EDIT: Please note that submissions have closed. We will be announcing the accepted artists soon.
Based on last week’s poll, the winning theme for TAA’s crowd funded fine art print campaign is Fantastical Worlds.
FANTASTICAL WORLDS: From majestic depictions of imaginary realms to inventive works of abstraction, expressionism, and surrealism, we seek works that put a fantastical spin on the world around us.
We’re ready for artist submissions!
This is a totally different kind of project from anything we’ve done before. It’s going to be a lot of fun. We are going to need your participation in order to make it happen.
Here’s the basic plan: source a bunch of great artwork from readers like you, curate a digital exhibition, and then run a crowdfunding campaign to turn the work into a limited-edition run of fine art prints. We’ll use the whole experience to build out a best-practice crowdfunding guide for our community — and we’ll raise a bunch of funds for artists in the process. Read on to get involved!
The first step for us is to pick the theme of the digital exhibition.
To that end, TAA will be working with curator and digital strategist Willa Koerner. She’ll be helping us to choose artworks for the campaign that will be, 1) compelling to potential backers, and 2) artistically interesting and relevant.
Willa currently directs curation at Kickstarter, and in the past she worked at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She has also worked on digital engagement and creative campaigns for organizations like the Smithsonian and ART21. She was on our podcast back in September (listen here).
More Details
This is a big project, and we want to do it right. It has to fit in around the other projects and business needs that TAA operates under. So we’re sharing everything we have so far, and more details will be forthcoming as time goes along.
Why are we doing a crowd funded print campaign?
First of all, it totally aligns with TAA’s goal of helping artists quit their day jobs. It’s a shift away from courses and coaching, but will also help us build out a crowdfunding course for artists.
In addition to being an interesting and fun project, it lays the groundwork for helping TAA launch an artist cooperative online gallery. Last week I did a short Facebook Live broadcast about what we’re doing. Here’s the video:
We’re picking 5 – 10 artists to feature in a run of fine art prints. Artists are free to submit from anywhere in the world.
We will be using Kickstarter.com to fund the project partially because Kickstarter has the largest crowdfunding audience in the world.
We will be documenting every step along the way. Including:
- How we decide which artists to pick
- How we decide which printer to use – both from an economic perspective, but also taking into account issues like sustainability, respecting the artist’s work
- The artist’s work in process – how the artist created the art, what the process looked like (both in pictures and in video), as well as how the prints are made
In addition, we will be having each artist participate in the marketing for the campaign. The TAA team will help create the strategy for the marketing, and support the artists through the process. Each artist will be responsible for some specific part of the marketing campaign, as this is as much an education process for them as it is a money making venture.
Tasks individual artists who are chosen for this project might perform include:
- direct media outreach to get coverage for the project
- direct outreach to influencers who would be interested in the kind of art the artist produces and/or in supporting the project in general
- sharing the campaign with their own audiences via social media, email, and other channels
Phases
- Find the artists & prepare the print series – March – April (Submissions due April 9)
- Prepare crowdfunding campaign – April – May
- 30 day launch mode – July
- Document delivery – August & September
- Analyze results – October
We will be creating more blog posts on each of these phases to keep everyone up to date. The goal for this project is total transparency, so you can see what it takes to get one of these campaigns up and running!
To close, yes, TAA is taking a small financial percentage of sales, but only if we raise enough to make the project work – we don’t get paid unless the artists get paid – and it will be a smaller percentage than most galleries take. We haven’t settled on a final amount yet, but will definitely be less than 30% of sales. The artists will keep at least 70% of the profit, after operational costs for printers, shipping, etc.
So you’re gating the process after railing against gating in general?
We are looking for artists who are a good fit for this project. You don’t have to apply if you don’t want to apply. There are lots and lots of calls for artists out there, and we’re not charging for this one, so I’m not really sure what you’re talking about here.
I just want to specifically know about the the theme of the painting we need to make. Is it a scenary type or a abstract painting. Thank you
Whatever you think applies to the theme.
Hi Cory,
I have been reading your blog for the last couple of years. I haven’t got a website at present, but am aggressively pursuing that. I have a Facebook page, but would not call it a “presence” yet. I do believe that my art fits very well into the category of Fantastical Worlds. Is it better for me to have a website built and launched before I submit the work ? It should be done in the next two weeks.
We need a way to view your work Steve. It doesn’t have to be a website. You could send us a link to Dropbox folder or something else.
You mention documenting the process of creating the work. That leads me to believe you want us to create something new and somehow photo document it to be considered? If we applied with existing work, how would you be able to document it’s birth?
Ideally, every artist is already documenting their own art creation. If that’s not the case, I’d recommend you start doing so. It’s much easier to market your art when you have that documentation.
Alternately, an artist could document the creation of another piece to show how the process works for an existing piece.
😀 I got all confused! But I think I’m now clear… I’ll throw it out there non the less just to be sure..
So we can either create specifically for this project or use an already existing creation? right? Also, Whats your thoughts on posting anything (being it a new creation) before the selection has been made? On Instagram or FB? process shots ect.. I do document my work & often share progress shots. Is that better to not do that with this? (if its an already existing work then sure its already been shared with the public) Thank you
Posting existing work is fine, and we’re not excluding anyone based on whether they’ve already shared the work or not.
And if we make a new work? would you recomend not sharing process shots before the selection is made & crowdfunding starts?
Thank you!
Just re read your answer 😉 Thank you Cory
Are photographers eligible? Thanks!
Of course!
I just sent in my submissions, and I am so glad to have seen this. If accepted, I’m really excited to be a part of the crowdfunding process. That would give me a great series to blog about, what I learned, and how to work with printers for my own work in the future. Thank you so much for the opportunity and I can’t wait to follow the success of this project!
Also, I hope you have an awesome time in China!
Hi Cory,
I work digitally, are there specs you require, if chosen, the file will be a set standard to print?
Also, the work I will be submitting is new, so is it okay to link you to my google drive? Or do you just work with Dropbox?
Thanks,
Andrea S.
Only chosing 5-10 artists seems like a really low number. Would there be consideration to choose more artists and produce a coffee table book in the future? Something like unsplash.com does.
Thanks! – Cliff
We’re only doing a small number of artists this time around because we are also teaching them marketing while we do it.
Cory,
Very excited about the potential of this project, both from the exposure and learning aspects! I have submitted already but was wondering if you will be sending any confirmation that submissions were received out?
Love the electronic world of ours but part of our brains always wonder “did they get it?”.
Thank you!
Cindy
I submitted art last year for this project. Is this the same thing over again?