Dartmouth Visual Arts Society

Guideleines, Policies and Other Useful Documents for DVAS Members

WHAT ARE ART BUYERS LOOKING FOR?

To connect effectively with customers, an Artist's Statement is more valuable than the typical static information posted beside a work of art, ie: title, medium, date. Buyers want to understand the artist's inspiration or intent for a particular work; they want to make an emotional connection with the artist.

As artists, we need to think carefully about what we say, and how we communicate with potential buyers when we display our art.

The larger-format price cards we have supplied give you an opportunity to let viewers know more about what inspired you to paint that particular piece.

 

DOWNLOADABLE DVAS PDF DOCUMENTS

Here are PDF documents you need to have for entering paintings in DVAS gallery shows. Download and save them all to your computer, and print the ones you need. The titles are self explanatory. To open just click on the file name.

These files require the FREE program Adobe Reader to be installed on your computer. You may already have this program on your computer. If not, you will need to download and install Adobe Reader. 

Click HERE to download Adobe Reader

  1. DVAS 2021 INVENTORY SHEET This is the inventory sheet for our records. It must be printed and filled in by hand.
  2. SHEET: 8 PAINTING TAGS This is a sheet of small tags to attach to your paintings for an exhibit. They are best printed on light cardstock.
  3. PRICE & INFO CARDS 4/sheet This is a sheet of four price tags with space for information about the painting. Best printed on light cardstock.
  4. PRICE LIST (SUGGESTED) This sheet is for information purposes only. 
  5. DVAS NAME TAG  This is a DVAS name tag, Best printed on light cardstock.
 

DVAS POLICY REGARDING FRAMING & EXHIBITING YOUR WORK IN DVAS SHOWS

Amended and Approved by DVAS Executive – November 2014

It is important for gallery show that we as artists do not copy other artist work. Doing so is an infringement on their legal rights to their work.

Paintings that have already been shown at the Craig Gallery cannot be shown again. Enter only new and original work (not copies of another person’s work).

You must register during the registration period in order to exhibit your work in these shows. Please register early!

Each exhibiting artist will book two sittings for our shows to ensure someone proper staffing during the Exhibit.

If anyone has further questions and/or concerns about exhibiting, registering, or booking sittings, please contact the Exhibits Committee.

The Exhibits Committee reserves the right to remove any artwork that does not meet standards. They will be the final arbiters in all decision making, and are responsible for understanding and implementing the overall requirements for each exhibition.

Prices cannot be changed once the show is hung.

Paintings must be appropriately presented and neatly installed into their frames. The importance of proper framing cannot be over-emphasized.

• Watercolours and pastels are required to be framed under glass and have a paper dust cover placed securely on the back.

• Acrylics and oils on canvas are to be framed without glass.

• Only frames that are able to have a wire hanger will be accepted. Proper wire hangers are required.

• No cardboard backs with saw tooth hooks will be accepted.

• Gallery canvasses are acceptable only if the edges are painted and free from staples.

• Larger sized canvasses must have a sufficiently braced stretcher so the painting does not warp.

We are limited to 72 paintings per show.

Paintings for each artist are limited to one large, or two small/medium works. Hanging fee is $5.00 per painting.

Small to medium paintings sizes (unframed measurement) are to be no greater than 16” x 20” in size. No painting may be larger than 28 x 36 inches framed.

Acceptable gallery canvases are 1.5 inches or more thick. Please see the DVAS Pricing Guide.

Larger works must first be cleared with the Exhibition Committee. With advanced notice, every effort will be made to accommodate special requests - if space and format permits.

Please have an updated Biography for the binder. It can help buyers contact you about your other works.

Only art work that is sold may be removed before the end of the exhibition period. Please contact the Exhibition Committee to install a replacement for the rest of the show.

The People’s Choice Award winning painting must be left until the end of the show, even if sold.

All work must be removed from the Craig Gallery at the end of the show at pick-up times.

 

Policy on Submitting Images to this Website

From time to time, the webmaster will put out a call to DVAS members for images to be posted to this website. There is no set schedule for this, but an upcoming gallery show is a good time to solicit images for (1) the show poster, and (2) the website. The aim is to the keep the website fresh and interesting, with new content being added, and old removed, roughly twice a year.

Note that any and all images submitted to the webmaster for possible use in a show poster, will also be considered for publication on the website. Sending images to the webmaster automatically implies your consent for publication on the website. The webmaster looks for content from a wide variety of DVAS members, with a wide variety of subject matter and painting styles, to show off the range of interests and abilities of DVAS artists.

Images must be of good quality. This means: sharply focused, well lit, evenly illuminated, not photographed under glass, and cropped so no matting, frame, or background appear in the image. The webmaster will not edit your images. It is the artist's job, to edit, crop, and otherwise prepare the images so they will appear online exactly as you wish them to appear. Images should be at least 500 KB in size. Smaller than that is too small for a good appearance on the website. Please re-name your image files to be submitted with your name and the painting title, is this format: "MaryJonesRedLighthouse." This enables the webmaster to clearly identify which work comes from which artist, and provides a title for the work to be included on the website.

How to re-name your image files:

Rename files on your PC:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/video-rename-files-9988f769-1a3c-4c9e-9132-e011d9b2419e

Mac Basics: How To Rename Files: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLNNbIWXdzk

Finally, the webmaster will not maintain an archive of submitted images. Once they are posted to the website, that is where the images will “live.” The most recently submitted images will be stored temporarily, for an undetermined amount of time, and old images will be discarded. As new images are posted to the website, some older images will be removed from the website and discarded.