Happy new year!

Art of the Call is back - now with videos of directors, artists and curators talking about the call for entry process.



In this episode, Kathleen Mazei talks about the following:

Planning a call

The title goes everywhere - the most eye catching thing to get people to come to a call

Being really clear with the instructions
Consistency - Changes have to be very clear, keep everything in the same format

Do not repeat yourself

Make sure different spaces go together - keep things complimentary

Funding

Sponsorships from artists who want their names attached to the shows

Local banks, Galleries

Education

Tour based around shows, students see art, hands on physical projects, relate techniques to kids, videos showing artists working

Call deadline

More submissions if the deadline is Monday or Sunday night so people have time to finish pieces

Entry Fee

Keep them the same for the entire year

Can go up if funding other organizations

$40 for 3 images and then $5 for additional images

Consider the cost of having the program plus support costs (answering questions etc)

Not the same stuff

Keep pushing artists not to submit the same art over and over

Art cannot have shown here before to be submitted

The call

Check spelling

Check deadlines that there's enough time to jury, notifications and physically get the art to the venue. 65% hand deliver but there has to be enough time for the others.

Everyone in the office has to know answers to questions

Image requirements

Keep them low so there are less questions/problems

Raise them if there's a catalog - otherwise it's too difficult to contact artists to get hi res versions later for the catalog

If the quality of the image is so bad that they can't see it then they'll tell the artist why they weren't accepted

Jury

The space is extremely important - pieces do have to fit - also have to take different events at the venue while the show is up into consideration

Artists must stick to the theme (If an artist can explain why a piece should be in a themed show then it's ok)

We use multiple jurors with point scheme, points get averaged out
Artist participation

We encourage artists to participate and interact with the community

Social media

Simply posting on Facebook does get the word out

Post the deadline!

Opening

Community wide event - all post on social media

Special hour where the artists can speak

Another 3 hours where the public comes in

They introduce the artists - again encouraging the artists to participate

It's a big deal if artists come to the opening - get introduced to curators, the public, members of the organization

Success

Good flow of the show, work well presented

Sales

Bringing in visitors, new memberships

Education it brings to the schools - they enjoy it the most