I was contacted by the director via my website to participate in a themed group show. The curatorial statement aligned with my work so I was excited to get more information, but noticed in the fine print that they did ask for a financial contribution from the artist. The show was also in the very near future, which seemed strange. After I expressed interest, I was told that I would need to give the gallery almost $1,000 to participate, as well as a 60/40 split (artist/gallery). I shared my discomfort with this, at which point the messages became more desperate…