# Federation of Canadian Artists - 2017 Online Digital Art Exhibition and Contest



## FCAGallery (Dec 16, 2016)

A first for FCA entirely-online programming, this exhibition is open to artists worldwide, creating artworks entirely in digital media.

Artworks must be purely computer-generated. Digital and traditional photography that has been manipulated using software, apps, or other digital image editing software is not permitted.

Submissions are $15 per image, artists can submit up to 5 images, and up to 3 images will display per artists if successful at jury.

Artworks that are successful at jury will display in an online gallery at www.artists.ca between February 1, - April 31, 2017.

The Prizes:
1st Place: $300 CA
2nd Place: $300 CA
3rd Place: $100 CA

The Jurors:
Lisa Danesin, AFCA - http://www.silverdog.ca/
César Moreno, - http://www.pinchemoreno.com/
Barbara Spurll - http://www.barbaraspurll.com/

The Submission Link: https://artists.ca/submissions/view/id/593

The Federation of Canadian Artists is a non-profit registered charity, founded in 1941 by members of the Group of Seven. Today we exist to support and promote emerging and established artists through the provision of networking, exhibition and educational opportunities.

In an effort to embrace new media, and recognize digital art forms, the FCA's first Digital Exhibition was created with the intent of giving digital artists a platform to exhibit and sell their artwork.

Learn more about who we are and what we do at www.artists.ca


----------



## abt2k15 (Jan 9, 2016)

gtfo trying to squeech money out of peoples dreams. no artist will ever benefit from your venture except yourself. 

this highly screams scam. i googled a bit about your "network" and shit like 3 day i pad workshop for 300 bucks is just one of the many ways these people scam money out of you.

dont fall for it. as a start try and google some of the recent shows and awards thats listed in the about section of lisa danesin. she seems to be winning alot yet it is impossible to google the results of the awards or rather any proof really.

the other two artists are ok in my eyes. they prolly just got booked or smth like that. them pages and works look legit. the first one definatly not. much more pretending and story telling than good art imho.

you can try to defend but i suggest to just go away like the other exposed art scammers that try advertising here with "benefitial ideas helping artists" but if you feel the need to - there is always the posibility of me being wrong but usually im on spot. i got some more facts googled up but if you prove me wrong i am not afraid admitting it.


----------



## FCAGallery (Dec 16, 2016)

Hi abt2k15,

Thanks for your feedback. As you probably turned up from your google searches, the Federation of Canadian Artists is a registered non-profit charity, founded in 1941 by members of the Group of Seven. Today we serve over 2,400 artist members all across Canada and internationally through the provision of education, exhibition and networking opportunities. Our mission is to support artists while making art more accessible and relevant to everyone.

We host between 18-20 exhibitions annually from our gallery location on Granville Island, which sees thousands of tourists through our doors annually.

As an organization in the past, we've been criticized for being traditionalist, and not open to new media. Typically we have only represented watercolour, oil and acrylic painters.

In an effort to remain relevant and open to newer media, and in an effort to engage artists all across the world, we've launched online exhibitions as part of our programming. We've got 27 exhibitions planned in total for 2017, which is pretty exciting.

We've had many of our artists who also work in digital media lament that they have few platforms through which to show, sell and compete with their digital artwork. In a move to offer opportunities to these artists, and expand our scope of media, the 2017 Digital Exhibition was born.

It's our first time hosting an entirely online exhibition, and we appreciate it's new territory for us. Lisa Danesin is one of our few Signature Members who also works in digital art, so she's on the jury panel representing not only digital artists, but also the Federation.

Barbara Spurll and Cesar Moreno are professionals in their field, having worked on projects with SEARS, STORCK, Nike, EASports (seriously have you seen Moreno's resume?). We felt that it was important to obtain external juror input as we appreciate we aren't the best versed in digital art, and we need to learn. Who better to learn from than professionals who make their living from their digital art practice?

A point to note as well, as a non profit charity, trying to get this exhibition off the ground, these jurors have all been kind enough to volunteer their time.

Submission fees for images go directly into funding the prize awards for the participating artists, which we know are meager, but in the interest of balancing the project, as a non profit organization with no sponsors this year, the $15 entry fee will make sure we can still recognize artists through cash prizes (no matter how small they may be) without running a deficit to the organization.

If for whatever reason, submissions explode and we have a surplus of entry fees, that money goes right back into making the project bigger and better for 2018, better prize awards and hopefully reimbursement for our jurors who lend their time, expertise and experience. As a non profit in Canada, we're on the hook to prove that funds are spent in the interest of the organization, otherwise we loose our charitable status. The Government of Canada is pretty good about that.

So yes one big scam really. 

I had anticipated a backlash from the traditionalists, believe me, my inbox is full of mail screaming at me that "Digital Art is not fine art!!!", but to get backlash from the Digital Arts community. Sheesh I wasn't expecting that.

Regardless, we see a need to provide a service, so we will. Perhaps this opportunity is not for you this time, and that's okay. All the best on your journey.


----------



## abt2k15 (Jan 9, 2016)

like i said if you proof me wrong im not afraid to admit being wrong. i appreciate the honesty in your _reply_ with the meager entries and then it makes it look a bit less like scam to me. if you have 300 entries f.e. which is not alot since with digital media you have much more accessibility from the scratch. properly digitalizing traditional art is not easily done for everyone. while creating it digitally you have a huge advantage hence alot of people believe it to be of less value also since it can be reproduced at nearly no cost with no quality loss.

kind of reversed psychology style there is alot of people who exploit this fact at the expense of the artists producing the art which often comes in form of offering to display their art someplace they run. if you crank up enough numbers i.e. people watching your art you increase the value so a digital artist might be lured into paying money to supposedly get more views but here is the catch. most sites or places displaying the art have the focus on their site/ gallery rather than the artist. people visiting these sites are supposed to return to their sites not to the artist. 

that is also why i believe that a serious gallery that is judging its entries before they display them should not charge the artists who are providing the content. did you charge fees to cover the price costs for traditional art contests? you decided to put price money as award to get more people into it. this is marketing is it not? why should the people who are providing the content also pay for your whole venture? do you think that no one will submit their art if there is no price money to win? well then maybe the display of the art wont get alot attention aswell so the artist might not get much out of it anyway. it just most of the times doesnt add up. 

i still do not quite understand how it would go down aswell. lets say someone submits his art and it doesnt win a price but it gets what exactly? do you print it out and show it in your gallery room? do you put it on a website somewhere? 

your reaction does make it look less bad to me but i guess my main point is that you have something you want to keep going/ expand and for that you rely on artists and their work yet you want to charge the artists.

all the best though like you said - what doesnt work for me doesnt mean it wont for other people.


----------



## FCAGallery (Dec 16, 2016)

abt2k15

Thank you for your response. To answer your questions, we charge entry fees for all of our exhibitions. Every single one. 

These fees do a combination of the following a) create prize money for participating, b) cover the costs of advertising and promotion c) help us with our operating and administrative costs associated with putting an exhibition together.

The money for staff time, rental of our building, advertising etc has to come from somewhere. Sadly no one donates space or money for promotion saying hey, you want to promote and sell art and not charge artists? Here have this gallery and we'll pay your gallery sales staff, executive director,administrator and technician, and hey don't worry about utilities or insurance, we've got that covered for you too. If there are ways to implement a no cost model that's equally or more successful than ours, I am open to hearing it. 

We don't see our interaction with artists as them relying on us or us relying on them, it's a partnership. We rely on them of course to stay in existence, if we weren't providing good services and opportunities, then by all means we should have gone the way of many other commercial galleries and shut down. But we haven't. The artists in turn rely on us for an accessible place to display and sell their artwork, they rely on us to continue working hard for them creating an organization they can be proud of, with services and programs that they enjoy and are valuable to them. Heck personally I've often offered emotional support and even legal guidance. 

That's the thing, we're successful, and we're offering services and programs artists want and need, those who participate with us, see the value in that. We're also helping the public and the general consumer realize that art is something that we should not only want, but need in our daily lives, and we think that's pretty important. Entry to our gallery and exhibitions is free, and it always will be. 

For artists who submit but aren't juried in to the exhibition, that's it. No display, no refunds for entry fees. We're very transparent about that on the calls for submission page. So if you don't feel right about paying and not being guaranteed a spot, just don't participate. This isn't the right opportunity for you. 

They know that when they enter an exhibition with us, digital or online, they're getting not only the chance to win prizes and gain exposure (because yeah, you can pay for dinner with exposure right?), they also get a dedicated staff who are committed to promoting them, selling their artwork, helping them establish their client database. They can see that even if they didn't get accepted into an exhibition, that their submission fees are being put to good use elsewhere, no grubby money hungry gallerist is stuffing them in their Ferrari and laughing all the way to the Ritz. 

Another point of note is that as non-commercial gallery, artists here set their own prices and our gallery sales assistants do not receive commission. We don't pocket any of the artist's revenue as individuals. When artists register with us, they are told from the outset that they retain 65% of any sales made on their behalf, the remaining 35% that goes right back into our organization, funding our educational programming and activities and events that promote the gallery and organisation, things like free family art days, free artist demonstrations etc.

We think it's a pretty good model, and for a charity that's been around for 75 years with 2,400 members and growing, it seems that some people out there agree


----------



## abt2k15 (Jan 9, 2016)

FCAGallery said:


> abt2k15
> 
> 
> The money for staff time, rental of our building, advertising etc has to come from somewhere. Sadly no one donates space or money for promotion saying hey, you want to promote and sell art and not charge artists? Here have this gallery and we'll pay your gallery sales staff, executive director,administrator and technician, and hey don't worry about utilities or insurance, we've got that covered for you too. If there are ways to implement a no cost model that's equally or more successful than ours, I am open to hearing it.
> ...


so what about the costs the artists have? you always evade my questions with things that are already out there. we know you have costs to stay alive. guess what - same for every artist in the world. the artist eventually may be able to sell their art without you. what can you do without the art? yet you think your work and your costs are more important and that its ok to charge for artist submittion so you can pay your staff.

also the non beneficial charity thing. obviously its not non benefitial. you dont directly make yourself richer but the more money your project inhabits the more you will benefit from it aswell. dont deny. ms danesin is a perfect example of it. 

what you are doing with your ad here and your replies is creating an illusion of credibility which you achieve at the expense of artist automatically diminishing their work from the start.

if someone submits digital art you open an email - maybe click a link and decide if it suits your needs and you charge for it. in return the artist might get some sales going. no one knows. you can link your history pdf again but this doesnt make it quality. like i said - its impossible to see which artworks "won" in the past. this is also not out of charity since you charge a hefty % for it. big online marketing plattforms charge alot less for it.

i doubted your credibility ( extra harsh because this engages conversations ) and all you have done to proof me your credibility is giving more statements i cannot check for truth or which doesnt concern me as an artist really. the question still stands - why should an artist pay for your living. you say you help them sell art but you charge 35% so thats quite the contrary of benefitial isnt it? if you sell it that is. also - do you accept photobash? what about manipulation? can you spot that? do you mind that? 

i hade to giggle about the last paragraph ( dont mean to insult you - just had to laugh ) about the 2,400 members blbla. so what? how does this in any way affect me as an artist? it doesnt. if you have that many members - why dont they pay 12 bucks a year for the cause? but anyway - i am aware how you cannot ever agree to what i am pointing at since its your organisation and prolly how you get food on the table but i am telling you - there are much more ways to make enough money to keep your thing going if it is the size you make it to be. especially ( maybe exclusive ) with digital media. you have a finished versatile product at your hand and even if you dont charge anything you still get value with the submittion and possible agreement to use the art for your advertising purposes. this is a huge thing. i get the impression that you really dont mean ill but you dont have alot of information about what is going on in digital art.

i wouldnt call myself a professional since i dont make alot of money with my art but i have the opportunity to be in a community where alot of great digital pros are gathering and get to talk to them regularly and alot of them have to constantly fight with mindsets like you displayed. its kind of like the boss telling his employer that he should be happy to have a job - i say shouldnt the boss also be happy that someone is working for him? its clearly a hierarchy thing where it shouldnt be one. its ok that both parts should benefit but it is certainly ( and never will ) not ok that one part benefits no matter what at the cost of the other part. 

another way trying to display what i am referring at is picture it the way arround. you are the art gallery you are and you would have to pay 15 bucks for every piece you want to look at because the artist has hired some staff to organize his paper work and supply deliveries etc. after you looked at it the artist can decide if he wants you to display their art. dont you feel it? 

this is my last reply. i feel like i made my point clear. make of it as you will and im even good sports and wish you much success for all i care.


----------



## just (Mar 3, 2015)

The moderators should remove the links from the op. It is just an advertisement.


----------

