Dorset Artist

Dorset Art and Artists

Dorset has many talented and well-established artists and this can make it very difficult for newcomers to get their art into a gallery because naturally, the display spaces have to give owners a good return on investment, especially with towns and cities like Dorset where rents are extremely high. Taking on a piece of art from an unknown artist can take much longer to sell, especially to collectors looking for a specific artist. It can be hard to understand this type of rejection from galleries unless you look at it from a pair of commercial eyes.

The beauty of having your art in the right local galleries if you get accepted is they will know exactly how to display your work and they normally have a client base to sell it to.

New Artist Challenges

When I started in the art world, I decided to use the power of the internet to reach what I believed would be an even bigger audience than many galleries could offer me, especially for the ones without much authority outside of the town their gallery is situated in. Galleries are like any businesses, they have to think smart and outside of the box if they want to sell their art these days. I think the covid pandemic will soon highlight the ones that did and the ones that didn’t do enough prior to the change in which people buy anything these days now.

To be a good artist, you have to be creative and original, it is the same for promoting yourself. After all, you found this page by me, Killer Pete!

Can you make a living from your art outside of gallery life?

I believe artists can potentially make more money outside of gallery life if they use their initiative and have something to offer a buyer or collector, not everyone buys art because of its look. The internet, especially now with social media, is great for brand awareness. I used all the tools available to me when I built my art portfolio and so I now have buyers of art come to me directly when they see something they like. This puts more money in my pocket and takes less out of the buyers pocket, it’s a win-win, there is no middle man so to speak.

This doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy the excitement of showing your work in a gallery or building a relationship with an owner of one, it’s a business at the end of the day and you can help each other obtain success.

A handful of local galleries in Dorset.

Here are a few galleries to approach if you are a local artist in Dorset, but one or two you’d have to be very well known! Do you think your work is good enough to show off in a gallery where Banksy work sells? If you are an art fan and you are visiting the Dorset area, I have listed a few you could visit in the area but you may need an appointment!

Many of these galleries sell the following types of art:

Spray Paint Art
Contemporary Art
Fine Art Photography
Art Prints
Sculptures
Drawings
Collages
Pop Art
Illustrations

Note: I think over the next few years you will see many galleries having to adapt to the crypto art scene and gallery life will be very different for some if they don’t embrace change.

Westover Gallery
4 Westover Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH1 2BY

Hatch Gallery
7A Church Street, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 1BW

Whitewall Galleries 
22 Westover Rd, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH1 2BY

Courtenay’s Fine Art
11 Westbourne Arcade, Bournemouth, BH4 9AY

The Jerram Gallery
Half Moon Street, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 3LN UK