Sivertson Gallery

Sivertson Gallery artist submission guidelines

Sivertson Gallery is a destination gallery on the North Shore of Lake Superior

We exhibit the work of over 60 regional artists, in addition to artists of the far north (Canadian Inuit and Alaskan Native art). The gallery is over 43 years strong in downtown Grand Marais, Minnesota.

Exhibiting artwork that reflects the character of Lake Superior is a dominant focus for the gallery, which includes depicting the lake’s beauty and depth, its surrounding environment, and its history and people. By including art from remote northern regions, we bring an adventurous and independent flavor to the gallery. The mission of Sivertson Gallery is to serve artists and provide people with tangible, meaningful art.

Our entire management staff is involved in selecting an artist’s work for our gallery. We base our decisions on these general criteria:

• Content—how the work fits with our focus and the other art in the gallery
• Media—whether we have space for more work in a particular medium
• Dimensional scale
• Expertise and experience of the artist
• Marketability of the work

We welcome your submission of artwork for our review. We believe representing artists is an honor, we give this process great thought and care, and we are always interested in new and recognized talent for both our gallery and website.

Before submitting your work, please take a detailed look at our online Shop or visit the Grand Marais gallery to understand the nature of the art and artists we feature. If you meet our criteria, follow the submission guidelines below to let us know of your interest.

Artist submission guidelines

First, we request that you do not call the gallery regarding submissions, or visit the gallery with the expectation of an unscheduled portfolio review. This policy allows us to focus on our customers when the gallery is open and busy.

Submissions to Sivertson Gallery are accepted via email only. Email your information to info@sivertson.com (please put “Artist Submission” in the subject line of your email).

Provide the following information via email:

1. Your contact information including name, address, phone, and email.

2. Your biography/resume/artist’s statement including awards, exhibitions, prominent collections, and other pertinent information such as featured articles in publications, etc.

3. A list of galleries where your work is shown, including shows, art fairs, and digital platforms such as Etsy.

4. Website and social media addresses where you promote your artwork (Facebook, Instagram, etc.). An established digital presence is highly encouraged, as Sivertson Gallery uses digital media to share, educate, and sell work; artists who are already engaged in digital promotion are more easily integrated into our marketing efforts.

5. Any supporting materials such as brochures and catalogs featuring your work, if available.

6. Sales data for your work from the past few years.

7. Images of your artwork that are representative of your most current work. Note that we like to see a body of work. Submit 10-12 images and indicate titles, medium/substance, dimensions, and suggested retail prices. When sending emails with attachments: if your files are larger than 5MB size, please include a link to download or preview the artwork from another location (e.g. Google Drive, Google Photos, Hightail, Dropbox, Box, etc).

Know that Sivertson Gallery will choose what works of your art will be displayed at our gallery, if we decide to work together.

If you will be providing prints to us, we must approve your print quality first, as we only offer high-quality/giclee prints for sale in the gallery. However, Sivertson Gallery also has an onsite printing and framing shop, and we prefer that artists let us do their printing and utilize the experts we have on staff.

Learn more about our Frame Shop at these links:

• https://sivertson.com/to-frame-or-not-to-frame
• https://sivertson.com/get-20-off-frame-shop

Right now, we are enthusiastically welcoming artists with the following criteria:

• Jewelers who work with local and regional gemstones.
• Prolific potters who make North Shore-themed pieces.
• 2D artists in any media who capture a North Shore image in a joyful, colorful, enthusiastic way that furthers our “art of the north” theme.
• Knife-making artists.
• Artists who have proven sales records and a history of selling their art.
• Artists who are able to keep our gallery well stocked with their work, whether originals or prints. In other words, we are looking for artists who are committed to making art as their primary profession.

Review and notification

Sivertson Gallery will review work on artistic merit and whether the design and style relates to the current range of Sivertson Gallery products. All submissions will be reviewed efficiently to the best of our ability, but know that certain times of the year find us very, very busy. Please be patient. We receive a large number of new artist inquiries, but know that if your work is of interest to us, we will get back to you!

No phone calls or drop ins, please—this will not accelerate the submission process.

Again, please send your submissions via email only to: info@sivertson.com (put “Artist Submission” in the subject line of your email). Thank you for your understanding.