- Separates required press materials from optional supporting evidence.
- Checks whether images can be identified, credited, and published.
- Produces a clear shared-folder handoff instead of an oversized attachment.
Who this is for
Use this checklist if a gallery, project space, or exhibition team has confirmed an exhibition and needs one reliable package for journalists, editors, fair teams, or institutional partners. Assign one owner to verify each item before sharing the folder.
When not to use it
This is not an artist press kit, a sales deck, a private collector price list, or a substitute for image permissions. Do not add prices, private contact lists, embargoed information, or photographs that have not been cleared for the intended use.
Complete checklist
Copy this list into your project file. Mark an item complete only when the asset is current, approved, correctly named, and present in the shared folder.
1. Required materials
- Gallery overview: one current paragraph naming location, program focus, and founding year where relevant.
- Exhibition press release: final title, artists, venue, address, dates, opening details, and press contact.
- Artist biographies: short, third-person, fact-checked, and consistent in length.
- Exhibition checklist: artist, title, year, medium, and dimensions for every displayed work.
- Press contact: one named person with direct email and, if appropriate, phone number.
2. Supporting materials
- One-page fact sheet with confirmed institutional facts and selected milestones.
- Selected previous coverage as direct links with publication and date.
- Installation views that demonstrate the current or relevant previous presentation.
- Short approved quotes only when the speaker, wording, and permission are confirmed.
3. Image and caption audit
- Each image has a descriptive filename, not a camera-generated number.
- Each artwork caption includes artist, title, year, medium, dimensions, and photo credit.
- Installation captions identify exhibition, venue, city, year, and photographer.
- Rights holder and permitted press use are recorded for every image.
- Preview images are web-ready; separate high-resolution originals are available by link.
- No watermark, crop, color correction, or other alteration conflicts with the permission terms.
4. Folder and file structure
- 00_READ-ME contains the exhibition summary, press contact, folder map, and last-updated date.
- 01_PRESS-RELEASE contains PDF and copyable DOCX or text versions.
- 02_ARTIST-BIOS contains one clearly named file per artist.
- 03_IMAGES contains low-resolution previews; high-resolution files are linked separately.
- 04_CAPTIONS contains one master caption sheet matching every image filename.
- 05_CHECKLIST contains the public exhibition checklist without prices.
- 06_COVERAGE contains selected links or rights-cleared PDFs.
5. Final handoff audit
- Names, titles, dates, dimensions, addresses, URLs, and contact details match the source records.
- All tracked changes, comments, brackets, and internal notes have been removed.
- Every link opens for someone who is not signed into the gallery account.
- The folder has view-only access unless a collaborator needs editing rights.
- The press release and biographies are copyable, not image-only scans.
- A second person has opened the shared link and located the release, captions, and high-resolution images.
- The owner and next review date are recorded in 00_READ-ME.
Worked example
Fictional gallery and exhibition used only to demonstrate the checklist.
North Room Gallery — Between Light and Surface
Press folder owner: Alex Moreno · Last checked: 19 August 2026
00_READ-ME: a 90-word exhibition summary, public dates, address, link to the image library, and the named press contact.
Texts: final release in PDF and DOCX; three 120-word artist biographies; public checklist for twelve works with prices excluded.
Images: six web previews and six high-resolution originals. The master caption sheet uses the same filenames and records full artwork data, photographer, rights holder, and approved press use.
Audit result: one installation image was held back until its photo credit was confirmed. An external test user opened the view-only link and found the release, captions, and high-resolution files without assistance.
Common mistakes
- Sending one large attachment: share a stable, view-only folder with a short orientation note.
- Using vague filenames: match each filename to the master caption sheet.
- Mixing press and sales information: keep prices and private collector information outside the press folder.
- Assuming permission: record the rights holder, credit line, and allowed use for every image.
- Publishing stale facts: date the kit and verify it after every exhibition change.
Five-minute final check
- Open the folder in a private browser window.
- Download one document and confirm its text can be copied.
- Match two image filenames against their captions and credits.
- Open one high-resolution link without requesting access.
- Email the named press contact and confirm the address is current.
Provenance, authorship, and reuse
Need the press materials written and checked?
The checklist shows what belongs in the package. Roksana Rublevska can research, write, edit, and organize the publication-ready gallery texts.
See gallery writing services