Art Show Rules
Joni Brill Dashoff,
artshow
Artists may enter the Art Show and/or Print Shop (either directly or via an agent), and each artist may enter only once.
While we have no objection to several artists entering as a group, that entry will be held to the normal limits for a single entry regardless of the number of members in the group. The members of the group may not also enter individually or as members of other groups. Every piece submitted must be the work of (one or more of) the entering artist(s). Collaborative works may be submitted by any of the collaborators.
All entries must be your own original work on a science fiction, fantasy, or fannish theme. (See Section 4 for the rules concerning reproductions.)
We have decided to allow previously-purchased art to be entered for resale by the owner. The entry rules, panel fees, and sales commission are the same as for an artist except an additional 5% of sales will be sent to the Arts Council to comply with California law. Only pieces which sell for over $1000 need have this additional sales collected. Please use the "agent" area of the reservation form, and write "resale" in the "artist" area.
Items which violate copyrights or which are judged to have libelous content in regard to known persons or well-known characters will not be permitted.
We have occasionally seen problems at other shows due to noisy or otherwise annoying items, so we must reserve the right to exclude any entry. For example, things that make noise, flash lights, or move may be shut off or disallowed -- ask first.
All items to be entered must be completed before being brought into the Art Show; we have seen problems at other shows caused by artists adding finishing touches in the hanging area, and will not allow it.
All two-dimensional (flat) entries must be matted, mounted, or framed, and ready to be hung. Prints must be mounted or matted.
Once a piece of artwork has been signed into the Art Show or Print Shop, it may not be withdrawn, nor may any conditions of its sale (e.g., minimum bid) be changed, for the duration of the show. Artist check-out will normally be from 10am to 2pm on Sunday; by special arrangement only, it will be possible for a few artists to check out as early as 5pm on Saturday.
Not-For-Sale work is allowed in the show and is eligible for awards, but we would appreciate it if at least half of your work is for sale.
The L.A.con IV Art Show cannot provide insurance coverage for art entered in the show. You should ensure that your own insurance will cover your art while it is at the show.
The Art Show will have approximately 350 4'x6' pegboard panels for flat artwork and three to four dozen 6'x30" tables for 3-D pieces. Since the demand for space in the show will be high, we must restrict the amount of space that each artist can reserve so that as many artists as possible can enter. Most artists will be limited to three panels or two tables, and may be limited further as needed to ensure that we have a balanced representation of artists from all over North America and from around the world. The Hugo award nominees for the Professional Artist and Fan Artist, and Chesley award nominated works will be allowed some additional space at no extra cost. We reserve the right to waive these limits whenever, in our judgement, it will improve the show; if you think that you have a good reason why you should be granted a waiver, please write to us as soon as possible (we're not all that hard to convince).
The Print Shop will have room for a few hundred different items of flat art (no 3-D items can be handled). In order to distribute this capacity fairly, no artist may submit more than 10 different items and there must be from 3 to 10 identical copies of each item submitted. For protection and ease of handling, each copy must be matted or otherwise mounted, and its overall size must be between 5" by 7" and 20" by 30". One copy of each item will be displayed, and the other copies will be sold from a stock accessible only to our staff (except that the display copy will be sold if it is the only one left). All sales will be for a fixed price. To reserve space in the Print Shop you must tell us how many different items you plan to bring and the number of copies and approximate overall size of each item. We realize that the details are likely to change; as long as they are roughly correct, there will be no difficulty making adjustments when you check in to the show.
Due to the substantial effort required for us to unpack, hang, unhang, and re-pack mailed-in art, we will only allow a limited amount of it. Please do not request permission to mail your artwork unless you really are unable to find any other way to get it to and from the show. If we allow you to mail your art, you will be limited to at most 20 pieces on no more than one panel or one-half table of space. There will also be an additional fee of $25, plus the actual amount of return postage for your artwork. If you mail art to us without our prior written agreement, we will return it.
To enter the L.A.con IV Art Show and Print Shop, please fill out and return the enclosed entry form as soon as possible. We have already had hundreds of inquiries, but no one has been sent information before the date of the cover letter. Advance reservations are required - no space will be available at the door unless there are last-second cancellations. The deadline for reservations is July 31, 2006, but we expect the show to sell out before then. If your entry arrives after the show is full, you will be put on the Wait List to wait for cancellations. Entry forms received without full payment will be returned; however, if paying in full now causes you difficulty, send us an explanatory letter with your entry form -- we may be able to make special arrangements. You may pay by check or money order payable to "L.A.con IV", or by MasterCard, VISA, Discover or Amex. All payments must be in U.S. funds, and checks must be drawn on a U.S. bank and have a federal routing code (e.g., 53-60/113) printed on them; we would have to pay a substantial service charge to our bank for any check that does not meet these requirements.
We will acknowledge receipt of your entry form, indicating how much space has been reserved for you, whether part or all of your request has been Wait-Listed, etc. We will inform you whenever your reservation status changes (e.g., a space request that was on the Wait List has been granted). During July 2006 we will send master inventory sheets, bid sheets, Print Shop control sheets, confirmation of your current status, and detailed instructions for bringing your art and checking it into the show to all artists who have space reserved, or who are on the Wait List but have a reasonable chance to be granted space due to cancellations. We will also include the cell phone number of the art show director for emergency contact.
We will refund your fees in full if we receive notification of your cancellation by noon EDT on Saturday, August 19, 2006. If you do not cancel and do not show up, you will receive no refund.
Artist check-in will be on Wednesday (August 23). We realize that some artists will not be able to arrive that early, and we will allow late check-in by prior arrangement, but we want to have most of the show hung and checked in before the show opens at 7PM Wednesday. Please let us know about any emergencies, such as travel delays, even if you think the news will reach us late; if we have not heard from you by noon Thursday and you have not made arrangements with us, we may resell your space.
You may also choose whether your art is still available for sale after "closeout" (the close of written bidding). When the Art Show closes at 2pm on Saturday, written bidding ends at that time. This allow the staff to prepare for the final auction and for the sale of pieces where written bidding has determined the purchaser. When the show reopens at 5pm, art with no bids will be available at the after-closeout price, if there is one. You have the choice, when you fill out your bid sheets, of setting an after-closeout price (which may be the same as or different from the minimum bid you had set earlier) or of designating your work as Not For Sale after closeout. We are aware that some artists dislike selling their artwork after closeout. We do not recommend this policy, since you may be forgoing sales to buyers who were outbid elsewhere and still have money to spend, or to committee members whose first opportunity to view the Art Show is after closeout. Still, the choice is yours.
If you have special requests, such as wishing to have your art hung next to that of a friend, please tell us on the entry form. We will try to accommodate you.
Our basic fee is a set fee of $45.00 per panel and $45.00 per table.
The Print Shop charges $1.00 per copy entered.
There will be a 10% commission on all sales.
We estimate that our total fees will cover at least 75% of the Art Show's expenses. These expenses include our share of the cost of function space, guards and other security arrangements, postage, fees for the use of credit cards, various supplies, the cost of hangings, supplemental lighting and other equipment, electricity, our share of the general costs of the convention, and gratuities.
The basic unit of space is the "panel", which is a hanging space four feet high and six feet wide. For 3-D art, the basic unit is the "table", which will be six feet by thirty inches. Remember that the space you reserve must include any clearance between pieces, including space for their attached bidsheets, and that pieces may not extend beyond the edge of the panel or table.
If you wish to show pieces which do not fit into these categories, such as free-standing sculptures or display cases, write to us now for a rate quote. Please include details.
We will try to keep all work by a single artist together, but this may not be possible in all cases.
We will normally fill requests for space as shown below, although we may have to provide an area of different shape; if you will be entering large or unusually-shaped items and can only use certain arrangements, please tell us so on your entry form.
| TYPE OF DISPLAY | NUMBER OF UNITS | AREA |
Three panels | three units | 3 panels 4'high x 6'wide arranged in a "U" |
Two panels | two units | 2 panels 4'high by 6'wide arranged in a "L" |
One-and-one-half panels | 1.5 unit | 1 panel 4' high by 6' wide, AND |
One panel | one unit | 1 panel 4' high by 6' wide |
One-half panel | one-half unit | one-half panel 4' high by 3' wide |
One table | one unit | one table 72" wide by 30" deep |
One-half table | one-half unit | one-half table 36" wide by 30" deep |
We will have a limited number of tables available for artists who want to do sketches, take commissions, just talk to their fans, etc. These tables will be located just inside the main entrance to the Art Show, and will cost $20 to reserve for a day (Thursday, Friday, or Saturday). Everyone entering or leaving the Art Show will have to walk past the tables. NO SALES MAY BE MADE AT THESE TABLES, because CA law requires the collection of sales tax. We also plan to have a series of Artist Demonstrations in this area.
Due to the layout of the space to which the Art Show has been assigned, everyone must have a convention membership in order to gain access to the Art Show. For information on convention memberships, check the laconiv.org website, send electronic mail to info@laconiv.org or write to: L.A.con IV, c/o SCIFI, P.O. Box 8442, Van Nuys, CA 91409-8442.
Buyers may pay for art with cash, check, traveller's checks, VISA, MasterCard, Discover and Amex. You the artist will not be charged a separate fee to cover credit card service charges. We must collect Orange County California sales tax on all Art Show and Print Shop sales, but this is charged to the purchaser and will not affect your sales payments.
We will not be able to make any payments to artists at the convention.
L.A.con IV acknowledges its obligation to pay each artist the monies collected from the sale of his artwork less any fees and/or commissions stated in these rules and agreed to by the artist by his submission of a signed Art Show Reservation Form.
We will mail you a check approximately 60 days after the convention. This period allows time for checks and charges to clear through the banking system and the status of any non-picked-up pieces to be resolved, as well as enabling us to balance the books, cross-check the bid sheets, and prepare for each artist a complete accounting of the overall show and of the artist's works.
We inform buyers that the purchase of art does not include any reproduction rights. Buyers who wish to reproduce the art they have purchased must make arrangements directly with you.
Only the official convention photographers and supervised press (including television) will be allowed to photograph the Art Show.
The Print Shop is the place to sell photoprints, etc. However, single copies of fine art prints and other limited-edition works are allowed in the main Art Show. Each reproduction must be clearly identified as such on its bid sheet. Please include the method of reproduction used (e.g., "Cibachrome print, serigraph, hand-pulled silk-screen, lithograph, computer"), and the copy number (e.g.#8 of 100).
We particularly request that you not enter in the Art Show a copy of a piece which is also for sale in the Print Shop or the Hucksters' Room, since someone who bids on such an item and later discovers that he could have bought the same thing for a fixed price often feels cheated. You may post a notice on your panel that you have reproductions available in the Print Shop or in the Hucksters' Room.
We will set up the hangings and tables on Tuesday. Artist check-in will be held from 10am to 6pm on Wednesday, and on Thursday by prior arrangement only. Please try to arrive early; if you cannot arrive before 6pm Wednesday, send your art with an agent named by you.
The show will open to the public at 7pm, so it is crucial that as much artwork as possible arrive by 6pm on Wednesday. We realize that not everyone can arrive this early, but all late check-ins must be by prior arrangement with us. If you are late and have not made special arrangements with us, or do not call us if disaster strikes, we may resell your space.
You must remove your unsold art between 10am and 2pm on Sunday. If you have to leave before then, let us know as soon as possible so that we can arrange for you to pick up your unsold art after 5pm on Saturday.
It will not be possible to pick up art before the time when Pick-Up-and-Pay first opens. Please do not pick up any pieces that have bids on them. If a bidder does not pick up his purchases, the Art Show will attempt to obtain payment from him. If this attempt fails, we will ask the next-highest bidder if he still wants the piece at the price he bid. If that too fails, we will ship the piece back to the artist at our expense.
Each piece in the main Art Show will have a bid sheet/ID tag with information about the piece, and space for written bids. We expect that it will take 5 or 7 bids to reach the voice auction, but have not decided yet. At 2pm on Saturday, the show will close for three hours and we will close out all artwork as follows:
After the Art Show reopens, winning bidders must pick up and pay for their art, either on Saturday evening or on Sunday. Convention members may re-enter the show, and may buy those unsold pieces marked as available for after-closeout sale. The Print Shop will also be open during this period.
Pieces that have enough bids will be sent to the voice auction, on Saturday beginning 4pm.
Whenever the Art Show is open, bidders may purchase items from the Print Shop at a fixed price, for immediate pick-up.
We are happy to continue the tradition of awarding ribbons for exemplary artwork. A panel of judges will award most of the ribbons. The Best Artist (Professional and Amateur) ribbons will still be awarded by popular vote. Balloting will close at 8pm on Friday.
The Chesley awards, sponsored by ASFA, the Association for Science Fiction and Fantasy artists, will also be presented at L.A.Con IV.
We will hold a reception for all artists, their agents and guests, the L.A.con IV staff, guests and members on the same evening as the Chesley award ceremony.
From 10am Wednesday until 2pm Sunday there will be uniformed guards inside the Art Show area.
Tuesday, Aug. 22 | 10:00AM to 8:00PM | Set-up of hangings |
Wednesday, Aug. 23 | 10:00AM to 6:00PM | Artist Check-in |
7:00PM to 10:00PM | Open to Convention Members | |
Thursday, Aug. 24 | 10:00AM to 8:00PM | Open to Convention Members |
Friday, Aug. 25 | 10:00AM to 8:00PM | Open to Convention Members |
Saturday, Aug. 26 | 10:00AM to 2:00PM | Open to Convention Members |
2:00PM to 5:00PM | Closeout and set-up for sales | |
4:00PM to 7:00PM | Voice Auction | |
5:00PM to 7:30PM | Pick-up and Pay; Print Shop open | |
Sunday, Aug. 27 | 10:00AM to 2:00PM | Pick-up and Pay; Print Shop open |
2:00PM to 6PM | Tear-down of hangings |
We include a sample filled-out entry form. Most of the items on the form have been covered in the previous sections of these instructions. Our sample artist, Phannie R. Tist, has informed us who she is, and who her agent is and has signed the form.
Her agent will be bringing her art to the convention, but Phannie will be picking up any unsold items herself. Her money is to be sent to herself. Phannie has chosen to request one panel for her flat art and 1/2 table for her 3-D art. She also requested space in the Print Shop for four copies each of three items, telling us what size she expects them to be (including the mat). She would like an Artist Table on Thursday and on Saturday. She has entered the correct fee of $68 for space, $12 for the items in the Print Shop, and $40 for the Artist Tables, for a total of $120. She enclosed a check payable to "L.A.con IV".
If some or all of her requests can't be granted at this time, she wants to be put on the Wait List in the hopes that someone will cancel. She intends to bring fifteen pieces of art to the show, so she is requesting that number of bid sheets to be sent to her in July. Phannie wants her space to be next to that of her friend, Pablo Phan Gogh.
While we fully intend these to be the rules which actually govern the L.A.con IV Art Show, we must reserve the right to make changes or interpretations if unforeseen circumstances arise. Any interpretations will be guided by the spirit, rather than the letter, of these rules.
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and look forward to hearing from you soon.
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