Exhibit Presentation Guidelines

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General Guidelines 

• All artwork must be finished (and dry!) before exhibiting it.

• The edges of all canvases must be covered by something appropriate (this could be paint) so that no bare canvas shows.

• All frames must be tight with the artwork well secured inside (and no protruding nails).  

• All 2D art must have hanging wires.  We can’t hang using sawtooth hangers.

• All artworks must remain in the exhibit throughout its entire run.

• Specific guidelines matting and framing different types of 2D artwork:

• Oils and Acrylic-as-Oil are traditionally just framed (no mats). 

• Frames are traditionally ornate, golden wooden frames, but this is not a requirement. 

• However, all frames should be large, heavy, and/or wide enough to balance and enhance the painting.

• Watercolors, ink paintings, drawings (ink and pencil), pastels (chalk and oil), prints (traditional and digital), and photographs are traditionally exhibited with “galley framing,” that is, matted in white, off-white or very light gray mats (the mat color should enhance the artwork) which may be doubled if desired with frames of simple wood or metal in black, silver or gold.

• Mats for pieces up to about 16”x20” are usually 2 or 3 inches wide; larger pieces should have mats wide enough to “let the art breathe”; smaller pieces may have wider mats to give them more presence. 

• These artworks are covered by glass or plexiglass (acrylic) panels to protect them from water, dust and the like. More modern matting and framing is acceptable if appropriate to the piece.

• Collages, which may include 3D elements, can be framed like traditional oils or given more modern treatments.  It may also be appropriate to mat and frame a collage like water colors, especially if rare or delicate elements included.

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Rotunda Gallery Guidelines

• Art must be “family-friendly” as the Gallery is on the lower level of Dearborn's Henry Ford Centennial Library, a public building where many children go.

• Glass cannot be used in framing — use acrylic/plexiglass/polycarbonate only.

• The Gallery walls curve — so pieces more than 3-feet wide can be difficult to hang (but will be accepted).

• The Gallery walls are a very dark, almost black-green. Dark pieces should be matted and framed so as to set them apart from the walls.

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 Padzieski Gallery Guidelines 

• Glass is acceptable in framing.

• The walls are flat so larger pieces can be easily hung.

• Commissions: There is a 10% commission on all sales from the Rotunda Gallery — 5% to the ASD and 5% to the Dearborn Community Fund (DCF). At the Padzieski Gallery, the commission on sales is 30% which is taken out before the gallery pays the artist. 

• ASD members who have work at the Padzieski Gallery are asked to be a docent (sit in the gallery and be available to answer questions and watch over the art) for at least one 2-hour shift during the exhibit in which they have art. They can work on their own art at this time (check with Sasha at the DCF for details on how).