Restaurants, cafes and bars benefit greatly from having art on their walls. It draws customers in. It helps create an environment conducive staying to spend more money, and returning to spend even more. Decor can be the difference between a dive and an upscale establishment. This is why they often pay thousands of dollars to interior designers to create a space people will love coming to.
But what of the actual art on the walls that is such a large part of that? Well, that has become a free service for them. And it probably took no less effort and creativity than the interior designer expended. But hey, at least the artist gets the chance to sell his or her work to the diners and drinkers, right? Well, sort of...
See, the fact is few pieces are going to sell. That's because a restaurant is not an art gallery. People go to restaurants expecting to spend money on food, not on an expensive item like a painting. If you're actually looking to buy art, you go to a gallery, not a restaurant or bar. And a gallery is motivated to sell art, because that's their entire business. A restaurant, cafe or bar have no motivation to sell the art on their walls. If anything, customers purchasing their decor regularly would be an inconvenience to them, and a good sales night for the artist could leave the place looking like they've been looted the next day. Fortunately for them that doesn't really ever happen. On top of that it's an environment that caries a certain potential for damage. Coffee splatters. Dishes can be spilled. maybe somebody gets a drink thrown in their face. All the while, the art is in the line of fire.
So they get something valuable out of the deal, and the artist gets little to nothing out of it aside from hope. Not exactly equitable, is it? what would be more fair, and allow the artist an the cafe a mutually beneficial arrangement? The could buy the art they use, of course. But that's going to be pretty expensive, and mid-range establishments would be denied that opportunity. I think a better system for most would be a rental arrangement. This way the artist could make money off the work without having to sell it, and the business could opt to renew at the end of the month for pieces they particularly like. Perhaps even a rent-to-own system could be implemented. Or a rent-or-sale arrangement might be of use to places that are serious about selling art, where the deal would be they rent the works for a set price unless a certain agreed upon figure is achieved in sales, in which case they would not have to pay for the rentals. The important thing is that they be scalable to serve the particular needs of a given establishment.
A rental model would also benefit the restaurants and cafes, as it would be attractive to more established artists as well, thus giving them a chance to hang art on their walls by artists they'd never have had access to short of buying their work outright. Likewise, artists could develop rates commensurate with reputations that would allow them to move up in the community, and make the artist himself someone to draw a crowd to the establishment willing to pay his rate.
But how do we accomplish this in a time when our independent refusal to play the game as it exists means that they will just find someone else who will? We organize ourselves. we educated ourselves and the younger artists. We negotiate with businesses collectively. If need be, we picket. But first we need to grow and spread the message. I would like you to send links to this blog and the AFTVA facebook page (to the right, under links) to fellow artists and anyone else who wants to support artists in standing up for their rights in the marketplace. Together we can mobilize for change.
The important thing to understand is that AFTVA does not seek to make these establishments take down the art. We only ask that they pay for a service that is of value to them. It's just good business.
Committed to fight the exploitation of visual artists.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
AFTVICE: How can you put a price on art?
One of the most difficult challenges for an artist just beginning to place his or her art for sale is determining a price for each piece. It can seem so arbitrary, and that's how many choose to approach it, with very mixed results. If you price it too low, potential buyers won't take you seriously because a low-ball price gives them the impression that you don't take your own work seriously enough to sell it for what it's worth. If you price it too high it becomes unaffordable to all but the most affluent art buyers. Finding a happy medium means developing a reliable formula for pricing.
Step one: determine the cost of materials
This would be any materials used or purchased for the piece. In the case of, say, canvas, that's an easy one. However for paint you may have to do a little estimating. If you bought any new materials for the piece, go ahead an add them to the figure. Any moderately-priced tools that you may have purchased for this piece may also be added. any expensive equipment (such as a fancy new easel) should be left off unless you purchased it solely for this piece, and don't expect to use it again. Framing and matting costs, of course, should also be included. Now set this materials figure aside, and continue to...
Step two: your hourly wage
Welcome to the world of the working artist! you are your own boss, but if it's ever gonna work you also need to understand that you are your own employee too, and you need to decide how much to pay yourself. You will need to figure in your education (both formal and otherwise), your experience, and any skill or meticulous specialty above and beyond those. This can be a VERY arbitrary figure to come by, but one thing is for sure: NEVER pay yourself less than minimum wage. you are a skilled craftsperson, not some Wal-mart cashier. Okay, maybe in your day job you are a Wal-mart cashier, but unless that's all you ever want to be then you need to value your talent well above that. For now let's start at a temporary figure of 20/hour, and move on to step three.
Step 3: your time-card
Remember when I said you're your own employee? I wasn't kidding. For your hourly wage to be of use, you must keep track of your hours. This need not be as hard as it sounds. When you sit down to paint, draw or sculpt, simply jot down the time. When you're done for the time being, jot down that time as well (as a painter I often like to use the back of the canvas for this). When you resume, mark the time, and finally when you're done add up the hours. Go ahead and give yourself a paid lunch, just one of the perks. But is that really all the time you spent on the piece? No, probably not. If you're like most of us, you probably did some preliminary sketches, some research, maybe took in a life drawing session (if so, the cost of which should be added in with your materials expenses), etc. And you may not have bothered to keep track of how much time you spent on each of those things. If that's the case, feel free to estimate as best you can, but those were all essential processes in the creation of your piece, and thus should be reflected on your time-card.
Step 4: the subtotal
alright, now you've finished your piece and it's time to find the price. Add up your hours first, and multiply them by your hourly rate (use the 20/hour I mentioned earlier if you don't know what your hourly should be). Does this price seem low? does it seem high? in either case this may mean that you need to adjust your hourly rate. Raise or lower your hourly rate and multiply that new number by the hours. If this new price seems about right, then you have found your hourly rate. Now add the materials cost. This is your sub-total, the amount of money you want to see from the final sale of the piece.
Step 5: The total
Now that the subtotal is figured out it's time to find the retail price. How are you planning on selling it? Online? In a gallery? Taking your chances on a cafe wall? There are usually costs associated with that. For online sales there is the cost of shipping. figure that out, add that to price, and advertise free-shipping. online buyers love free shipping. But the selling site and paypal may both take a percentage as well (Etsy takes a modest 3.5%). Raise the price to accommodate that. That your final retail price for online buyers.
For gallery shows the cost will usually be a big percentage. Galleries can often take 30%, which in and of itself is not a bad thing, as it means they are motivated to sell your work. but you should raise your retail price to accommodate that percentage. Any major transportation expenses should also be included (a show out-of-state, say).
And finally, the restaurant/cafe/bar show. Sales are rare because, frankly, people don't go to those places to buy art. To most of the clientele your art is just a very expensive impulse item. But the standard offer is that they take no percentage, and will handle the transaction for you (which they fully do not expect to happen). But if you sell a piece you may find that you failed to read the fine print: for cash or check transactions they will take no percentage. but nobody buys high-dollar items with cash or check anymore. credit card purchases, on the other hand, show up on their financial statements, and thus taxes and credit card fees apply to them, which they will take out of the money they owe you, cause heaven forbid they be liable for taxes and card fees on something they sell. neat trick, huh? well, you'd better raise the price to accommodate that (30%).
OPTIONAL: you may wish to round your price up to a nice even number that is attractive to buyers.
Printmakers and Photographers:
Prints and photographs don't have much in the way of hourly work per print, so you will want to instead calculate the hours you spent preparing a run, and that (plus materials) is how much you will want to recoup from sales. Be careful, because every last print probably won't sell. so try the best you can to figure out how many will sell, and divide the price for the entire run by that. Now you have arrived at a fair price-per-unit for your prints.
Note: I dabble in printmaking, and while I consider myself a decent photographer, I have not tried my hand at selling photos. Therefore, if anyone has more experience than I do in selling these, please feel free to offer better pricing models for those.
Step one: determine the cost of materials
This would be any materials used or purchased for the piece. In the case of, say, canvas, that's an easy one. However for paint you may have to do a little estimating. If you bought any new materials for the piece, go ahead an add them to the figure. Any moderately-priced tools that you may have purchased for this piece may also be added. any expensive equipment (such as a fancy new easel) should be left off unless you purchased it solely for this piece, and don't expect to use it again. Framing and matting costs, of course, should also be included. Now set this materials figure aside, and continue to...
Step two: your hourly wage
Welcome to the world of the working artist! you are your own boss, but if it's ever gonna work you also need to understand that you are your own employee too, and you need to decide how much to pay yourself. You will need to figure in your education (both formal and otherwise), your experience, and any skill or meticulous specialty above and beyond those. This can be a VERY arbitrary figure to come by, but one thing is for sure: NEVER pay yourself less than minimum wage. you are a skilled craftsperson, not some Wal-mart cashier. Okay, maybe in your day job you are a Wal-mart cashier, but unless that's all you ever want to be then you need to value your talent well above that. For now let's start at a temporary figure of 20/hour, and move on to step three.
Step 3: your time-card
Remember when I said you're your own employee? I wasn't kidding. For your hourly wage to be of use, you must keep track of your hours. This need not be as hard as it sounds. When you sit down to paint, draw or sculpt, simply jot down the time. When you're done for the time being, jot down that time as well (as a painter I often like to use the back of the canvas for this). When you resume, mark the time, and finally when you're done add up the hours. Go ahead and give yourself a paid lunch, just one of the perks. But is that really all the time you spent on the piece? No, probably not. If you're like most of us, you probably did some preliminary sketches, some research, maybe took in a life drawing session (if so, the cost of which should be added in with your materials expenses), etc. And you may not have bothered to keep track of how much time you spent on each of those things. If that's the case, feel free to estimate as best you can, but those were all essential processes in the creation of your piece, and thus should be reflected on your time-card.
Step 4: the subtotal
alright, now you've finished your piece and it's time to find the price. Add up your hours first, and multiply them by your hourly rate (use the 20/hour I mentioned earlier if you don't know what your hourly should be). Does this price seem low? does it seem high? in either case this may mean that you need to adjust your hourly rate. Raise or lower your hourly rate and multiply that new number by the hours. If this new price seems about right, then you have found your hourly rate. Now add the materials cost. This is your sub-total, the amount of money you want to see from the final sale of the piece.
Step 5: The total
Now that the subtotal is figured out it's time to find the retail price. How are you planning on selling it? Online? In a gallery? Taking your chances on a cafe wall? There are usually costs associated with that. For online sales there is the cost of shipping. figure that out, add that to price, and advertise free-shipping. online buyers love free shipping. But the selling site and paypal may both take a percentage as well (Etsy takes a modest 3.5%). Raise the price to accommodate that. That your final retail price for online buyers.
For gallery shows the cost will usually be a big percentage. Galleries can often take 30%, which in and of itself is not a bad thing, as it means they are motivated to sell your work. but you should raise your retail price to accommodate that percentage. Any major transportation expenses should also be included (a show out-of-state, say).
And finally, the restaurant/cafe/bar show. Sales are rare because, frankly, people don't go to those places to buy art. To most of the clientele your art is just a very expensive impulse item. But the standard offer is that they take no percentage, and will handle the transaction for you (which they fully do not expect to happen). But if you sell a piece you may find that you failed to read the fine print: for cash or check transactions they will take no percentage. but nobody buys high-dollar items with cash or check anymore. credit card purchases, on the other hand, show up on their financial statements, and thus taxes and credit card fees apply to them, which they will take out of the money they owe you, cause heaven forbid they be liable for taxes and card fees on something they sell. neat trick, huh? well, you'd better raise the price to accommodate that (30%).
OPTIONAL: you may wish to round your price up to a nice even number that is attractive to buyers.
Printmakers and Photographers:
Prints and photographs don't have much in the way of hourly work per print, so you will want to instead calculate the hours you spent preparing a run, and that (plus materials) is how much you will want to recoup from sales. Be careful, because every last print probably won't sell. so try the best you can to figure out how many will sell, and divide the price for the entire run by that. Now you have arrived at a fair price-per-unit for your prints.
Note: I dabble in printmaking, and while I consider myself a decent photographer, I have not tried my hand at selling photos. Therefore, if anyone has more experience than I do in selling these, please feel free to offer better pricing models for those.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
New Feature: AFTVA Offenders List
Greetings, this is the first entry in an ongoing list of AFTVA offenders.
Disclaimer: all AFTVA Offenders are collected and submitted from individual artists whose names I will no divulge, and who are merely giving us their side of their story. No research has as yet been conducted to confirm or deny their accounts.
The Blue Pig - 50th and division
recieved a complaint from an artist of a bounced check for a large piece sold on consignment. Upon being threatened with legal action the owner made good, but only after threatening and personally insulting the artist.
Disclaimer: all AFTVA Offenders are collected and submitted from individual artists whose names I will no divulge, and who are merely giving us their side of their story. No research has as yet been conducted to confirm or deny their accounts.
The Blue Pig - 50th and division
recieved a complaint from an artist of a bounced check for a large piece sold on consignment. Upon being threatened with legal action the owner made good, but only after threatening and personally insulting the artist.
Intoduction and Mission Statement
Hello artists! AFTVA is here, though just barely. My name is Joel Earl, and I created AFTVA out of my utter disillusionment with the treatment of artists in the marketplace. I began to find exploitation at every turn in the marketplace. We've all seen the craigslist ads requesting free art and design in exchange for exposure. In my view that is the least of it. Currently here in Portland, Or and parts beyond restaurants, bars and coffee shops are decorating their walls with art for free by offering those walls as a consignment sales space to the artist. But seldom do the works sell, and in the mean time the artist has hung the work at his/her own expense and effort, and put it at risk of damage in the vain hope of a impulse buyer that never comes. I believe we can work to find a better deal for artists. to this end, I wrote the following mission statement:
Alliance for Fair Trade Visual Art (AFTVA)
Goals:
=====
-To Ensure artists are fairly compensated for work contributed to for-profit enterprises.
-To end "art-for-exposure" exploitation.
-To fight the theft of art by unscrupulous businesses.
-To Promote the idea that art is a profession, and artists deserve to be paid as professionals.
-To discourage artists from giving their art away to for-profit enterprises, as it diminishes the value of all artist's work.
-To Promote art-buying on all possible income levels and for all social classes.
Philosophies:
============
-Art is a profession, and artist should be paid and treated as professionals.
-The true cost of "art-for-exposure" is the diminished value of all artist's work.
-All artists are small business owner/operators.
-Artists deserve every opportunity to make a living doing what they do best.
-For-Profit enterprises owe much of their success to creative visual materials, and it is only fair that they should pay for those services.
-Art takes time, effort, materials, hard-earned knowledge, education and creative instincts. These are all things worthy of fair compensation.
-If a company likes an image enough to use it, copy it or steal it they have tacitly admitted that it has value to them, and it is only right that they should pay fairly for that value.
-Once created art belongs to the cultural zietgiest, but the use of the art rightly belongs to the artist.
-Artists should always sign their work, and demand proper credit for it.
-Artists should price their work fairly. At the very least never below minimum wage based on the time involved in creation. this is not only for the benefit of the individual artist, but for the benefit of ALL artists as it prevents prices and rates to be driven below levels sustainable for making a living creating art.
-An artist that makes money making art is an artist that gets to make more art, and with better tools, materials and resources.
Methods:
=======
-Communicating directly with businesses to negotiate fair deals for artists.
-Negatively publicizing offending businesses in online and other media.
-Organizing protests, pickets and boycotts on behalf of our cause.
-Petitioning for reform of policies.
-Spreading our message in all media.
-Distributing fliers and materials.
-Organizing and sponsoring events, shows and openings.
-Granting a seal-of-approval to businesses that deal fairly with artists.
-Always non-violent and non-destructive.
Alliance for Fair Trade Visual Art (AFTVA)
Goals:
=====
-To Ensure artists are fairly compensated for work contributed to for-profit enterprises.
-To end "art-for-exposure" exploitation.
-To fight the theft of art by unscrupulous businesses.
-To Promote the idea that art is a profession, and artists deserve to be paid as professionals.
-To discourage artists from giving their art away to for-profit enterprises, as it diminishes the value of all artist's work.
-To Promote art-buying on all possible income levels and for all social classes.
Philosophies:
============
-Art is a profession, and artist should be paid and treated as professionals.
-The true cost of "art-for-exposure" is the diminished value of all artist's work.
-All artists are small business owner/operators.
-Artists deserve every opportunity to make a living doing what they do best.
-For-Profit enterprises owe much of their success to creative visual materials, and it is only fair that they should pay for those services.
-Art takes time, effort, materials, hard-earned knowledge, education and creative instincts. These are all things worthy of fair compensation.
-If a company likes an image enough to use it, copy it or steal it they have tacitly admitted that it has value to them, and it is only right that they should pay fairly for that value.
-Once created art belongs to the cultural zietgiest, but the use of the art rightly belongs to the artist.
-Artists should always sign their work, and demand proper credit for it.
-Artists should price their work fairly. At the very least never below minimum wage based on the time involved in creation. this is not only for the benefit of the individual artist, but for the benefit of ALL artists as it prevents prices and rates to be driven below levels sustainable for making a living creating art.
-An artist that makes money making art is an artist that gets to make more art, and with better tools, materials and resources.
Methods:
=======
-Communicating directly with businesses to negotiate fair deals for artists.
-Negatively publicizing offending businesses in online and other media.
-Organizing protests, pickets and boycotts on behalf of our cause.
-Petitioning for reform of policies.
-Spreading our message in all media.
-Distributing fliers and materials.
-Organizing and sponsoring events, shows and openings.
-Granting a seal-of-approval to businesses that deal fairly with artists.
-Always non-violent and non-destructive.
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