creating your own art gallery and collection.

Photograph of five different landscape photographs for sale by Cramer Imaging

You don’t need a ton of money to curate your own fine art collection and gallery.  You just need patience.

1. Money Isn’t Everything

Cramer Imaging's professional quality photograph of a hand holding a one, five, ten, and twenty dollar bill

While you might think that you need tons of money to curate a proper art collection and gallery space, you would be wrong.  Not every art gallery is made up from the largest and most expensive pieces of art on the market today.  You don’t need to be vomiting money to create a satisfying and beautiful collection of quality art.  Plenty of people create beautiful and satisfying art galleries on much more manageable budgets.  You simply need time and personal taste.

Yes, you will need some money but not as much as you think.  There are beautiful pieces of art out there by unknown artists and pieces of art which people don’t yet know are valuable if you know where to look.  Every collection starts out small.  Don’t be ashamed.  Dig in and have fun.  After all, every curated personal art gallery starts with a single piece of art and builds up from there.

2. Not All Unknown Artists Are Worthless

Audrey silhouetted against the rising sun by Cramer Imaging

Another point worth considering regards which artists you choose to display in your gallery.  When creating their own personal art collections, many people fall into the trap of believing that unknown artists have no talent and, because of this, are not worth the money.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Unknown artists certainly have worth and may even have a place in your personal art gallery.

There are plenty of artists out there who simply haven’t come to people’s attention but have plenty of talent and regularly create beautiful works of art.  They might require more effort to find but their art can be just as satisfying for a fraction of the cost of well known works of art.

Sometimes, these artists rise into prominence (although that’s more of an exception than a rule).  In such cases, then you’ll find you have a much more valuable piece of art than you realized.

3. Have a Place to Display Your Personal Art Gallery Collection

Photograph of Cramer Imaging's fine art photograph 'Tranquility' on the wall of a room with a couch and lily flower

Lots of people start into the world of collecting art without a thought for where they will keep it.  This means that such art often will end up in a pile in some back closet someplace.  This isn’t the reason why you bought the art.  You bought it because you like to look at it.  You need a place to display it.  This means that you make a place for proud display.  Whatever type of art you chose to purchase, you make space on a wall, shelf, or other display surface to show it off.

Make sure that there are is nothing blocking the viewing area of your art so everyone can see the full picture without distractions.  The art is supposed to be the prominent feature.  Anything taking away from that should be removed.  You might consider putting in some chairs or other seating arrangements for people to enjoy your art collection in comfort.

4. Consider How the Art Will Be Lit

Cramer Imaging's photograph example of fine art hung on the wall and illuminated by a nearby light source

No one buys a piece of art, no matter the cost, to stick away in a dark corner of the house.  You need to make sure your art collection is properly lit for all to enjoy.  This might mean looking into individual lights for each picture in a frame or getting brighter watt light bulbs.  Check out this article for more information on how to properly light your artwork.

No matter what the lighting challenges are of the space in which you live and will be displaying your art, you will need to make sure your art is properly lit for people to enjoy it.  You can always add more light sources to a room.  Depending upon what kind of art you need to illuminate, you’ll need to shop accordingly for the proper light fixtures.  I can’t tell you what you will need, but a lighting expert might be better equipped to answer your lighting questions.

5. Consider How You Arrange Your Art

Cramer Imaging's photograph of six framed landscape photographs from the Grand Teton Council Collection on a gallery wall

While a single huge picture can probably fill a wall and create a center of attention, you’re not looking to do that with a personal art gallery.  You want an art gallery: meaning you want lots of different pieces of art in lots of different mediums.  You will need to consider which pieces of art will work together and which will not.  Each piece is amazing on its own but might detract from another if placed too close to it.

Consider the theme and flow of your art gallery.  What paintings or photographs or sculptures will look best next to each other?  Such an exercise takes effort and thought on your part.  This is what the professional curators do with the galleries and exhibitions they create.  You should consider doing this too.  Completing this exercise will set your personal art gallery into a completely different class of art galleries than those galleries created by those who don’t make this effort.

6. Consider Insuring Your Personal Art Gallery Collection

If you’re creating your own personal art gallery, then you are investing some serious time and money, even over a great distance of time.  Some of the pieces you buy might be one-of-a-kind.  Others might be limited editions which cannot easily be replaced if something like a house fire happens.  You insure your home and your car because they are expensive and valuable.  Why is your personal art gallery collection any different?  Check out this article for more reasons to insure your fine art.

Cramer Imaging's photograph of three framed monochrome fine art landscape photographs on a grey gallery wall

7. Remember to Have Fun With Your Personal Art Gallery

Cramer Imaging's fine art landscape black and white or monochromatic photograph of a waterfall cascading down in Twin Falls Idaho

Lots of personal art collections are built on a theme such as a particular subject matter, medium, or artist.  When creating your own personal art collection, you can follow patterns and trends like those or you can just pick art that you like and display it proudly in your own personal gallery at home.  It’s your personal art collection.  Do what you want with it and don’t worry about what others think about it.

Creating a personal art collection and a personal art gallery is about curating your style, taste, and personality.  If you like a particular piece of art, there’s a probably good reason for it.  Consider displaying it in your own personal collection.  You’ll probably love the results.  Most of all, enjoy looking at your personal art gallery and everything in it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, curating your own personal art gallery is mostly about curating your own personal art collection.  A tiny portion is about making sure it is protected in case of emergency.  The rest is making sure that your art is properly displayed where people can see and enjoy it.

Creating your own personal art gallery will be a labor of love over the course of several years.  It will be a highly pleasurable experience to gaze into beautiful art on your wall and to show it off to your family and friends.  Good luck on the journey.

Since you’re thinking about curating your own art gallery, might I suggest you take a look at the fine art photography we sell here at Cramer Imaging?  You will find something you love and can have a great start to that art collection you want.  Use this link to get to our online store and order yourself a fine art photo print to start your collection today.

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