Reasons to Show Off Your Art in Public

Well, reclusive as I’ve been lately, you may be questioning my authority to write this post. (I’m not really a hermit, I promise. Tonight will mark my second evening in a row spent somewhere other than my own living room.) However, I’m currently trying to get a couple talented friends to show their work, so I thought I’d post about it.

I understand the reluctance. When you’ve never done it before, it’s intimidating at best to put work out there for just anyone’s eyes, especially if you consider yourself an amateur or still learning. But here’s a few things to consider.

1) Amateur status doesn’t always mean lesser quality. Just because you’re not making a living in that medium for whatever reason doesn’t mean you’re not talented.
2) We’re all still learning. Anyone who says that he or she has nothing left to learn is either stupid or so egotistical that it’s not worth listening to him or her.
3) You don’t have to take a show, your work, or yourself too seriously, or pay any attention to those who do. Unless you want to, of course.
4) The deadlines produced by committing to a show will cause you to actually get work done. If you’re anything like me, without some external motivation, a lot of time is spent thinking, talking, getting ready to work, taking a break from working, researching work, and generally doing everything in the universe possible but actually creating art, even when you want to
5) It’s really interesting to hear an outside perspective. It fascinates me to hear what others get out of my work- things I may never have even thought of- and these perspectives inspire me and produce more ideas for future projects.
6) Critique can be helpful. If you’re not in an educational environment, it can be hard to feedback on your stuff that’s a little more in-depth than a “oh, that’s great” from your buddies. (Not that support from friends isn’t important, but sometimes to grow it’s nice to have a more specific critique.) If you’re showing your stuff, and open to new ideas, you can ask others for more specific thoughts.
7) It’s a good excuse to socialize. It’s great to get out of the house and meet new people, or catch up with old friends, in an environment other than your favorite pub. (Not that I don’t love your favorite pub, and mine, but a change of scenery is often helpful.)

Any other artists have thoughts on this?