Artist Statement Guidelines
Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival requires an Artist stAtement be posted at each booth during the event and will be monitoring for compliance. the statement should be posted near the front of your booth where it is easily seen by the public. the following are suggestions from the national Association of individual Artists (nAiA) to help you put together your Artist statement, if you haven’t already done so. these are suggestions only.
An Artist statement is intended to identify, inform and educate. it should describe succinctly and clearly (100 words is ideal), information about your work that might be important to consumers, judges, show committees as well as other artists. As an educational tool and conversation starter, it should insure that the viewer understands what is being seen, who made it and how it was produced. statements should be informative and complete, and one statement should satisfy the needs of all shows.
The following criteria should be satisfied in all Artist statements:
- A photograph of the artist/crafter and contact information. the photograph may be a portrait, but it is preferable that you show youself at work. it is important that you are recognizable. in the case of collaborative work, the photo should include both participants.
- Identification of medium, processes and techniques used. Keep it simple. no disclosure of trade secrets or proprietary processes is expected; i.e “painted wood” is probably enough rather than disclosing the special paint you developed over years and the kind of wood used. Use common abbreviations whenever possible, i.e. “b&w” to mean black and white. Just be sure to use abbreviations that everyone knows.
- A specific explanation of how the work is produced. Again, keep it simple and understandable.
- If paid employees, assistants or apprentices are used, a concise and complete description of their involvement should be included. if you don’t use assistants or apprentices, say so.
- Where appropriate, identify materials and methods of handling those materials. Again, this need not entail disclosure of proprietary processes.
- It should be stated if an outside source is used, such as a foundry, dark room or print lab.
- Do not include resume-type information such as awards, exhibitions, collections, etc. this type of information can be posted separately.
- Overall statement should fit easily on one page. An 8-1/2” x 11” format allows uniformity in handling and ease of reproduction. some shows require a statement accompany their application. it has also been suggested that the content fall within an 8” x 10” space on the page if you would like to use a standard frame size for posting in your booth.