The Touring Proposal Kit
From studio show to public gallery tour
Ten templates, a guide and a complete worked example, built from a decade programming touring exhibitions at SECCA. Do it yourself, with the paperwork galleries expect.
Archibald Prize 2023 regional tour at SECCA. Photo: David Rogers
Why strong shows don’t tour
Most fail on the paperwork, not the work
Public galleries program two to three years ahead, and their committees judge a touring proposal on logistics, budget and risk as much as on the art.
- A budget that doesn’t add up venue by venue
- A hang that only works in the room it was made for
- No public program for education and audience teams
- Rights questions nobody has answered yet
- A checklist missing values, weights or condition notes
- Emails that don’t reach the person who decides
What’s in the kit
Ten files, ready to use
Word and Excel templates that also open in Google Docs and Sheets, plus PDF guides. Every template comes with a completed worked example.
How public galleries program tours
Lead times, how committees decide, and why proposals fail.
Exhibition proposal
The gallery-ready document, section by section.
Exhibition checklist
Sizes, media, values, weights and running wall, calculated.
Touring budget
Costs per venue and the hire fee you need to break even.
Venue research tracker
Contacts, fit, status and follow-up dates for every gallery.
Approach emails
Six emails, from first contact to confirmed booking.
Floor plan and hang guide
A hang that scales from a large room to a small one.
Public program outline
Talks, workshops and school resources galleries look for.
Condition report
Outgoing and incoming reports for every venue.
Rights and permissions
Image rights, appropriated material, trademarks and loans.
A worked example, not just blanks
See a real proposal before you write yours
Every template comes completed for Gods and Monsters: The Heroic Figure, David Smouha’s series of eight works on aluminium, from the proposal and checklist to the budget, hang and condition reports.
The guide walks through it section by section, including the budget lesson most artists learn too late: price your hire fee from your break-even, not from what you hope a gallery will pay.
Who it’s for
Anyone with a show worth travelling
And no one on staff who has toured a show before.
Mid-career artists
Turn a strong solo show into a proposal public galleries can approve.
Artist-run spaces and collectives
Take a group show beyond your city, with a budget a regional gallery will trust.
Small and regional galleries
Send an exhibition you originated on the road and build your reputation.
Independent curators
The paperwork galleries expect, done properly, for your first tour.
Pricing
Three ways to work
Nothing wasted: buy the kit or the review, then book the full service, and what you paid comes off the fee. All prices in Australian dollars.
The kit
All ten files and the worked example. Work through it at your own pace.
Kit plus review
The kit, plus my written feedback on your completed proposal and budget before you send them.
Full service
I build the proposal for you: concept, checklist, hang model, budget and venue approaches.
Organisation licence, $390: for artist-run spaces and small galleries using the templates across several shows and staff. Buy the organisation licence
Not sure which suits you?
Ask before you buy
Tell me about your exhibition and where you’d like it to go. I’ll tell you honestly whether the kit or the full service makes more sense.
Book a 20-minute call