Pop-up Art Show at Rose Datoc Dall's Studio/Gallery

I have had a dream since the conception of the design of my home studio & gallery, to have a place to not only showcase my own artwork, and to hold workshops, to hold photoshoots, but to be a space to perhaps showcase the work of others without getting bogged down with the dreaded gallery commission, which is anywhere between 30% to 50% of sales. The potential of my gallery space is in my mind limitless. I feel only too grateful to have had the means to build an utterly unique home and space where art shows can happen.

In addition, for some time now, I have felt that it has become my calling to mentor other artists, especially up and coming artists, & mother artists who have put off their own art careers to rear their families. After the success of last May's Woodland Hills Studio Tours, where I shared my space with my artist daughter, Ginger Dall Egbert, I decided to try our first real group show in this space for the first time. We have been in our home now only a little over a year and it was time to try an experiment, a trial of a type of show that I had seen done at Adam Thomas' studio in Provo. It is the idea of a Pop-up Show, which has the spirit of an impromptu show, an informal exhibition that would last for a day.

So on November 12th, after a month of planning, I hosted a Pop-up Art Show with a mixture of established artists and up-and-comers, totaling 23. And what was a seemingly informal show still took planning and organization. Yet the show was was something that could be cobbled together in a relatively short time. The show had no theme, except that the works were to be medium or small works, and even tiny originals.

Let's just say, that the size rule was very loosely applied once large sculptures were added into the mix. In the spirit of an informal show, we were very lenient as far as the size.

It is interesting to note that notwithstanding its informal nature, the show still had the feel of a well-curated exhibition, with the hint of flavor that comes right out of the LDS culture: the spirit of the potluck, and I mean that in every good sense, and not the cheesy amateur sense. The artists came together in the spirit of friendship and at least half of the 23 artists contributed their time to help hang the exhibition over two days , and each artist contributed refreshments. And no, there was not a jello-marshmallow salad in sight. Is the Pop-up a thing that is trending in Utah? Possibly. But I can see how it fits into the culture with its egalitarian spirit.

The show was such a rip-roaring success, that it exceeded my expectations. Many of the artists made sales and had an overall positive experience. The show was packed from start to finish despite having only been advertised through social media such as Instagram and Facebook, and word of mouth . So with very little material costs, no printing, not rental of a space and no gallery commission, the artists were able to walk away with 100% profit on their sales.

And therefore, the Pop-up Show will definitely be a concept I will be revisiting for future shows in this exhibition space.