Tomorrow will mark the end of my first high school art exhibit featuring the best from select students. The show incorporated a silent auction where prospective buyers filled out a form to purchase the student artwork. I will review the forms and award the highest bid; ties are settled by me contacting the two buyers for final bids.

I have about 55 pieces in the show though not all were for sale. The artworks included paintings and ceramic pieces. I’m hoping to expand the offerings next year with some drawings.

Issues I Ran Into

One of the biggest challenges I had was pricing. Because of the silent auction, I included minimum bids. Some of these prices were from the students, others were recommendations from me. How does one price student artwork?

The middle school art teacher thought my pricing was too low. I explained that some students were going to throw away their work even though it was selected for the exhibit. So, a few decided to offer their work at bargain-basement prices thinking that something was better than nothing. I’m not sure I can label that right or wrong; however, it certainly is pragmatic which is a hallmark of many of my urban students.

In the final analysis, my biggest uncertainty was interest. I simply had no idea how many, if any, parents would show up or if any faculty or staff would purchase pieces. I’ll post the results and my final thoughts in my next post.

In the meantime, how do you price student artwork? Are there caveats you operate under?