Call for Entries: Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition 2020

The Royal Society of Marine Artists wants to see submissions of art inspired by the sea and marine environment for its annual exhibition in October 2020.

You can submit work inspired by the sea and tidal waters - shipping, sailing, harbours, beaches, creeks, coat and marine wildlife.

RSMA Annual Exhibition last October - A corner of the main gallery at the Mall Galleries

I've had a niggle for a while that there was a blog post I intended to do - but could not remember what it was. I'm sure there must be a condition called "lockdown brain" in which your "to do" list gets lost!

It turns out I was right. I've forgotten to do the Call for Entries for the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists - but have remembered just before the deadline for the call for entries!

As I indicated last year - there are three good reasons to consider an entry if you like painting anything marine-orientated

• This is an exhibition which:
• ALWAYS attracts a lot of people interested in buying marine artwork. 
• ALWAYS has a LOT of decent prizes
• In addition, in the past, prizes have been dominated by strong work by non-members - which is always good to see for those who submit work via the open entry.

they'd sold c.10% of their exhibition by the end of the first day it was open to the public my comment when posting photos of the exhibition to Facebook

You can see my photos of last year's exhibition on Facebook. They provide:

• inspiration for those who can produce work in a tight timescale
• confirmation for those not sure whether or not their work is good enough
• information about standards for those seeking to be candidates for members

North Gallery - view of part of the annual exhibition last October

Call for Entries

This is an OPEN EXHIBITION which tends to display paintings, drawings, sculpture and prints.

Below you can find

• a summary of how to enter the next annual exhibition.
• a list of prizes
• an archive of posts about past exhibitions - which contain a lot of images of the type of artwork that gets selected for exhibition.

You can also see two videos of the 2018 Exhibition on my (public) Facebook Page
Royal Society of Marine Artists - Annual Exhibition 2018 - in the Main Gallery (only) at the Mall Galleries.
Another VIDEO of the 73rd Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists. - a quick pan around the Threadneedle Space.

What sort of artwork can you submit?

The RSMA seeks submissions of art inspired by the sea and marine environment. It makes two statements about the scope

The RSMA seeks submissions of painting and sculpture that involve the sea and the marine environment, including harbours and shorelines, traditional craft and contemporary shipping, creeks, beaches, wildlife - in short anything that involves tidal water.

and

Subject matter must be essentially marine in nature, relating in some way to tidal waters of the world; topographical, historical, still life, and figure painting are all welcomed. Works relating to non-tidal rivers, inland lakes and waterways etc are not permissible.

In terms of media and size and number of works:

Is "Artist" a non-essential job?

A Chart has been circulating on Facebook suggesting that an "Artist" ranks #1 in the list of Top 5 Non-Essential Jobs.

Queue apoplexy amongst many artists on Facebook!  

Much hurt all round Facebook who now feel people do not appreciate artists!

screendump from Facebook

Some of the more popular comments on my FB Page

Some of the more popular comments on my FB Page when I posted another version of the chart - (which had chopped an essential word from the top text

Considering everything we've been amusing ourselves with that's been keeping us all sane over the last while, I'd say artists should definitely be on the essential list

Considering everything you touch, sit on use has been designed by someone who started out at art school

I’m not trying to be greedy but I have two cleaning jobs and I’m an artist!! I’m an underpaid essential and an underpaid non-essential!! LOL And shouldn’t that read “delivery person”!!

Artists not important...Ha...then just take away all entertainment, go back to using DOS on computers, Burn all museums...all museums, burn most libaries, tear down many historical buildings, and so on...oh and all clothes on style sack and all colours gray. No patterns. The problem with being an artist is that we are so ingrained into part of society we are actually invisible. We are on par with the air you breathe.

Seriously though, like many have already pointed out, what sort of grey world do people want to live in with no film, tv, music, graphics, museums, galleries, clothes, shoes, ....oh I could go on! Who the hell even designed that page of the newspaper? A graphic designer....an artist! I despair!

Let them be for a week without books, radio, streaming music & video, games, telly... They'll kill each other

HOWEVER This is a bit more complicated than that - as I shall explain.

Why you should not get apoplectic too quickly

Stop and read the text at the top of the graphic - as I did when I saw the same poll on another FB account with a long textual explanation - rather than a quick quip

The author - Yan Neng - was one of the people who responded to the poll. 
It generated 179 comments and 788 shares!!

Now for the PUNCHLINE!

1. This survey was of a group of 1,000 (only) people in SINGAPORE and was intended only to relate to Singapore.
2. "The Sunday Times" in the headline is NOT THE Sunday Times (published in London) - rather it is the Sunday edition of The Straits Times - in SINGAPORE.
3. It can only ever have been intended to relate to the current Covid context of SINGAPORE.

This is the text that many people did not see

The Sunday Times asks 1,000 respondents which are the jobs which are most crucial in keeping Singapore going, and also how much people will pay for essential services so that workers in the sector may get a wage boost

The purpose of the poll was all about identifying those who people would be willing to pay more to RIGHT NOW - to make sure they got their essential service.  

By including the non-essential jobs, they muddied the water and the reception it got online - as artists became more and more incensed.....

In addition, the author of the FB post I saw provided an explanation of the survey 

I'm not gonna lie. I’ve friends who are artists who are hurt by this survey and I do feel guilty, but I don’t think my answers will change.
We weren’t told the purpose of the survey is a frivolous article; it came off like it was a government survey trying to suss out if they should implement some sort of minimum wage. And come on, when you place people who handles the garbage disposal next to an artist, how could I rank both as equally essential? The former, I need everyday; the latter, I love art and can enjoy the art they’ve already made everyday.
In my mind, there were also a distinction between a pure artist and a designer when I was doing the survey. I thought about performance artists who sat in an exhibit holding people’s hands, or people who painted on an easel. While their work can be amazing (I’ve been touched by such art), I don’t know how essential it is right now in today’s Cov19 context.
With regards to the minimum wage impression, I also didn’t feel inclined to pick workers who were already more appreciated in their day to day as “essential” (HR managers probably earn more than a cleaner).
Keep in mind, these professions were given to us as choices — it wasn’t as if the surveyees spontaneously suggested artists as inessential.
EDIT: after some discussions below, I just wanted to add I also think there's also a difference between "essential" and "valuable". I'm a writer and I'll gladly admit I'm not essential in today's context and climate. However, I do find my work *valuable*. Whether or not my work is essential has no bearing on the value my work brings. The survey asked for "essential" and I did the survey keeping "essential" in mind. This term was defined in the survey: "we mean someone who is engaged in work deemed necessary to meet basic needs of human survival and well-being, such as food, health, safety and cleaning".

 Here are some of the comments he got.

if you are willing to brave the storm of angry people possibly coming at you, post it as a shareable status.
At the end of the day, this is just data. Data of public perception of artists and not the inherent worth of artists. It's feedback lor.
And this feedback means that we/Artists still have a lot of work to do to bridge public perception and sentiments.

There's a difference between essential and important.
For example. Sex is arguably not an essential part for a person's existence. But I don't think people are going to deny it's importance.

I think there's nothing wrong with what you did. Artists are always going to be necassary and important but like many others, not essential. The point of the article was to focus on the underpaid but i feel by adding in the top 5 non essentials, it has really diluted the point of the article.

It's an interesting phenomenon and perspective. 

Artists may be valuable - but in the context of the Pandemic the population at large (in Singapore) did not regard them as "essential" to daily life.

UPDATE: Fine Art Transport Services and Couriers in the UK in 2020

I've spent some time today updating the UK Art Movers & Couriers & Fine Art Transport Services on my Art Business Info for Artists website (Ship Art section).

As part of my review of matters relating to the Recession, I wanted to check the current status of current providers of transport services for fine art.
Changes made include:

• CHECKING on current information provided and revising as required. (I've not quite finished)
• ADDING IN new providers - some new sole traders and private limited companies offering to pack/move art around the UK
• ADDING CAUTION NOTES - in relation to their current trading status and/or compliance with UK ecommerce regulations

I'm also looking for some help in keeping this page updated throughout the year - in order to avoid artists getting caught out by a business in the process of going under.  (please see the end).

Basic data checks and compliance checks re. regulations

I now check each service against a set of criteria - and a number of the services have noticed and have started to address their shortcomings!

National Portrait Gallery not reopening - until 2023

The National Portrait Gallery is now closed for three years - until at least Spring 2023.

However there is some GOOD NEWS - SEE BELOW! - concerning:

• Inspiring People Project
• Collaborations with regional museums and galleries on future displays of key works
• The Really Good News re.
• David Hockney exhibition
• BP Portrait Award

No more portraits on view at NPG Gallery for 3 years

It was always intended that the Gallery would close for its ambitious rebuilding project at the end of June 2020. So the announcement yesterday that the Gallery will not now be reopening for the rest of June came as no surprised - but means no more portraits for three years!

My concern right now is how  the pandemic will affect the length of the building project. 

• It might start on time - and it may not. 
• It might take the original planned length of time - but it may not 

In addition, my career experience (of major building projects taking three years) is that if it's a big project on a major site with major access issues then the project very often slips and is often not finished by the target date. That's not me being negative - that's just me relaying my experience of such projects - and I've known a few!  (I'm also wondering whether the cut through from Cass Arts to the back of the National Gallery will remain open for the duration)

So be aware and prepare for the fact it MAY be more than three years before we can visit the National Portrait Gallery again

Inspiring People Project 

When we do we'll be entering via a different entrance - located on the north side of the building and looking across a more spacious area and up Charing Cross Road.

The new entrance looking north up Charing Cross Road

direction of approach to new entrance to the National Portrait Gallery

You can see more about the building project on the NPG website - see Inspiring People. It will be biggest ever development since the building in St Martin’s Place opened in 1896.

The Pandemic Recession: Likely Impact on Art Sales and Artists

In this post I'm beginning to set out an overview of what I think are key issues for artists during The Pandemic Recession. It includes some background reading and covers

• the biggest drop in economic history since records began
• the impact on art sales and artists
• lessons for artists from the 2008 recession 

The biggest drop in economic growth since records began

Below is proof positive that we are very definitely going in a recession despite the fact we've not yet got to the actual point of being able to define a recession i.e. a recession is when growth in the economy falls for two quarters in succession. Technically this is when GDP falls for two three-month periods - or quarters - in a row. (NOTE: The recession will have a different profile in different countries. I tend to talk about the UK because that's where I live)

I know of no better way of persuading people that this recession is very serious than this trend line which was published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning (SEE GDP monthly estimate, UK: April 2020 if you want the full story). 

• The trend line for UK GDP goes from January 1997 to the present. 
• The little blip in the middle is the global banking crisis of 2008 and the aftermath. 
• The big vertical line on the right is April - when UK GDP dropped by the biggest ever amount since records began.

There has been nothing like this ever before in economic history! That's how bad this is.  Note also it's bigger then the drop that the economic statisticians NOT employed by the government were predicting!

Source: Office for National Statistics – GDP monthly estimate

The impact on art sales and artists

The major implication for artists of the recession is going to be a BIG REDUCTION in available cash to spend on art - which makes selling art a major challenge i.e.

• No matter what you do you cannot make people spend what they have decided to save - the biggest mistake any professional artist can make is to assume that somehow they have "the magic answer" or are uniquely exempt from either the recession or the constraints within the marketplace.
• People throughout the economy will conserve their cash during a recession - because they don't know whether they will lose their jobs / businesses until we come out the other side of the recession. It's a very sensible strategy - for them. 
• Demand for art - and sales of art - will drop significantly because
• those who budget for art purchases will withhold or reduce the amount they spend on art. 
• middle range buyers disappear - for a long time (this is what happened in 2008). Keep a very close eye on what sells at what prices.
• impulse buys of lower priced art will reduce significantly on the front end of the recession and recover slowly
• Avid art collectors devise means to keep collecting - within their budget
• buyers substitute eg people switch to prints from paintings and/or buy smaller works - or rearrange all the art on their walls so it feels different until they feel like dipping their toe in the market again (guess what I did this week!)
• overall initially lower priced art tends to sell better than middle range art (check out the The Artist Support Pledge with a ceiling of £200 - which has generated has generated an estimated £20 million for professional artists and makers across the globe)
• Specialist genres with a major fan base do much better than generalists - but still typically experience a decline in income i.e. it's not the same for everybody
• specialist art genres cope better because their fans are faithful - and artists already have a following
• generalists tend to get hit hard i.e. those not known for anything in particular and who have no following. A "scattergun" approach to painting lots of different subjects does not create a following.
• professionals with difficult subject matter have limited their market from the outset - and response to their art may be idiosyncratic
• it's time for professional artists to review the type of art they create going forward
• Art galleries will close (forever) - meaning fewer places to exhibit art when the recovery comes - leading to a longer recovery time for artists. Essentially this is because an awful lot of gallerists are people who lack business skills and don't consistently maintain an adequate reserve of working capital.  Check out the back stories of those who move over into art dealing at art fairs etc - if they couldn't manage the money last time, it's more than likely they won't be good at managing money going forward. 

The one exception to the gloom and doom is art sales at the very top end of the market - where art is typically bought and sold by people why people with extreme wealth who are, on the whole, resistant to recession fallout. However those reading this blog are typically not in that league so I will ignore that phenomena.

Lessons for artists from the 2008 Recession

...in my view, artists are also most likely to avoid problems and/or achieve success if they are well-informed about the market they are operating in. Recognising problems that you might be facing is the first step to dealing with them. (Me - commenting back in 2008!)

Back in 2008, I wrote a number of posts writing posts about how artists can meet the challenges presented by the current state of the economy then. 

Some suggested I was being unnecessarily pessimistic at the time - but in the end that did not turn out to be the case. (I have a very good track record in "reading the runes"!)

• Many of the blog posts are as relevant to day as they were then - albeit the circumstances are different
• I'd suggest a bit of reading would do no harm - particularly for those artists who have zero experience of what it's like selling art in a recession.

ESSENTIAL READING What should artists do about marketing their art in a recession? (23 January 2008)