How to Get Your Art Into a Gallery in Australia: A Realistic Guide

Wondering how to get your art into a gallery? Most of us start the same way. You make a PDF, you find forty gallery email addresses, and on a Sunday night you send the lot. Then nothing. Not even a "no thanks". By Thursday you've decided the whole art world is a closed shop.

It isn't, quite. But it does work differently from how most of us imagine it. Galleries aren't one thing; they don't all want the same artists, and very few of them pick people from a cold email. Once you know how the different kinds operate, working out how to get your art into a gallery gets a lot clearer, and a lot less lonely.

Key takeaways

• Commercial galleries sell your work on consignment and usually take 40 to 50% commission, exclusive of GST.

• Artist-run initiatives (ARIs) are often the best first step, and many take proposals.

• Hire galleries charge you to exhibit. NAVA puts typical fees at A$250 to A$2,500 a week, sometimes with commission on top.

• Research the gallery before you approach it, and follow its submission rules to the letter.

• When a gallery says yes, get the terms in writing before any work leaves your studio.

Know which kind of gallery you're talking to

If you want to get your art into a gallery, start with this. The word "gallery" covers at least four very different setups, and you'd approach each one differently.

1. Commercial galleries

These are businesses that sell art. According to the NAVA Code of Practice, commercial galleries generally act as agents, selling work on consignment, and commission for full representation usually sits between 40% and 50% of the sale, exclusive of GST. Representation is often exclusive, sometimes limited to a city or region. A commercial gallery is taking a financial bet on you, so they're choosy, and they tend to find artists through shows, recommendations and people they already know, more than through their inbox.

2. Artist-run initiatives

ARIs are exactly what they sound like: spaces run by artists, usually on a shoestring and a lot of goodwill. Australia has had them since the 1970s, and they're where plenty of careers begin. Many take exhibition proposals. Firstdraft in Sydney, for one, has been seeking proposals from artists, curators and writers for its 2026-27 program. West Space in Melbourne is another long-running not-for-profit space worth knowing. The money's rarely big, but the audience is other artists, curators and writers, which is exactly who you want seeing your work early on.

3. Public and regional galleries

State galleries and the regional galleries dotted across the country mostly build their programs through curators, touring shows, prizes and open calls. You won't usually "submit" to them the way you would to a commercial space. You get on their radar by being in the right group shows and prizes. Our guide to sculpture exhibitions shows how prize and outdoor show calendars work, and the timing logic applies to most open calls.

4. Hire galleries

Here, you pay to show. That's not automatically a bad thing, but go in with your eyes open. NAVA's guidance on hiring a gallery space says hire fees can run from A$250 to A$2,500 a week, often with a bond, and some spaces also take 10 to 30% commission on sales. NAVA also says it's good practice for a space charging hire fees to lower its commission or skip it altogether, and that there's no expectation a hire gallery will pay you an artist fee. You're buying a room and maybe some services. Not a career.

Do your homework first.

Before you try to get your art into a gallery, go and stand in it. More than once, ideally. Go to openings. Look at who they show, what it sells for, and whether your work would sit comfortably next to it. NAVA's advice is that an artist and gallery should carefully consider whether they're the right fit for each other, and that cuts both ways.

A gallery that shows large abstract canvases at A$15,000 isn't going to take on small botanical watercolours at A$400, however good they are. That's not snobbery. It's just their buyers. Find the places where your work already makes sense.

How to get your art into a gallery: making the approach

First, check whether the gallery even takes submissions. Plenty don't, and some only open their inbox at certain times of the year. If there's a submissions page, follow it exactly. If it says three images and a short statement, send three images and a short statement, not twelve and a manifesto.

Keep the email short. Who you are, why this gallery in particular, and a link to a tight selection of work. A well-built artist portfolio does more here than a long letter ever will. Skip giant attachments. And please don't turn up on a Saturday afternoon with canvases under your arm. Gallery staff is often flat out with buyers, and it rarely ends well.

If you haven't heard back after a few weeks, one polite follow-up is fine. After that, let it go and keep making work.

Tip: Most gallery relationships start sideways, not with a cold pitch. A director sees you in a group show, a represented artist mentions your name, a curator spots you in a prize. Every show you're in, even a tiny one at an ARI, is a chance for the right person to find you.

Start smaller than you think.

For a lot of artists, the way to get your art into a gallery runs through smaller rooms first. Group shows. ARI exhibitions. Regional prizes. Council-run spaces. Each one gives you a line on your CV, photos of your work on a real wall, and practice at the unglamorous parts: deadlines, labels, delivery, an opening night speech you'll cringe at later.

If you're preparing work for your first show, our older post on preparing work for an exhibition was written about ceramics, but the checklist works for any medium.

When a gallery says yes, get it in writing

This is the moment to slow down, not speed up. NAVA recommends that any agreement between an artist and a gallery is in writing and signed by both of you. An email can do the job, as long as the terms are clear.

Things worth pinning down:

• Commission: the rate, and whether any extra fees apply on top

• Costs: who pays for transport, framing, promotion and the opening (in agency arrangements, NAVA says the artist usually pays freight to the gallery and the gallery covers return freight)

• Payment: NAVA's code says galleries should pay artists within 30 days of receiving funds

• Exclusivity and territory: where else you can show and sell

• Ending it: notice periods, commonly 30 days in writing

Before the work goes out the door, there's paperwork on your side too, including a signed consignment document and, for valuable work, registering your interest on the PPSR. Our guide to consigning artwork to a gallery walks through all of it.

A few red flags

Most galleries are run by people who love art and work very hard for very little. A few aren't. Be wary of any space that wants a big upfront fee but can't tell you what it does to sell work, won't put terms in writing, or expects commission on sales that happen after your show has closed (NAVA says that last one isn't good practice). Ask other artists who've shown there. They'll tell you.

Keep your records ready.

Once you get your art into a gallery, the admin starts. Galleries notice an artist who's organised. When a director asks for prices, sizes and images by Friday, you want to send them in ten minutes, not spend the weekend hunting through your phone.

That's a big part of why ArtFlow exists. Each artwork keeps its photos, details, and history in one place, and when you're working with a connected gallery, proposals and consignment documents can go straight through the gallery portal, so the gallery sees the artwork details without a pile of attachments. Our earlier post on how ArtFlow streamlines artist submissions for galleries explains it from the gallery's side, and the features page has the rest.

Questions about how to get your art into a gallery

• Can you get your art into a gallery with no experience? Yes, but usually not straight away. Start with group shows, artist-run initiatives, prizes and local council spaces. They build your CV and put your work in front of the people commercial galleries listen to.

• Should I pay a gallery to show my work? Hire galleries are a legitimate option for some artists, but you're paying for a space, not a sales team. NAVA says hire fees can range from A$250 to A$2,500 a week, so get every cost and service in writing first.

• What commission do Australian galleries take? For full representation at a commercial gallery, NAVA says commission generally sits between 40% and 50% of the sale, exclusive of GST.

• How long should I wait before following up? A few weeks is reasonable. Send one short, polite follow-up, and if there's still no reply, move on.

• Do I need a written agreement with a gallery? Yes. NAVA recommends any artist-gallery agreement is in writing and signed by both parties, covering commission, costs, payment timing, and how either side can end it.

The short version

To get your art into a gallery, start by understanding what kind of gallery you're dealing with. Visit before you pitch, follow submission rules exactly, and build your way up through ARIs, group shows and prizes. Be careful with hire spaces, and when someone finally says yes, get it all in writing. If you'd like your images, prices, and paperwork ready the moment a gallery asks, start a free ArtFlow account and get your work catalogued now.