Join The Front!
The Front collective is currently seeking applications for new members. We are looking for contemporary visual artists and curators who want to help run an independent gallery space. Over the course of a lease cycle, members get a chance to curate a show in each of the 4 rooms of the gallery. The rooms are booked according to each member’s needs, and each member can use one, two, three, or all four rooms at once. Our next lease cycle will begin January 2018.
Benefits of Membership
- 4 opportunities to independently show or curate work or other events in the gallery space over the course of the lease cycle (plus additional opportunities with potential group shows and projects).
- Website presence including an individual artist page with images and links to cv and statements, announcements about upcoming shows, and archives of past shows.
- Publicity from The Front’s group email list, Facebook, and announcements in magazines, newspapers, internet calendars and New Orleans art related websites.
- Inclusion in our catalog, a publication we put out after each membership cycle documenting the work of members, shows, and events at The Front.
- Great potential for grants, shows, and recognition both in and outside of New Orleans. Exhibitions at The Front have garnered the attention of bloggers and art critics alike with reviews in publications from The Times Picayune to Art in America and Art Papers. Curators and collectors routinely visit shows at The Front. The collective has received substantial support from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, artist Paul Chan, and the Arts Council of New Orleans. Membership has widened each member’s breadth of opportunity outside of the collective and New Orleans both through bringing the work of artists from all over the world to The Front and through exhibition opportunities such as our show at Winkleman Gallery in New York, Lump Gallery in Raleigh, NC, the Spaces show at The CAC, the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Vox Populi in Philadelphia, PA, Auburn University in Auburn, AL, Straight Shot at MASS Gallery in Austin, TX, and Feral Collective in Mexico City.
- 100% of sales go to the artist. The Front is a not-for-profit enterprise, but each member is at liberty to sell his/her work with sales transactions conducted directly between the artist and collector, and the artist receiving 100% of sales revenue.
- An invigorating community of fellow artists to work with. This can be best evidenced through our collaborative group projects such as our geodesic installation at Lump Gallery, our PSA Poster Project, and our research expedition to Wolf Rock Cave which resulted in our collaborative piece The C(r)ave, a giant inflatable shotgun house at MASS Gallery, and curating alumni and member exhibitions.
Basic Responsibilities of a Front Membership
- $110 estimation per month (see next bullet). This covers rent, utilities, and other expenses associated with running the space. We will know the exact monthly dues once we settle on how many new memberships we take on this round (more members would mean less rent, less members would mean more rent).
- Commitment to the gallery for 18 – 24 months. Again, this varies depending on how many new members we take on. This schedule allows for 12 – 18 months of member-curated shows, 3 months of special programming during Prospect, and 3 additional months for group organized shows.
- Attendance at the monthly group meeting, and participation in a smaller committee meeting once a month (ex: grant-writing committee, lecture committee).
- Taking on a gallery job (ex: yard-mower, email-checker, secretary, treasurer, beer buyer, e-blast sender, website, etc.).
- Gallery sitting and estimated 10 - 11 times over the course of the lease, Saturday or Sunday 12-5 pm.
- Assisting with openings on a rotating basis (bartending, set up, clean up).
- Membership begins January 1, 2018.
How to Apply
Please send the following application materials via email with the subject line “membership application” to nolafront@gmail.com.
Deadline: September 6, 2017
1. Letter of intent
A letter explaining who you are and why you want to join our group. For example: What kind of things are you interested in doing with the space? How do you see yourself contributing to the collective beyond programming exhibitions?
2. Images of your work
10-20 jpegs, 1024x768, 72 dpi. Please label numerically, for example, 01_Rodrigue.jpg
3. Image list
List of images with titles, media, size, and date.
4. Resume
Please include your contact information, address, and phone number.
5. Three professional references
Name, position/relation to the applicant, email, and phone number.
Questions? Please send us an email, or stop by at 4100 St. Claude Avenue during gallery hours, 12-5pm Saturdays and Sundays.