Sharon Villines on thu 14 mar 02
> I am home and researching insurance/gallery/giftshop contracts/issues. As a
> member of the Visual Arts Guild I have been asked to serve as the "voice" or
> the artists who are/will be placing art on consignment in our newly formed
> gift/gallery owned by the Arts Council in our community. The gift shop is
> operated by volunteers from the group of artists who make it past the jury. I
> warned the council members who set the shop up, that their shelving system
> would not work for pottery/sculpture. It is glass shelves on metal brackets
> hooked into two wall tracks. There has already been an accident where the
> brackets gave way and the shelf fell, breaking all the pottery on it. The
> council will assume no responsibility and told the artist it was her loss.
> The risk that comes with displaying work. The council has the building
> insured and their "import" items are covered, but nothing on consignment is
> covered. After the acccident I again told them this system would not work.
> They in turn informed me that it was a donated freebie and that was that.
Is there any written agreement for works on consignment?
Sharon.
--
Sharon Villines, Arts Coach
http://www.artscoach.ws
ArtsCoachFAQs Newsletter
http://www.artscoachfaqs.com
Sheron Roberts on thu 14 mar 02
This is what we are working on now, a contract. So far it covers the =
gift shop's anatomy from stem to stern, but offers nothing for the =
artist. Other than a place to display their work. If they get juried =
in. I am trying to research what is fair for all parties involved based =
on info gleaned from galleries/gift shops/co-ops/guilds. This is taking =
some time and the committee is pushing to finish the contract. Their =
solution is that the artist will absorb the cost of any stolen or =
damaged work. One of my pastels was splashed with wine at the grand =
opening. The wine seeped up under the glass and ruined the mat. This =
was a 70.00 framing job. They offered to replace the mat since this =
happened at the grand opening reception. Later, when they were open for =
regular business, a stained glass piece that was hung with a suction cup =
to the gallery door fell and broke. They offered to reimburse that =
artist. That is why I do not understand why they don't reimburse the =
potter whose work was lost when the shelf collapsed. (side note: the =
stained glass artist is mother in law to the art center director).
A sculpture made by my daughter was returned by the purchaser with a =
small piece broken off. The piece was on the surface of the sculpture, =
not sticking out. We cannot figure out how it was broken. The customer =
claimed the person who sold it to her and wrapped it, broke it while =
wrapping. Money was refunded to the customer. My daughter had to take =
the loss. All these pieces were placed in the shop for the grand =
opening/Christmas sale. The percentages are not to bad. If you are not =
a member of the Arts Council the cut is 60/40, if you are a member but =
will not gallery sit, it is 70/30, if you are a member and gallery sit =
for one day each month, the cut is 80/20. I gallery sit. :)
Or keep shop, would be more like it. Oh, they have decided to hang an =
"All Sales Final" sign near the register.
So if anyone has any thing to offer in the line of suggestions, =
especially on the issue of insurance, I would be ever so grateful. I =
have researched the Clay Art archives, extensively. I have read almost =
all post since 1996, on the subjects of gallerys, insurance and co-ops. =
Sheron in NC (with very tired eyes)
John Weber on fri 15 mar 02
Anytime artists place work on consignment to a gallery or shop, including a
non-profit organization, where who assumes the of risk of loss is not
defined then in many states the gallery or shop has assumed the risk of
loss(Caution: you would have to check your own state law on this point
because it is different from state to state). The reason for this is that
they have accepted the work and taken control over how it is protected and
preserved. If they don't return it in its original condition then they pay.
Likewise, if the shelf falls on a visitor it would be the gallery or shop's
liability. However, they can contract for a different result with respect
to risk of loss of the work, provided the artists agrees to the terms. If
the artist agrees (which they should not do) then the question is whether or
not the artist has adequate insurance for theft, breakage, liability etc.
This type of insurance would be standard Business insurance that your
insurance agent could direct you to. Sometimes insurance companies will
write an endorsement to your homeowners policy for home operated businesses,
but you would need to make sure it covered loss of your work on consignment.
A careful discussion of the entire topic with a good insurance agent would
be in order. Of course another problem with consignments is that you take a
risk of loosing all of your work in the event of the shop going bankrupt, a
not too uncommon event. My suggestion is to only place on consignment with
any particular shop an amount of work that you could afford to lose. My
final suggestion is for you to spend the few hundred dollars it would take
to go to a good business lawyer in your state, tell them what you are doing
and set up procedures that best protect you from the beginning. It would be
worth it in the long run. Good Luck.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Sheron Roberts
Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2002 7:16 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Liability for Pots on Display
This is what we are working on now, a contract. So far it covers the gift
shop's anatomy from stem to stern, but offers nothing for the artist. Other
than a place to display their work. If they get juried in. I am trying to
research what is fair for all parties involved based on info gleaned from
galleries/gift shops/co-ops/guilds. This is taking some time and the
committee is pushing to finish the contract. Their solution is that the
artist will absorb the cost of any stolen or damaged work. One of my
pastels was splashed with wine at the grand opening. The wine seeped up
under the glass and ruined the mat. This was a 70.00 framing job. They
offered to replace the mat since this happened at the grand opening
reception. Later, when they were open for regular business, a stained glass
piece that was hung with a suction cup to the gallery door fell and broke.
They offered to reimburse that artist. That is why I do not understand why
they don't reimburse the potter whose work was lost when the shelf
collapsed. (side note: the stained glass artist is mother in law to the art
center director).
A sculpture made by my daughter was returned by the purchaser with a small
piece broken off. The piece was on the surface of the sculpture, not
sticking out. We cannot figure out how it was broken. The customer claimed
the person who sold it to her and wrapped it, broke it while wrapping.
Money was refunded to the customer. My daughter had to take the loss. All
these pieces were placed in the shop for the grand opening/Christmas sale.
The percentages are not to bad. If you are not a member of the Arts Council
the cut is 60/40, if you are a member but will not gallery sit, it is 70/30,
if you are a member and gallery sit for one day each month, the cut is
80/20. I gallery sit. :)
Or keep shop, would be more like it. Oh, they have decided to hang an "All
Sales Final" sign near the register.
So if anyone has any thing to offer in the line of suggestions, especially
on the issue of insurance, I would be ever so grateful. I have researched
the Clay Art archives, extensively. I have read almost all post since 1996,
on the subjects of gallerys, insurance and co-ops.
Sheron in NC (with very tired eyes)
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Anita Rickenberg on fri 15 mar 02
Sheron,
I have my work in two galleries on consignment. The contract is very =
specific that they are responsible for damage, theft, etc. while they =
have possession of any artist's work. I'd be glad to send you a copy of =
the contract if you'd like to see it. Let me know.
Anita
anitar3@hereintown.net
Ingeborg Foco on fri 15 mar 02
Sheron,
I can't offer any info on insurance but wonder what kind of contract you are
presently using for consignment work. I am getting ready to open my
studio/gallery and don't know yet if I will take other artist's work.
Should I accept consignment work, I do want to have a contract that clearly
works for both parties. If nothing else, it reinforces any verbal
agreements and hopefully avoids any future problems.
Sincerely,
Ingeborg
Sharon Villines on fri 15 mar 02
> Their solution is that the
> artist will absorb the cost of any stolen or damaged work. One of my pastels
> was splashed with wine at the grand opening. The wine seeped up under the
> glass and ruined the mat. This was a 70.00 framing job. They offered to
> replace the mat since this happened at the grand opening reception. Later,
> when they were open for regular business, a stained glass piece that was hung
> with a suction cup to the gallery door fell and broke. They offered to
> reimburse that artist. That is why I do not understand why they don't
> reimburse the potter whose work was lost when the shelf collapsed. (side
> note: the stained glass artist is mother in law to the art center director).
I think you have outlined ample precedent for repairing or compensating for
damaged work. A letter stating this, as well as the cost of the damaged work
should be honored. Do you have a small claims court? It usually costs only a
few dollars to file a claim. If a letter is unanswered, just filling a claim
usually works.
On contracts: Tad Crawford's works are understandable and throrough.
If the people you are doing business with will not sign a contract, you are
not doing business. It doesn't have to be countersigned six times or speak
lawyerese -- a simple letter of agreement will do.
Often the people on the other end of the process (Art Council, Art Guild),
even though they are serving on an arts council do not appreciate the work
of "living" artists who are making "uncertified" work. They assume that it
is a hobby and you are lucky they talk to you. Only artists standing up for
their rights can change this.
Sharon.
--
Sharon Villines, Arts Coach
http://www.artscoach.ws
ArtsCoachFAQs Newsletter
http://www.artscoachfaqs.com
Valice Raffi on fri 15 mar 02
I recently went to a workshop on this subject put on by the California
Lawyers for the Arts. In California, consigned works ARE protected, even
if there is no contract specifically stating that. They are also protected
even if the gallery has had the artist sign a waiver (the lawyers said that
would not hold up), because, as Craig said, there is implied trust of
"care".
The lawyers suggested that the artist (for further protection) should have
a written agreement spelling out that the artist would be reimbursed for
damages, but at the very least, have a list of items, selling price,
commission, and state that the items are in the gallery on consignment.
You might check to see if you have a similar organization in NC. The
lawyers did say that many other states have similar laws. There are some
Federal laws concerning artworks and artists, but I think that this area is
a state by state thing.
I was in a gallery where THREE pieces were broken in one month! One was
found broken and another was broken by another artist who said he could not
afford to buy the piece. The gallery said that they would not pay me for
those pieces - luckily I was able to repair them so I didn't take the
matter further. The other piece was broken by the gallery owner who hung a
heavy metal sculpture on an ancient brick wall with one nail. When the
sculpture fell (duh!) it took out quite a few pieces. She did pay me my
commission on that one, but she wants me to repair it! (Sure, I'll do that
- for a fee!)
Valice
in Sacramento
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