Are you getting ready for a show and wondering if you really have enough pieces to fill the walls—or even just the corners? (Spoiler: you're not the only one asking this!)
Yep, only an artist knows the very real panic that this question can bring.
I was chatting with an artist friend who's in an exhibition I’m curating. They’ve been making new work and were worried they wouldn't have enough art to fill the space, especially since they have a lot of smaller pieces. To add to the complexity, they were even making additional pieces, many larger, specifically to be prepared for this exhibition.
Here’s the thing:
They’re super organized, had a schedule, and were ahead of the game. But like so many of us, they hit that moment where the floor plan just wasn’t giving them a clear answer. Because we both know—spaces feel very different in person than they look on paper.
If you’re like me (and most artists I know), the thought of scaling everything down and mapping it on grid paper is... a hard no. It’s tedious, time-consuming, and just not how most of our creative brains like to work.
So how do you know if you have enough without overthinking it?
Here’s My One-Step Approach
Map it on the floor—aka: take the quick route.
You don’t need to cut out every artwork on grid paper. Instead, grab some blue painter’s tape, string, or kraft paper to quickly get a feel for how much room your art will take up in the space.
This works for wall art and floor art. If you’re using a lot of pedestals or floor-based art, you can tape out these areas as well.
💡 Important: Leave 6–12 inches between each placeholder to account for space between artworks.
The goal is NOT to figure out where every individual piece will go.
It’s about visualizing the volume of your work in the gallery space. So, if you have ten 16”x20” paintings and another ten 30”x40” ones, cut tape to size and lay them out with spacing in between.
You’ll immediately see:
✔️ How much room your work will take up
✔️ Whether you already have enough
✔️ Whether you need more—or maybe less
This method gives you real visual information—minus the tedious measuring and scaling things down for a piece of paper.
🖼️ If you prefer to hear me talk through this, listen to my reel about it over on Instagram or Facebook:
“Will you have enough art for your next show? How do you figure this out if you don't want to scale down every piece and put it on grid paper?”
Yup. That.⤴️
Example of blue painter’s tape being used on the floor to count how many pieces of art will fit in the gallery. Art by Caitlin McCarthy at Arthouse on R Gallery.
It took us about 15 minutes to do this and it was so effective. My friend now knows they have enough art and they don’t need to push to make a lot more work.
You can see in this photo blue strips of tape along the floor. That’s how simple this process is.
Why This Matters
Prepping for a show isn’t just about the logistics. It’s about conserving your creative energy and focusing on the work you’re most proud to share.
And often, it can almost always be easier than we expect.
Have you tried this method before? Leave a comment and let me know—I’d love to hear how you plan for your exhibitions.
Cheers,
Kate