Feature
Art exhibition management software
An exhibition is the same catalogue under deadline pressure: a work list that keeps changing, wall labels that must match the record, a preview the director wants out by Thursday, and sales that need invoicing before deinstall. Art.industries plans the show from the inventory you already maintain, so nothing is retyped between the checklist, the labels, the viewing room, and the public page.
Exhibitions planned from live inventory
Most exhibition planning dies in documents: a Word work list, an Excel loan tracker, a designer's label file, and a website update that someone does last. Each copy decays the moment a work is swapped or a price changes.
In Art.industries an exhibition is a record linked to the works in it. Swap a work and the checklist, labels, preview room, and public page all read the change, because they all read the same catalogue.
Work, artist, and logistics checklists
Every show runs on lists. The exhibition record keeps them attached to the data instead of in someone's inbox.
- Work checklist. Confirmed, pending, and dropped works with dimensions, insurance values, and lender or consignor noted per work.
- Artist checklist. Bios, statements, portraits, and press assets pulled from the artist database.
- Logistics. Incoming shipments, condition checks on arrival, and install locations recorded as custody events. See multi-location tracking.
- Print and PDF. Checklist exports and PDF catalogues generate from the same records, formatted for lenders, insurers, or press.
Wall labels and exhibition documents
Labels are where data errors become public. Because the label text generates from the work record (artist, title, year, medium, dimensions, price or courtesy line), a correction in the catalogue corrects the label file too.
The same applies to checklist handouts and price lists: one edit, every document current. No designer round-trip for a date fix.
Private previews before the opening
The preview is where exhibition sales actually start. Send a private viewing room of the show to chosen collectors before opening night, watch per-work engagement, and place holds while interest is live.
Rooms are revocable, watermarked where you choose, and linked to the same works as the show, so a sale in the room updates availability everywhere at once.
The public exhibition page publishes itself
With Website Studio, the exhibition gets a public page built from the exhibition record: dates, works, installation views, and press text. Publish when the show opens; availability stays current through the run without anyone editing the website by hand.
When a work sells, the public page reflects it on the next render. Price and availability sync is the difference between a website that supports the show and one that embarrasses the front desk.
Sales during and after the run
Exhibition sales close as Stripe invoices and payment links: deposits at the opening, balances after, instalments where agreed. Each invoice references the work, so consignor splits and edition counts settle correctly.
After deinstall, the exhibition record stays as history: what showed, what sold, to whom, at what price. Post-show follow-up runs from the engagement and sales data, not from memory.
Fairs are exhibitions with shipping deadlines
The same exhibition tooling runs fair booths: booth checklist, transport paperwork from recorded dimensions and values, a booth preview room for clients who cannot attend, and deposit links taken on a phone at the stand. The fair prep guide covers the full sequence.
FAQ
- How is this different from a project management tool like Notion or Trello?
- Generic boards track tasks but know nothing about the works. Exhibition records here link to real artwork records, so checklists, labels, viewing rooms, invoices, and the public page stay consistent when the work list changes.
- Can I plan an exhibition before all works are confirmed?
- Yes. Works on the checklist carry confirmed, pending, or dropped status. The preview room and public page only show what you choose to include.
- Does this handle multi-venue or travelling exhibitions?
- Yes. Each venue leg keeps its own dates and location, and works carry custody events per move, so the location history survives the tour.
- What does the public exhibition page look like?
- It is built in Website Studio from the exhibition record: dates, press text, works with images, and installation views, on your own domain with your typography.
- Is exhibition management included on the free plan?
- Exhibition records, checklists, and viewing rooms run on free Core. The public website on a custom domain is part of Advanced. See pricing for the current matrix.
Plan your next show on free Core
Create the exhibition, attach 20 works, generate the checklist and labels, and send one preview viewing room. If the next show runs cleaner than the last, keep going.