Tag Archives: scam

Art Help & Info

Pay to Play

Leave a comment

I’ve mentioned vanity galleries on here before but given some recent discussions, I felt it necessary to post about this controversial topic again.  I can tell you that I have never heard of anyone ever selling out a show or gaining ANY type of success from a vanity gallery.  Never.  If that were the case, we’d hear other artists singing their praises.  I know that it sounds great- a solo show in a major city (usually New York).  But that’s all you are getting.  A show.  There will never be a single show that will send your career into the stratosphere.  You’re thinking, right, of course not.  Well, if you’re willing to pay around $3000 plus all other costs associated with a show, then that show sure as hell better send your career into the stratosphere.  But again, that doesn’t happen.  So why even entertain the thought of showing in a vanity gallery?

OK- so here is the breakdown:

Vanity galleries are any gallery that require the artist to pay in order to show with them.  Not to be confused with a co-op gallery, which is owned and operated by the artists involved.

Vanity galleries charge an outrageous fee, this ranges anywhere from $1500- $3000 or just shy of selling a kidney.

Most vanity galleries also require that the artist install and de-install the show themselves.  Aside from this being a lot of work for the artist, after all, what are you paying the gallery for, but you’ll probably need a plane ticket as well if you don’t already live nearby.

Let’s not forget you are also responsible for shipping costs.  Plus you’ll be paying return shipping when the work does not sell.

You’ll most likely be responsible for invitation costs, so aside from printing costs, postage adds up quickly.

Vanity galleries do not push for sales.  Sure, the work is for sale, but nobody is going to work hard to sell it for you, they’ve already got your $3000, remember?

Many vanity galleries require that you do your own gallery-sitting anyway, so you’d be the only salesperson in that case.

You’ll also be responsible for drinks and food during the reception.

Lastly, and this is probably the worst of them all, your reputation is sullied in the eyes of “real” galleries.  Galleries know who the vanity galleries are and do not look kindly upon them.  If you think you’ll get a show with an established gallery with a vanity gallery on your resume, you are dead wrong.  Sorry to be so blunt, but I’m telling it like it is.  Galleries want to show artists that are successful based on their merits, not on how much they’re willing to pay their way to “success.”

And so, the big question here is “what are you paying for exactly???”  Just what does $3000 pay for?  Why does the gallery need that money?  I would love to hear their response.

If you’ve shown with a vanity gallery, the best thing you can do is to remove any mention of them from your resume, website, blog, social media sites, etc.  Make as if they don’t exist and move on.  Galleries that are new to your work don’t have to know.  Consider it a learning experience and just keep moving forward.  If you are still considering showing with a vanity gallery, the only other thing I can recommend is to Google them.  Look up their name with the word scam or just look up their name alone.  More than likely you will find horror stories and you can hear directly from artists that did participate.  Just keep in mind that no career was made overnight.  Even “superstars” that appear out of nowhere have been behind the scenes, working diligently for years and years, except no one was aware of that part.

————

www.AmyGuidry.com

Sign up for my monthly newsletter at: www.amyguidry.com/contact.html

Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-Guidry/51953219932

Art Help & Info

I Live in London and Would Like to Purchase Your Art

Leave a comment

Awhile back I wrote about a potential scam, which then got me into some hot water. I do feel, however, that it is important to discuss this issue since scams seem to run rampant among the art community. (Do emails from Nigeria ring a bell?) To be clear, I am not talking about art competitions that don’t lead to overnight success. I’m talking about competitions that are dead-ends with someone looking to run off with your money. These are the real scams. Often these are run by people with shady financial backgrounds (bankrupt, etc.), but this is not always easy to find on the internet. So here are some common traits I’ve come across:

First, the organization that’s running the competition is probably one you’ve never heard of before. If you do a search for their name on the internet, you may come up with nothing. If other artists have had success with said competition, they post it on the internet via blogs, press articles, resumes, etc. There will be a trail.

If the organization contacts you directly via email, and again, you’ve never heard of them, then where did they get your contact information? This is not to say that every email you get from a stranger is a scam, but usually the email should at least be directly written to you. If it is a mass emailing, then clearly they are just shooting arrows in hopes of hitting a target.

Who are the jurors? Often scams do not give names of jurors. They can certainly make up jurors as well, so that is why I highly recommend you do your research.

One of the more flagrant traits of an art competition scam is the deadline extension. I’ve seen many legit competitions extend a deadline (for example, the original deadline falls on a holiday) but usually the reason for the extension is stated in such a case. And, not to mention, this is usually done by a competition that is well-recognized in the first place. The ones to worry about are the ones that nobody’s ever heard of and they extend their deadline…again…and again…and again. Keep tabs on their websites and you’ll find this to be true.

Lastly, if the prize money is outlandishly big, but their company looks cheap, then it’s probably a scam. Successful arts organizations that have money to dole out, also have money to hire a great marketing team. Their websites will be top-notch, their logo is well-designed, and there are no grammatical errors on their marketing materials. One of the best examples I discovered was a website with overlapping text and photos. You have 10 grand to give me but you don’t have the money to hire a decent web designer? Oh, and their photos should be of actual events and of their actual gallery, etc. If all they have is stock photography (or NO photography), then something is fishy.

Art Help & Info

Studio Visit

8 Comments
Amy Guidry- Studio Visit Volume 5
Amy Guidry- Studio Visit Volume 5

Well, it seems to me that many artists out there are questioning the upcoming deadline for entries to Studio Visit Magazine. I’ve had quite a few hits to my blog searching for Studio Visit or Studio Visit scam. So, here’s something that I can discuss without getting into trouble for a change. Yes, you should enter! Studio Visit is the sister publication to New American Paintings. Both of which are published by The Open Studios Press. I’m sure many of you are unsure of Studio Visit because you’ve never heard of it. True, it’s new and fairly unknown, but I’ve noticed a remarkable increase in popularity over the past few years, so they are building a following. Studio Visit just started a matter of years ago- 3 or 4, if memory serves. They are lacking the legions of fans of New American Paintings, but that’s not to say they won’t build their own impressive fan base. Good things come to those who wait… or those who with good PR efforts. Regardless, the magazine is a good-looking publication. I’ve been in it before, so I can vouch for their slick presentation. The jurors aren’t too shabby, either. As with New American Paintings (or NAP, for short), they’ve managed to get prestigious museum directors and curators to jury their exhibitions-in-print.

I won’t say that getting into Studio Visit will be the overnight success you are looking for… then again, I wouldn’t say that about anything. However, it will get your work in front of galleries. The magazine is shipped out to galleries and museums all over the place, as is NAP. I can say that I’ve had a gallery contact me as a result and it helped grease the wheels to get me representation with another gallery. It jogs people’s memories and gets them thinking about your work. And when your work is in front of a gallery over and over again, your name starts to stick. So I leave you with this: if you’d like to have your work noticed by important people, in a high-quality publication, then the upcoming deadline is February 5th.

Art Help & Info

Vanity Galleries

Leave a comment
"Inner Peace?" by Amy Guidry; Copyright Amy Guidry 2009

I had a blast from the past the other day…well, usually that is associated with a good thing, but in this case, it isn’t. I never did write about this in my blog before because it just slipped my mind. Better late than never. I received an email a couple of days ago from a gallery in Santa Monica (see link provided for more info). I thought it was strange because I suddenly found myself on their mailing list, yet I had contacted them years ago (not knowing any better…keep reading) and never received emails from them before. Odd that a gallery would want to reach out after all these years of no contact. Anyway, I contacted them back when I was first starting out my painting career because I found a call for artists. Turns out they only wanted to see me if I lived in California. Strange since galleries will take you on no matter where you live. So I was looking around on the internet and found out they are a vanity gallery. Blech.  Read more proof here: http://http://gyst-ink.com/blog/?p=177 And yes, I spoke with “Heidi,” too.

Vanity galleries, as you may very well know already, require a fee (and a large one at that) from artists in order to represent them. Basically you are paying your way in. Any gallery worth its salt does not have to survive by taking money from its artists. They survive on SALES of work. If they can’t do that, something is wrong. In addition to a yearly fee, many vanity galleries also require the artist to install the show themselves, pay for promotional materials and invitations, cover all shipping costs, and do a required amount of gallery-sitting. Which begs the question…And what does the gallery do for you? As in any bad relationship, you are left doing all the work while your partner is living it up at your expense, with no real love in return. It’s best to dump the loser (or gallery…we are still talking about art here) and wait it out until the “right one” comes along.

Questions? Comments? Know of any other losers we should all avoid? Let me know!

www.AmyGuidry.com

Art Help & Info

Artists: Scam Alert!

6 Comments
"The United States of Consumerism" by Amy Guidry; Copyright Amy Guidry 2009

I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to further my art career.  Unfortunately, there are some losers out there who are looking to take advantage of that.  I did a little research online concerning an opportunity I came across that sounded too good to be true.  Apparently that’s because it is.  ArtistGrants.org is promoting their Biennial Competition with a $10K first place award- yes, 10,000 dollars.  Aside from the fantastic prize money, I had to wonder about this since I’d never even heard of them before.  I’ve heard of many artist grants organizations, but never this one.  So I kept an eye on their site…  interestingly enough, I discovered that their entry fee kept changing (increasing, of course) over the past couple of months.  And the deadline has been extended three times so far (at least since I’ve discovered this “competition”).  And who the hell are the jurors?   

Well, further investigation has dug up some more interesting tidbits…  According to Art Opportunities Monthly, ArtistGrants.org tried to get their Biennial listed in their classifieds.  Turns out AOM discovered their domain had been registered for a matter of days before they were listing their competition. AOM also states that the address provided to them for the listing “was a private home which had been bought for well over the asking price just a short time ago (arousing a newspaper’s suspicions that a kickback and finagling with mortgage money was involved). And now, the house just appeared on the market as a HUD foreclosure, meaning that the extra money the buyers had borrowed will not be paid back.”

In addition, AOM also asked about their organization, judging, funding, etc. and never received a response.  I found the same to be true for others’ attempts to contact ArtistGrants.org.  So, after finding out all of this, I am steering clear of this “opportunity” and passing on this information to everyone in the blogosphere!  Just goes to show that unless you are already familiar with an organization, you should always look into them before entering or sending them money.  Many artist listings sites have a disclaimer that they are not responsible if it turns out a listing is a scam and that they do not do background checks, so to speak.  So be sure to do your homework!

www.AmyGuidry.com