The Anatomy of A Good Artist Call & Prospectus

When promoting an artist call for your juried exhibition, grant, residency, RFP, or whatever it may be, first and foremost it must be an opportunity that artists find interesting and personally beneficial (see survey below).  If you have perked an interest, the path that artists then typically take in determining whether to apply is the most obvious, that is, to first validate the authenticity of the event and the reputation of its sponsor.  Artists do this by reviewing the organization bio and contact information on the Prospectus, then authenticating such by visiting the website and inspecting its status, activities and organization history.

Thus, from an organization perspective, to improve chances of artist applications it is vital to provide as much contact information as you can, a short bio of the organization and links to your website.  A “blind artist call” will not be successful, nor should it be. Other major factors to consider include:

Entry Fees: If you are going to charge an entry fee for participation, please be aware that artists will first seek out events that do not charge.  If you do ask for a fee, keeping it to a minimum is to your benefit.  The average cost these days is between $20 to $35 per entry for 3 works (images), anything above $35 is regarded as excessive unless the event is a major and well known opportunity.  It is always a good idea to offer discounts for artists on a budget, or have stepped prices as to capture more entries, e.g., $10/1, $20/3, etc.

If your deadline date is more than 2 months it is recommended to offer early bird entry fees as a motivator to apply without delay.

Deadlines: From a promotional standpoint, allow at least 3-4 weeks to deadline date for entering if you are accepting entries online. If you are accepting entries only by postal mail then allow at least 4-8 weeks. Longer deadline dates can of course increase the quantity and quality of your entries, however, artists may put-off entering considering that they can apply later (and this often results in loss of entries as artists will then forget or apply to a different opportunity).  As mentioned earlier, if your deadline date is more than 2 months it is recommended to offer early bird entries fees as a motivator to enter without delay.

Please remember, there is never a guarantee that an event will gather the interest or entries from artists as hoped.  However, if you follow the guidelines listed on this page you can be assured that artists will consider your event much more than if you did not.

THE PROSPECTUS
Here is the basic format of an artist Prospectus:

— Title of Artist Call
— Deadline Date / Introduction of Opportunity (Synopsis)
— Venue and Date of Exhibition
— Artist & Media Eligibility
— Juror or Curator Bio
— Benefits and Awards
— Application Fee
— Application Procedure
— Artist Notification Date
— Delivery Procedure (to and from)
— Calendar
— Insurances & Liability
— Organization Bio (About)
— Contact Info (Link to website, Address, phone, email address)

ARTIST SURVEY
A five year long survey of our subscribers reveal the following details as ranked (1. being the most important):

Factors about an event that contributes to an artist decision to enter:

(1) Sponsoring Organization reputation
(2) Quality of Jury/Curators
(3) Cost of Participation
(4) Quality of Exhibition Space
(5) Simplicity of Prospectus / Application Procedure
(6) Sponsoring Organization Provides Support Contacts

Artist preferred benefits for participating / entering:

(1) Potential for Gallery / Art Representation
(2) Resume Experience / Reputation Development
(3) Potential Number of Viewers / Exposure
(4) Potential for Artwork Sales
(5) Monetary Awards or Grants
(6) Networking with Artists and Art Market Professionals

POTENTIAL ARTIST APPLICANT DEMOGRAPHICS
Derived from ArtDeadline.Com readership

Female: 57%
18 to 29 yrs old: 22%
30 to 40 yrs old: 25%
41 to 51 yrs old: 28%
52 yrs old plus: 25%

Male: 43%
18 to 29 yrs old: 24%
30 to 40 yrs old: 26%
41 to 51 yrs old: 25%
52 yrs old plus: 25%

Art Education:
Self-taught: 15%
Some Art College: 22%
Art College Degree: 63%

Requests for News Originating From:

Americas: 76%
N. America: 88%
S. America: 12%

International: 24%
Africa: 15%
Asia: 23%
Europe: 46%
Oceania: 16%

* QUALITY RATINGS
If you see the image shown on the top of this page associated with an event (on Prospectus or website), such signifies that artist participants of that organizations rated its opportunities, and have found it to meet or exceed quality standards when considering such factors as the timely and professional response to artist participation, overall show presentation, judging, awards, and follow-up, etc.

If you feel that your event can meet those standards, let us know and we will provide an online artist participant survey to your announcement. Receiving an AD.C rating can increase future artist responses significantly. Contact us here

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