Art galleries are important cultural institutions that play many different roles, ranging from collecting and preserving artworks to curating exhibitions and selling them. They also serve as educational and recreational centres, providing people with the opportunity to view art and learn more about it. Often, galleries also promote the work of artists and conduct workshops and talks to encourage audiences to get involved with art.
One of the most obvious functions of an art gallery is to display works in a public space. This is usually done in the form of an art exhibition that is open to the general public. The exhibitions can be permanent or temporary. A more recent development has been the use of vacant commercial space for short-term exhibitions called popup galleries or roving art shows.
Another significant role of an art gallery is to represent artists and act as their business manager. This involves the gallery working with a portfolio of artists, both young and well-known, to help them grow their careers by pushing their sales and growing their client base. In return, the gallery takes a commission on all sold works.
A lot of the time, galleries also acquire art works from other sources, such as private collectors or auctions and then sell them on again to their clients – this is called the secondary market. This can give the art gallery a good profit and ensure that a collection stays up-to-date and interesting for their clients.
In addition to displaying artworks in an exhibition setting, many art galleries provide information about them through the use of labels and other forms of interpretation. These may be written by the gallery curators or, in some cases, the artists themselves. It is important to consider the audience in this process, as they should be able to understand the description and be able to relate it back to the artworks in an accessible way.
For example, the size of text and placement can be an important factor for visually impaired or elderly audiences. Similarly, the use of multimedia tools such as audio guides and interpreted room sheets can increase accessibility to art for varied language groups.
It is common to find art galleries in cities, as this makes it easy for the public to access them and see a diverse range of art work. However, art galleries can also be found in rural areas to showcase local or regional talent and to help make the art available to a broader audience. This is something that many art lovers would like to see more of.