CARFAC Alberta fights for the rights of visual artists. As a non-profit provincial cultural organization, we actively inform and educate visual artists, promote the visual arts, and provide professional development opportunities for Albertans, including our members, marginalized visual artists, and the public. CARFAC Alberta advocates on behalf of Alberta’s visual artists and works to improve the socio-economic conditions of all artists.
CARFAC Alberta is an organization that speaks for visual artists and those that engage with visual artists. If this is you, consider joining online at: https://www.carfacalberta.com/product/visual-arts-alberta-carfac-online-membership/. As an organization we welcome everyone interested in the visual arts and especially those that wish to see visual artists paid for the work they do. If you want to support but not necessarily join CARFAC Alberta, consider donating at: https://www.carfacalberta.com/product/donate/.
If you believe in visual artists; if you believe that the visual arts are important; if you believe that visual artists should be paid for their work, you should join CARFAC Alberta at: https://www.carfacalberta.com/product/visual-arts-alberta-carfac-online-membership/. Membership benefits include: discounts on insurance, extended health care, art transportation as well as access to over 55 years of collective knowledge on how to transform your visual arts practice into a sustainable career.
By getting your artwork out there, you gain recognition as a visual artist. You do not need a degree to be a visual artist, instead you need to make and exhibit your artwork. Many visual artists choose to take post-secondary visual arts education or take informal courses to learn at a faster rate than what may be possible on their own. CARFAC Alberta has a free digital document that can help you https://www.carfacalberta.com/becoming-a-visual-artist/.
We connect with community by taking a course, volunteering at a gallery, attending an art opening, visiting a gallery, joining an art club, art gallery or arts organization like CARFAC Alberta https://www.carfacalberta.com/product/visual-arts-alberta-carfac-online-membership/. Artmaking is usually a solitary pursuit, we need to connect with others to become known as visual artists and to begin to learn how to develop a sustainable career as an artist.
Best Practices are professional guidelines for interactions between visual artists and those individuals and organizations that work with them in a wide range of capacities. They are industry standards or what should occur whenever an artwork leaves your studio. Best Practices are not laws instead they are voluntary guidelines that work when artists and those that engage artists know the ground rules and wish to conduct business fairly. CARFAC Alberta has seven Best Practice documents available for craft, media and visual artists at: https://www.carfacalberta.com/resources/best-practices/.
According to Patrick Close (a member of the Best Practices / Industry Standards team at CARFAC Saskatchewan), “best practices can: define expectations for behaviour and interaction; strengthen community; create a pathway for growth and development; can provide a “how-to-do-it-right” guide; provide a context for voluntary sector bargaining; and lead the way to regulation and enforcement.” CARFAC Alberta believes that adherence to Best Practices will help visual artists develop a sustainable career and Best Practices are of paramount importance if we wish to create a healthy visual arts ecosystem.
The Following is from Alberta’s Best Practice on Contracts, Agreements and Negotiations (https://www.carfacalberta.com/resources/best-practices/): Formal written agreements and contracts increase protection for artists and their intellectual property, and clearly define the rights and responsibilities of both those who engage the services of artists, and the artists themselves. If you are requested to enter into a work arrangement that is not in writing, whether you are an artist or engager, you should request a written contract. If one is not forthcoming then negotiate who will create a draft contract. All parties should read, clearly understand, and sign the agreements. If you need to write a contract, CARFAC Saskatchewan has free contracts on their website at https://carfac.sk.ca/contracts.
CARFAC has a fee schedule called The CARFAC-RAAV Minimum Recommended Fee Schedule that provides guidelines on what visual and media artists should be paid for their copyright and other professional services: https://carfac-raav.ca/. This schedule is updated regularly through negotiation and usage and is a best practice or schedule of voluntary guidelines containing the minimum amounts of what you should be paid.
Our office hours are Wednesday to Friday 11am – 3pm. Please reach out to CARFAC Alberta by email to general@carfacalberta.com. As an arts service organization, CARFAC Alberta wants you to thrive as a visual artist.