Art Show - Policies
Contents
Insurance & general responsibility
You really only have two choices: you accept responsibility for art in your care, or you don't.
Some art shows state that they will accept art from artists. If the art is lost, stolen, or damaged, it is the artists' problem. This is legitimate if you warn the artists up front, but shows with this policy tend to be small because artists avoid them. Would you send art to someone who said "Send me your artwork and I'll probably return it or pay for it"? Don't confuse the art show with the dealers' room. In the dealers' room you can watch your own merchandise - in the art show the con does it for you.
The other position an art show can take is that while the show has the art, they are responsible for it. The artist must receive the artwork back (undamaged), or the payment for it. The only exception would be for damage the artist is responsible for [1]. If someone viewing the artwork destroys it, the show is responsible for paying the artist. They can certainly try to collect from the person doing the damage, but they pay the artist first.
This probably means the convention will want insurance. You already have the liability - carrying insurance does not increase it (this should be obvious, but I've seen it stated that insurance increases your liability). It also means risks associated with accepting payment belong to the show and not the artists. If a check the art show accepted is no good, the art show still has to pay the artist - the show accepted the check and gave the piece to the buyer. If the art show loses, destroys, or accidentally gives away a $10,000 piece, they owe the artist $10,000. The artist doesn't care whether it was an accident - they want their work back, or the money for it.
Some shows attempt to split the difference, saying "We'll pay for it if it was our fault.". The main result is that a con is motivated to argue about why they weren't at fault. "It's not our fault the roof leaked"... "someone stole the piece"... "the check didn't clear." ... "an attendee broke it". This is effectively accepting no fiscal responsibility, but if you're good at deluding yourself, it may make you feel more morally responsible.
- * The two likely types are artists damaging his own work while hanging or packing it, and a bad frame or mounting coming apart.
Print policies
Some shows only accept original artwork. Some shows have a separate Print Shop for prints. Some shows accept originals or fine art prints. Other shows allow pretty much any kind of print in the show (though only a single copy of it). Other prints can go in the Print Shop, if the show has one. Some shows have policies about what kind of prints can be in the Print Shop, too.
The convention (or you) may have strong opinions about what kind of prints to accept (if any). The policy you select will help determine the feel and contents of the show, and will affect sales. As far as running the show is concerned, any of these policies is fine. Clearly state your policy and then stick to it. If you can't state it clearly, it's a bad policy. Do not assume that everyone will have the same definition of terms such as "fine art print" - they won't (e.g,, the most common definition excludes photography or digital art).
Allowing anything is the simplest policy. You don't have to worry about the fine points of multiple originals, or what are the rules for limited editions, or what constitutes a fine art print. All the policy you need is: prints should be labeled as such (see bid sheets). This policy could potentially make your art show indistinguishable from a poster shop - you decide if this is a problem.
Some shows accept only signed, limited edition prints. This may help distinguish the art show from the dealers' room, show some modest concern for the buyer and provide some degree of snob appeal. Some shows also apply this policy to the Print Shop.
Shows with limited space may prefer to display only originals, while relegating prints to the Print Shop. Alternatives are jurying, limiting each artist to few panels, or high panel fees. Each will produce a different mix of pieces. Both jurying and "originals only" increase snob appeal [2]. Both are sometimes used in hopes of attracting big, gorgeous, expensive display pieces (BGEDP). Unfortunately, just limiting your show to originals won't get you lots of BGEDPs - it may just get you a small show. What does attract BGEDPs? Selling them. So does being a place where artists can use their BGEDPs to attract commissions, or at the very least demonstrate to potential buyers that their work is worth $12,000. BGEDPs can also attract people who will buy prints - but that's pointless at a show without prints. And some shows like to view themselves as a serious art competition, and don't think they can adequately judge from prints. That could be a valid reason to exclude prints from competing for awards, but not for barring them from display or sale. (also see Print Shops)
- * There's nothing wrong with snob appeal. It's a perfectly legitimate goal or reason for deciding policy. Calling it that often annoys those who want it. I think that's good. If they can't admit that's what they want, they're probably deceiving themselves and haven't thought it through.
Juried shows
Mail-in and membership fees
Will you accept mail-in art? If so, what arrangements will it require in advance? Will there be an extra fee involved, or will artists be required to be members of the convention? These are all related.
Should artists have to buy memberships? Many conventions consider this an income opportunity. It can be, if more artists want to enter than you have room for. Otherwise it is more likely to eliminate artists than raise money. The commonest policy is that an artist attending the convention has to buy a membership, while one just dropping off their work doesn't.
To the art show, it makes no difference whether an artist just delivers and retrieves art or attends the entire convention. Mail-in art does make a difference. It's more work. Art show personnel must unpack, hang, re-pack, and ship the work. The benefit of mail-in art is getting more (and possibly better) art, particularly for shows in isolated areas. Some conventions will charge an extra handling fee for it. This is reasonable if not too high - $5 to handle mail-in is OK, $100 is not - and some shows take return postage from this fee [3]. Otherwise the artist has to pay postage (including any insurance) both directions. Requiring a membership from all artists is essentially an additional (too high) mail-in fee.
If you do accept mail-in, there will be a limit to how much of it you can handle with the staff, time, and storage space you have. You may have to limit how much you accept and require artists to obtain approval in advance before shipping, particularly for large shows. Don't accept more than you can handle.
- * If return postage comes from this fee, the justification for it is obvious (although I don't recommend it - see Art Show - name?). Otherwise, what is the fee for? If can be a way to limit mail-ins to a manageable number, but a simple limit on how many mail-ins you will accept does the same thing. I've seen it argued that it compensates the art show staff for the extra work - but until I see the money given to the art show staff, I don't buy it. It could be used to hire temporary labor to do the extra work, but I haven't seen that, either. I suspect it usually comes down to two reasons: it's extra income for the convention ("because we can"), and because handling mail-in is a pain and the art show staff feels better if they know the artist responsible shared the pain ("misery loves company").
