Have you ever thought about bypassing traditional galleries and putting on your own group show?
In Season 3, Episode 21 of Art Crush, host Paula Telizyn sits down with her fellow members of The Fifty-One Percent—an international women’s artist collective featuring Fi Marks (UK), Susan Gardner (UK), Jela Prancic (Toronto), and Paula Telizyn (London, Canada).
Together, they are pulling back the curtain on exactly what it takes to organize, curate, and promote an independent, immersive group exhibition from the ground up.
As they prepare for their upcoming UK show, The Wild Within, the collective discusses why they stopped waiting for the traditional art world’s permission and decided to build their own table.
Whether you are an established creator, a marginalized artist, or simply looking to collaborate with local talent, this episode is a blueprint for taking control of your art career.
In this episode, we cover:
- Solo vs. Group Shows: The distinct logistical, marketing, and creative differences between curating your own work and collaborating across borders.
- Leaving Egos at the Door: How to navigate disagreements, find a cohesive vision (and why naming a show takes forever!), and ensure every artist’s voice is valued equally.
- Bypassing the Gatekeepers: Why you don’t need a gallery or a curator to validate your work—and how renting your own space can lead to a better experience for both the artist and the buyer.
- Designing an Immersive Experience: A sneak peek into the lighting, animation, and audience engagement planned for The Wild Within.
About The 51% & The Wild Within: The Wild Within opens on October 23, 2026, at the Artcore Gallery in Derby, UK. Join us for a seven-day immersive art experience!
00:00:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to Art crush, where we talk about being an artist in twenty twenty six, what it means to be a woman who’s an artist, and more.
00:00:21 Speaker 1: Today we have the members of the fifty one percent with us, and we’re going to be doing a check in as we build our way to the show. So the fifty one percent is an artist collective consisting of myself, Paula Telizyn, Fi Marks in Britain, Susan Gardner also in Britain, and Jela Prancic in Toronto. So we are planning our show for the end of October. We did have to bump our show up from May for, lots of reasons. And this has given us a chance to really stretch out the planning and making sure we can, handle all the details. So I want to start with fee since she’s in art crush every week. where are you at in terms of your planning for the show?
00:01:11 Speaker 3: I think really it’s about the thing that makes it different from doing a solo show, which is basically when you’re focusing on getting a body of work together. And I’m sure lots of the listeners have done this themselves. thought about the marketing. When you’re doing a show with a group, it’s slightly different. And there might be people out there thinking of doing a show with a group of artists that they know, or a group of artists they share studios with. And so although I feel like confident in, getting the body of work together because, as you know, Paula, I don’t have a problem with artists block. I don’t worry about not having enough material. It will be what it’ll be. I’ll be like, I’ve got all this, but it will be the most recent stuff. So although I’d like to say, yeah, well, all my work on, how the creative arts support women in their rediscovery of self. That will be there and there will probably be other stuff. I think what it is, the challenge that we’re facing, particularly being, artists from different countries, is making sure that we are ticking the other boxes, that we are getting the cohesion of the show together, that we have a similar image. It’s not just about me and my art. It’s about what the fifty one percent say and also what we say on Art crush. we want it to reflect who we are, where we are on the marketplace and where we are in the art world. So we have a lot of discussion going on about what we see as the vision for the show. In fact, I’ve just been doing this with a another group of artists for a show in July. Is when you’re just trying to think of a name that everybody likes Takes ages, takes forever. So although we did that way back in January, I think it was. It takes time. And I think everything when you’re working as a group for a group show takes more time because you need to be aware of each other. And that the theme, although we’re very different artists, we’re not trying to be the same, but our theme is the same. And that’s why, and I don’t think any of us have actually started this yet. We are all going to do one piece, which is unique to this show, and we will do it for every show we then go on to do so. This one, we are all, in our own way, going to explore the theme of the world within. So those four pieces will be brand new to the show. So I can say that now we’re in June. Yeah, I can categorically say in October there will be four pieces of the wild within, um, from us, which will show very different perspectives, but will also unite us as a group of artists. I don’t think I’ve answered your question, Paula, but I think I’ve rambled on a bit more about, what makes it different from just doing a solo exhibition.
00:04:34 Speaker 1: So this will be the third international show that, I’ve been a part of and also run. So for me, the whole aspect of putting together a show, with a group of artists is familiar. So this is not my first rodeo, but it is a challenge when you can’t be there to pick venues and talk with the venue owner or anything else. There’s this, this Rust that you have to create. Sophie and Susan have been on the ground in the UK, mainly because she has a direct connection with the gallery that we’re going to be showing at. but there is that, delegation that’s required when it comes to doing a group show. And as I’ve said, a lot of communication is required. So with Jela and Susan, and fee, we meet every Tuesday morning, morning and Canadian time, afternoon and British time, to talk about where we’re at, what we’re doing, how we’re going to move ourselves forward. We’ve been working hard on the fifty one percent website on the social media, which as of this week is now a week old.
00:05:37 Speaker 3: And we’ve got well over a hundred followers on there.
00:05:41 Speaker 1: Exactly. So we’re building up the following. We’re building up the momentum around it. So I want to go over to Jela and talk about where you’re at with the show, how you’re feeling about working in the group, anything that comes to mind around our Wild Within show.
00:05:57 Speaker 4: Oh, I mean, this has been by far the best collective that I’ve been part of because we do have our weekly calls and we’re obviously very different artists and we have different backgrounds, but we have we have the same fire in each of us that helps us to be creative, helps us to have a sense of humor and extremely productive and thoughtful and caring. Like we’re not pretentious as a whole and individually, none of us are pretentious. So that has great appeal to me, is that our art comes from the heart and it has a brain too. You know, we’re strong, powerful women who really have, a lot of expertise and a lot of knowledge and a lot of opinions about the world and what our rights are and what we need to stand for. And that comes through our art, whether we’re showing it through humans, animals, objects. we put that in there because we want people to question and challenge how, how much of an imbalance there is, in society and around the world. So the fifty one percent, the name itself means a lot to, to me and to all of us, because women are the majority, and yet we’re always pushed down or pushed aside. And in the art world, we tend to, have to fight those stigmas all the time.
00:07:42 Speaker 1: Absolutely. stepping up and defining our show and how we’re going to show, because it’s not just going to be a bunch of paintings on the wall. We’re actually encouraging audience immersion and interaction and engagement in ways that we’re still exploring. So part of our meetings every week just to get ideas together and then work on the process. Susan, you’re the wildlife painter in the group. You do these beautiful, incredible animal portraits. Where are you at when it comes to the show? How are you feeling? Any thoughts around the show or getting ready or actually meeting some of us for the first time in person?
00:08:20 Speaker 2: That’ll be the thing. That’s what I’m looking forward to. Uh, no. I am looking forward to what we do, what we what we can manage to achieve. So I’m very interested in finding out what we can do, what we can achieve together. as a collective, it’s my first time being in a collective. but I feel very super confident in it. already the only thing, um, um, well it’s not even, it’s not even a downside. My paintings that I’ll be bringing my body of work are probably going to be different to the ones that I was initially intending. because we’ve been working all the way through this year. and all the talks that we have weekly and talking about our art and our process and our reason behind doing it and mine has evolved quite a lot, actually quite significant. Certainly the mindset behind what I’m painting, why I’m painting it and who it’s for change quite a lot. In the last couple of months I’ve noticed not on purpose, it just has. So I am painting another extra, probably eight to ten paintings, before, hopefully before the end of September. So everything’s ready. Um, so that’s where I’m at. But yeah, I’m just very looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do creatively. I think it’s going to look not the paintings, but the actual structure of the show itself. I think that’s going to look well. It’s going to be amazing. I don’t quite we don’t know how it’s going to look yet, but I feel like it’s going to be really something else. That’s what I’m looking forward to seeing as well as well as you two ladies.
00:09:59 Speaker 3: Well not me.
00:10:02 Speaker 2: I’ve already met you. I only met you.
00:10:09 Speaker 1: So one of the things that we are coming together today. So by the time everybody hears this podcast, this will be probably two to three weeks past today. one of the things we are coming together today to talk about in our collective is what the look and feel of the show will be like. So Jela and I have been going through lighting and, ideas of the use of shadow and space and all of that already. But in terms of the design of our show posters, the feeling we want people to come away from, we are going to have some projections projected onto the floor. We have some LCD screens or LED screens. I always mix that up. We have some screens as well that we’re gonna be doing animations for. So one of the things that we need to accomplish today is to go through design styles and make sure that we find a compromise that works for the show, but also works for ourselves, each individually, because you can’t promote anything if you are embarrassed about it or you don’t agree with it, or you feel like it’s falling short of your vision or whatever. so part of the job of us as a group is to find agreement. And I think for the most part, we’ve been doing a really, really good job for actually for all of it. We’ve been doing a good job, in coming to an agreement and feeling good about our logos, the website and everything else that we’ve been doing. So this has been a really good exercise. And I think a lot of collectives fall apart when people get steamrolled and they don’t feel like they’re heard. So it’s really important for us as a group to agree on things. So that’s, that’s one of the things that we’re dealing with. we found the space, we found the space and recommended it to us months ago and ended up being a great choice for us. And so there’s various things that you have to think about when you’re doing a show. So space theme. look and feel, timing of the show, what’s going to happen at the opening and closing? Are there going to be artist talks? How are you going to get, press and media involved? So PR, how are you going to grow your audience and get them interested? Because you got to get people out of their houses to show up. If they’re local to the area, how are you going to ensure that there’s excitement around the show? Or as I like to call it, how are you going to big up the show and make it feel really special and wonderful? Because of course it is. It’s an international show with four women artists who are experienced, professional and produce wildly different works. and then in addition to all of that, we still each individually have to build our bodies of work, which we’re all doing and all the write ups that go with it and all the promotion around that. So there’s this double factor of show stuff and body of work stuff. fee. How are you feeling about that balance of show versus your body of work versus getting ready on social media?
00:13:04 Speaker 3: Well, I was going to say the one thing that I think has been vital is making these Tuesday meetings sacrosanct. I have been quite clear, and I think everybody else has, that. I don’t take on any other work on a Tuesday evening or afternoon because this is sacrosanct. It’s making it a priority. This is not an also ran. This is a priority. And I think going back to what you were saying about, the, booking of space, which is the first thing really you need to do once you’ve found a group of people that you want to work with. That can be tricky right from the get go, because a lot of galleries, a lot of spaces are booked up for the whole year, if not into the next year. So you need to almost like do that before you even know what the show is going to look like. while you were just talking, Paula, I was thinking, one of the reasons that we want to almost like reinvent how art is seen is not only through our conversations with the fifty one percent and on Artcrush, because how the art world is, is not working for the majority of people. And I think I sent Paula, I sent you an article about it this week. You know that it’s only a very small number of artists that the art world is actually working for at the moment. It’s a very, very, very small percentage. And there are many, many artists who it’s not working for. And we are being brave and going, right, so instead of sitting there and worrying about it, we are going to not only, within our work, we have a voice, but we want that voice heard in a different way and also by more people. so I think this show is actually a sort of natural progression, shall I say, from my work that I do about telling women’s stories, saying, talking about that, talking about women from history, the next progression, because I have had many a knockback from a gallery in the past just because it’s like, oh, this is, you know, we only take lands, you know, and I mentioned before on this podcast, no, we don’t take figurative art. Oh. Okay then. Any reason for that? Oh, no, because that’s what our clients don’t, you know. It’s. So it’s got to be different. I am not prepared to put my hands up and go, okay. My art is not worth seeing. my stories are not worth telling. Women’s stories are not worth telling. I am not prepared to do that. And I will be doing that till my dying day. And this is an extension of this. And we are really hoping that through what we’re doing and through the podcast, we are going to change the lives of many artists. And I hope I’m not sort of, digging it up too much because that is what our brief is. We want other women, other female artists, other artists to listen and go, hey, that’s a really good idea. That might work for me. Or actually that wouldn’t work for me. But I’m going to think about what could work for me and make it happen.
00:16:27 Speaker 1: one of the things that I’ve discovered as I’ve talked to a lot of artists and people in general, is it didn’t occur to them that you could make your own show. Like there’s this idea that you have to go with a gallery, a curator, have somebody else make decisions, decide if you’re good enough, make decisions around the show and marketing, and then you just show up and hopefully make them money. Right. There’s this sense that I didn’t know that we could actually book a space and make our show. Isn’t it too hard? Isn’t it too big? No it’s not. It’s it’s just decide to do it and then start figuring out what pieces you need.
00:17:04 Speaker 3: Also, it’s logical I have only sold my art through my marketing, not through anybody else’s. whenever I have taken a piece of work and left it with a gallery or I’ve left it for a show and it’s not an in-person show and more or less guarantee it doesn’t sell because there’s nobody there promoting my art in the way that I do that I can explain and tell the stories and make people understand. And I don’t think it’s because it’s more complicated. There are a whole plethora of reasons for that. I think if you got my newsletter this week, when I talked about visual literacy, is that people aren’t taught to look at images and what to get out of it. But yes, so it just makes sense. It’s logical to go, okay, right. You sell your work, you get your message across when you do it your way.
00:18:01 Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:18:02 Speaker 3: So what’s the natural progression?
00:18:04 Speaker 1: Exactly. Susan, have you been involved in a show like this or, um, in a collective of any kind? Or is this kind of a new thing for you?
00:18:16 Speaker 2: I haven’t been involved in a collective. I feel like I have been involved in.
00:18:23 Speaker 3: Well, I suppose when we did Derbyshire Open Arts. I know that was in a smaller way, but that was a collective of people getting together to put on a show.
00:18:33 Speaker 2: Yes, we did curate our own show. We were given the gallery for a few days, weren’t we? So we were able to and that was absolutely great. really enjoyed working with those artists as well. Yes. I mean, it’s kind of like a temporary collective wasn’t it. And each year there was a different selection of artists there and we all managed to, happily curate what we did was um, what you tend to find is that those types of shows or those types of art trail it was. And when you’ve got a gallery for temporary hire or something like that, and a group of artists that you each have a little sort of stall area or a little area that’s your bit, and you kind of stand over your own work and people walk, traipse around and just look at each one in turn. yeah, you’re right actually, because we didn’t want to do that. We put all our work together in the gallery at the beginning a couple of days before the event and everybody walked around. We all had a good look at it and put the pieces together, which ones would work where? And although there wasn’t a specific theme to the show like we’re having, it was similar. Yeah, it was similar and it was very, very good. And it did look brilliant actually. each year was different and they always looked very, very good. And I think a lot better than if you just have a little corner.
00:19:55 Speaker 3: It looked more coherent. Susan and I had talked because we did that together We learned so much from that which I think We’re now bringing into this show because of having that experience of curating an exhibition with a group of artists. it was quite invaluable because you’re like, okay, I’m not sure that worked so well. So maybe we won’t do that. But this worked really well. So let’s learn from it. And as we know, we’re always learning and having that experience was vital, I think.
00:20:29 Speaker 1: Yeah. Jela has I know with your background, you’ve had experience working at a pretty significant art gallery in the past and with curators, and you’ve been in collectives. how are you finding doing this versus your experience or anything you care to share?
00:20:47 Speaker 4: I think that it’s a relief that in our collective, we all have a voice. We all see one another, we hear what we have to say, and even at times where we may not agree on something, we talk through it. at one point the show was going to be named. What was it? The it was a boobie show. And I was like, no.
00:21:13 Speaker 3: Ella.
00:21:16 Speaker 4: I’m like, I can’t do that. You know, like this. I think I have maybe one slightly racy art piece. And then I thought, well, yeah, that’s going to be great. People will think it’s a striptease show. But anyways, no, but I mean, we use our humor and we do take ourselves seriously, and I appreciate that. We respect one another and nobody is like, taking charge or treating others as underlings. And there’s not this, hierarchy where we’re going in with like, okay, so we know that this one artist is going to attract like thousands of people and they’re going to have tons of sales. And it’s just going to be such a privilege that I get to be showing my art alongside, an artist of some kind of prestige, that’s kind of been the worst experience of some collective art shows and group shows is that the other artists are treated as fillers, you know?
00:22:24 Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:22:25 Speaker 4: this collective and our approach brings me back to the time of being in high school and working at an art gallery in my hometown. Our hometown. Paula. And, having a curator who was very much a humanist. He was an abstract artist and Japanese Canadian, LGBTQ and Bryce Canberra is his name. And everyone was treated equally and fairly. And this is the first time that I feel like we carry that same energy, those same values. And it’s encouraged so much more productivity. There’s no resentment to do work. Everything is just a pleasure to do. And that excites me beyond belief, is that I know that when we group together in person and arrive with all of our art. And look at this vast space. We’ll just, naturally and organically find a way to compliment each other and choose together how to design the show, where it won’t be about putting one person in the spotlight and who cares about the other three. Like, we will find a way to create the best experience for our audience and for ourselves and our art. And I have total confidence with that. And and I look forward to it.
00:24:06 Speaker 3: we don’t have be it as women or be it as just the people we are is it’s not ego led because we are very aware. It’s about the people who attend the show. So once you decide it’s not about the artists, it’s about the viewer, just like you do when you are thinking of selling your work. Then suddenly you are all singing from the same hymn sheet because you want the best experience for the people visiting the show. And so therefore it’s not about us. I mean, yes, our work is there, but our work is to be seen and bought and enjoyed. we are all very much like, want to see what each of us produce. We’re just as excited about the work that other people are producing because that ego is not our collective is not ego led. I would say that’s probably the key difference. So it’s not about, oh yeah, these are the supporting artists. This person’s had more success. And you do see it. I mean, you see it here in the UK, people who’ve been on. It’s just that they’ve been on the telly, they’ve been on a competition on the telly, and suddenly they are higher status, for being on the television. Well, when was the television really invented? sort of like nineteen thirties, you know, we’ve got used to that need. We need to get used to media. I’d like to think because of all the stuff that we are thankful for, if it’s used correctly through social media, through things like TikTok, through things like YouTube, we can all be on our own shows. So that is not making somebody’s better than somebody else. I would never go on those programmes. I wouldn’t even attempt, because I know I couldn’t get the work done in the time. I’m not about working quickly. That is not what I’m about, and that’s fine if that’s what you want to do, produce a great piece of work in a short time. Paula would be amazing. But for me, no, not so much. but yes, but I think that’s the thing is that when you’re looking at putting on a group show, is no egos allowed?
00:26:16 Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:26:17 Speaker 1: Yeah. Rock stars and all of that celebrity type personalities are not.
00:26:22 Speaker 6: They are all celebrities. We are.
00:26:24 Speaker 1: Because the thing is, we’re at similar points in our careers, in terms of the quality of our work, in terms of our experience, with shows and selling and everything else. and the stories in our art, the reasons we create our works, even though they’re all very, very different, we come together and we make each other better. So I’m going to roll back a little bit to what Jela was saying about how even when we disagree, we come up with something better. So I am going to reveal the suggested title for our show that was shot down appropriately and absolutely, definitely needed to be. But, Susan and I are a little bit ridiculous when it comes to, being the group clowns, let’s put it that way. And so we came up with beasts, babes and boobies, with the boobies being the birds. to cover the range of works that we do because fee and I both paint women Jela does, mixed media with women and with all sorts of interesting gods and creatures and whatever. And of course, Susan paints the wildlife. So that was where the boobies came from. But the thing was that that it was as much as Susan, I love the title. it would immediately change the theme and the reception of the show. Because if we don’t take ourselves seriously, if we don’t present ourselves as a force to be reckoned with, we won’t get the results we want. And we want other artists, but specifically artists who are women or who identify as female to be inspired to step up artists who are marginalized, who maybe didn’t realize that there are other options. This is what we want. And so when we came together and sat with the title for about five minutes before Yella and Fee went, no, no.
00:28:12 Speaker 6: Um.
00:28:12 Speaker 1: It gave us a good laugh. But that was part of our big compromise is just understanding what is the purpose of the show. What do we want to achieve? Aside from art sales, that’s a given where there’s art, but we are also trying to create an experience. we are trying to inspire and we are trying to make changes, in the art world and in artists themselves. So this is where creating something bigger than yourself is really important. Because if I hadn’t had that pushback, and I’m sure the same for Susan, we would have run with that title and it would not have allowed us to achieve what we wanted to achieve. So I’m going to wrap this up because we don’t like to make our podcast episodes very long. And, just, ask each of our members of the fifty one percent, perhaps for some final words, as we then shut this podcast down and move on to our discussion on what this show is going to look and feel like. So let’s go in a different order. Let’s start with Jela any last words in this podcast before we end the episode?
00:29:13 Speaker 4: we have our work cut out for ourselves and together to come up with, interactive and an immersive experience to the show that, is going to be very innovative and eclectic. And it’ll be an interesting experience for each of us to sort of highlight what visuals are relevant to the experience and how we can capture that. So I hope, I hope we come up with something enticing together.
00:29:51 Speaker 6: We will.
00:29:52 Speaker 1: We will. Absolutely. Susan.
00:29:56 Speaker 2: I quite like to hear from some other people that are doing collectives as well. and basically just a message to say to people, if you are thinking about doing it, or you wish you could be in a collective put one together. I’d love to hear about some of the other people that are doing that. Or if they’re not, when they do get in touch and let us know how you’re getting on. We can talk and collaborate with other collectives as well, which would be nice. which will be useful, I think. So that would be my takeaway would be we need more.
00:30:28 Speaker 1: More, we need more. Yeah. So we can be greater than the sum of our parts. So yes. And fee.
00:30:37 Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely. I will just reiterate that, we are encouraging our listeners and people to think differently, to act differently, and to understand that we need to break down those barriers between what has been traditionally viewed as your art journey or how to be a success in the art world, what success looks like. And, we want you to join us. We are not again, as I said, no egos. We want more people, more and more people to, be inspired to go in their own direction. And I’m just going to say, right, Paula, we haven’t really heard a lot about your contribution. You’ve been far too much anchoring this debate. So could you tell us where you’re up to? Because we talked, I think it was in the last podcast about the resistance that you’ve had to returning, because I don’t know if the listeners don’t know. For Paula, she was a very successful artist, and then she went in a different direction and went down the mentoring route because for many reasons, one of them being she had an accident, which meant she couldn’t paint anymore. So she went and she found that she loved mentoring and teaching about the art business. And through the fifty one percent, she has had to get herself into a position where she’s got to act and behave like an artist again. So, Paula, tell us about bit about your journey.
00:32:21 Speaker 1: Well, we were going to wrap up this episode. my journey has been really interesting because I have put down mentoring, for the moment and focused on creating the body of work that goes with the show. But also I am focused on making sure that everything I’ve learned from my previous shows gets applied to this one. We want to create success, whatever that looks like right out of the gate. We don’t want to be the, Willy Wonka in Scotland show kind of thing. We are here to create proper success. And I’m excited to share my work with a whole new audience because yes, as I’ve said, I had a very successful career and it will be good to get back out there. But anyway, as we wrap up this episode, I’d say we’re in a really good place with the fifty one percent. We’re in a really good place where we are at in June ninth of is the recording. So where we are at for the planning and for getting all the pieces together. And over the summer we will be pulling up, all the moving parts, finalizing things like the animations and projections, framing and everything else. And by the end of August, a good chunk of the work and decisions and pieces will be made and ready to go so that we can focus then on really hyping it up. So check out our website at the fifty one percent All words, no dashes dot com. You can find the event for the Wild Within under the events tab, and you can see that our opening date is October twenty third, twenty twenty six. If you are in Derby or anywhere in the UK and you can get to the West Midlands, I think it’s called Eat right. If you can get to the East Midlands. Come and join us. There is no charge to join and experience our show, and it will be running for seven days at the Artcore Gallery in Derby. And we will have more information on our website and in our individual mailing lists. So make sure you sign up on our websites to join our mailing list. The links will be in the show notes and don’t forget to subscribe and like Art crush, new episodes come out every Saturday. You can find us on, Amazon, Spotify, audible, Apple Podcasts, and wherever your favorite podcast episodes are. Make sure you share our episodes with artists in your life. You never know who you might be inspiring or even helping to keep going. And we will catch you in the next episode. Thank you everyone.
