EDITOR’S NOTE: Prices and information below may be out of date. Since launching our own line of gallery websites for artists, we no longer feel unbiased enough to continue updating or reviewing other art website services. Visit the website below for their most recent information.
Art students take note: there’s a new (and rather unique) online art gallery just for you at StudentArtGallery.com. How are they different? For every piece you sell, they’ll give 10% back to your school’s art department.
I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty cool. Here’s some more information. . .
Pricing and features
StudentArtGallery is free to join for any artist currently enrolled in a college or university, although there is a selection team that reviews each applicant’s artwork before giving the “OK” (so you might not get in). Graduates students and upperclassmen are considered first before underclassmen.
If your artwork sells, you’re responsible for getting it to your local UPS store, but you don’t have to pay any shipping fees.
You’ll receive 60% of the selling price—which is determined by StudentArtGallery’s selection team—and your school’s art department will receive 10%. StudentArtGallery takes the remaining 30% as their commission.
In return, you can submit up to 6 works of art; create a free “artist profile” with pictures, video (or just a simple bio); and participate in their artist forum.
Design and layout
StudentArtGallery.com has a really great design. . . it’s minimal, contemporary, and very streamlined. They use just one accent color—a bold yellow—paired with a few medium grays. With such a neutral palette, the artwork really stands out.
Navigation is simple and consistent with a row of tabs across the top. Hover over a tab and several other sub-links appear right below it (much like the nav bar EmptyEasel has). It’s a great way to save space while still making everything easy to find.
The home page consists of a slideshow featuring one artist’s work at the top, and a collections of thumbnails below.
Move your mouse over a thumbnail and all the other images will “dim”—it’s an interesting feature that I don’t believe I’ve seen anywhere else.
One (possible) drawback to StudentArtGallery’s design is that it’s almost too simple. At first, some visitors might feel like there’s not a lot of art available.
Finding and buying art
It’s certainly not difficult to browse StudentArtGallery.com. Click on the “Browse” tab and you can easily check out some of the curated, popular, or new works of art.
StudentArtGallery’s curated artwork is a collection of featured works chosen by the gallery founders; popular artwork has been voted on by the viewing public; and new artwork is just the most recent works that have approved.
Other browsing options include color, size, style (genre), etc.
If you’d rather not browse, you can choose advanced search and look for an artist by name or college, or create a search combination of color, style, medium, and so on.
While StudentArtGallery doesn’t have the best search functionality, or the most search features I’ve seen, it seems to do all right—and buying art is as easy as adding a piece to your cart and clicking the “checkout” button.
Is it worth it to apply?
Well, if you’re a student and an artist I’d say why not?
Sure, the 40% commission is a little steep compared to other sites, but when you consider that some of it goes right back to your art department, it’s really not so bad.
If you’re looking for a lot of exposure, keep in mind that StudentArtGallery.com is very new (they launched this July) and at the moment I doubt they get much traffic. However, in a few months, or a year’s time they’ll probably be doing all right.
So go ahead. . . drop by StudentArtGallery.com. Whether you’re thinking about applying or not, you should definitely check out the art.
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