RESOURCES

Resources for Artists

UAS provides exhibition and production infrastructure and develops new programs with the needs of Calgary-based emerging artists in mind. The continuing education of emerging artists is central to our mandate. Please see the following resources if you wish to improve your competitiveness and professionalism. UAS has also provided links to various organizations that provide various services for artists.

Improve your Written Materials

UAS endeavors to exhibit the work of pre-emerging, emerging, and occasionally student artists. All regular exhibitions are juried, and are therefore competitive. Often those who are in the early stages of their artistic career need assistance in developing a professional application package. There are many resources on the internet that provide advice in creating an exhibition proposal. Unfortunately, many of these resources do not hold up to the professional requirements needed to be competitive in a jury process. With this in mind UAS has gathered some notes and internet resources it feels to be helpful and appropriate to fulfilling our submission process.

General guidelines when putting together your exhibition application:

Follow submission guidelines carefully and provide materials within the minimum and maximum requirements requested. Do not submit extra materials. The jury will not review them. Submitting less than the requested materials will be detrimental to the application. Applicants need to show they can follow instructions.
Provide materials in the formats requested. Artist-run centres do not have the ability to read any and all file formats. If your document/image cannot be opened it will negatively impact your application.
Respect the jury. Remember jury members have to read many, many proposals so don't make it difficult or frustrating to read yours. Formatting in your application should be easy to read. Use 12 point Arial font. Well defined margins, headings, and paragraph formatting also helps the readability of the text. Your name, page numbers, and any other applicable information should be displayed in the footer of ALL pages of the application in order to ensure proper order of materials. Each item submitted must be labelled at the top of the section (i.e. "Artist Statement", "Project Proposal", etc.) to ensure the jury has the correct context in which to read your work.
Be professional. The application must be written, prepared and presented in a professional manner. Applying for an exhibition is similar to applying for employment. Use professional language and package your application in an organized way. Also, your professional application should not contain unrelated personal information. UAS shows the work of emerging artists who wish to pursue a career in the arts. Professionalism is expected.
Ensure you are applying to the right venue. UAS is an artist-run centre with a mandate to exhibit contemporary work by pre-emerging, emerging and sometimes student artists from the local Calgary community. Review the web site, including documentation from past exhibitions to see if UAS is an appropriate venue. UAS is NOT a commercial venue.
Keep the writing focused. Ensure your writing is organized, and ideas are developed. Writing that lacks direction, clarity or formatting will easily be overlooked among the other applications. Have someone else read your writing prior to submitting. Do not state or imply that the jury should select which works should be part of the exhibition. It is expected that this has been determined by the individual(s) submitting, and is outlined in the materials. The jury judges the application as a whole.

Make sure your submitted images are professional. Images should be properly taken on a neutral background, with sufficient lighting, and visible edges if it is a non-detail shot. Images that are out of focus, crooked, or are not lit properly or white-balanced (images that have a yellow or blue tinge) will appear to the jury to be an unprofessional documentation of the work. The images provided should help clarify the written submission. If the proposed work is not complete provide images of past work that is related to the proposed exhibition or project, and also provide an outline/sketch/rendering or something to help the jury visualize what you are proposing. Be clear about what images apply to the proposed exhibition, and which images are documentation of past work. Only submit the requested number of images as per the submission guidelines. The jury will not look at more than the maximum number of images requested. Images should easily fit within maximum email size limits as long as the images are no larger than the requested image size in order to email your application.

Review these links below for more information on putting a good submission together:

Curriculum Vitae
A CV is an artist resume and should contain information about your professional activities. Be sure to format your CV so that it's easy to read and all the information is easily distinguishable. Use the headings and notes indicated at the following link.
http://www.artistterms.com/artistcv.htm

Artist Statement
An artist statement is a statement that expresses ideas, processes, influences, etc. of the artists' current general studio/artistic practice. It is not a biography or description of work specific to one work or project.
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-articles/how-to-write-an-artist-statement-1545638.html

Exhibition/Project Proposal
The Exhibition Proposal does not reiterate what was said in the Artist Statement. The Exhibition Proposal is a statement of the ideas and works being proposed for a specific exhibition or art project. Discuss how your ideas outlined in the Artist Statement is fulfilled in the proposed exhibition, and what logistical needs the exhibition will require.
http://www.kimritter.com/weblog/?page_id=60

Support Material
Submit the largest file possible for the application guidelines. For UAS that is 800px wide on the longest side and 150 dpi. All work should be properly documented on a neutral background, well-lit, edges visible and without distracting interference. Documenting your work is about showing your art as clearly and descriptively as possible, it is NOT about your creative photography and Photoshop skills.
http://www.lightspacetime.com/newsletter/tips-on-photographing-your-art-the-right-way/
http://www.dallasartsrevue.com/resources/How-to-Photo-Art.shtml

Getting Paid for your Artwork
Alberta Foundation for the Arts - Art Acquisition
West Collects
Listing of Artist Run Centres Worldwide
City of Calgary Public Arts Program

Taxes for Artists
Taxation for Artists Booklet (courtesy of the VAAA)
CRA Income Tax for Visual Artists
CRA Scholarships
CRA Work Space in Home Expenses
CRA Paying Your Income Tax by Installments
CRA General Information for GST Registrants
CRA Employee or Self-Employed
Canada Revenue Agency Keeping Records

Advocating for Artists and the Arts
Artsvote
Calgary Arts Development
Artist Resale Rights
Canadian Artists' Representation (Carfac)

Resources for Artists

Improve your Written Materials

Links to other resources