Market Artist Application & FAQs
Please read the information included below. After reading, if you're interested in applying to be in our Shop, click on this link to find our Application for the Shop >> CLICK HERE
REQUIREMENTS to be in our shop
• You must be a current member and keep your membership current. Learn about Membership HERE. If you are not yet a member, you may still apply to be in the shop. If your works are accepted, you must become a member after acceptance and before you bring in your works..
• New shop artists must have their items “juried into” the shop by the Shop Committee. We are looking for items that are well done, reasonably priced and not duplicates of items we already have in the shop. We already have a lot of pottery and jewelry and will be selective about future pottery and jewelry items allowed into the shop.
• Works must be original and created by you. We don’t re-sell items.
• You must use the APPLICATION FORM to submit photos of your items.
* NO COPYRIGHT violations - in images, paintings or fabric use. If a fabric is listed "for personal use only" or similar verbiage, this means it cannot be made into something and sold to the public. Yes, this is done in other places, but it is illegal.
It is not guaranteed that your items will be accepted. It may take two to three weeks for our shop committee to complete its review of your works. Our shop committee is made up of volunteers who are also shop artists.
THANK YOU for your interest in our Local Artist Gift Shop! Please drop by and visit at your convenience!
~~~ FAQs about our Gift Shop ~~~
WHAT HAPPENS IF I'M APPROVED?
FIRST - you must become a member. You can do this online or when you visit the art center. You must keep your membership current to stay in the shop (annual renewal). Learn about Membership HERE. If your works are accepted, you must become a member after acceptance and before you bring in your works.
Initially, the shop committee will select your works that will be allowed in the shop -- usually around 1-3 items (artwork) or if you have "smalls" like jewelry, we'll usually accept more -- to test the market. You will have a probationary period of one year if you are allowed in the shop and during that time the shop committee will continue to curate your items – you will need to submit photos. We will also be evaluating how responsible you are at fulfilling *your* part of our partnership: primarily this means refreshing your shop items monthly and supporting the shop through promoting MWCA and your items here on social media.
HOW DO I PRICE MY ITEMS?
We get a lot of questions about how to price items. Unless you have a following who is already buying your work, our best recommendation is to price your works in an affordable range. We assume that you want to sell and if items are too expensive, they will not sell. You will likely NOT get your time paid back. It is the rare artist who can command high prices (even what you think is fair). Examples: in our shop smaller artworks (5x7 or 8x8 or smaller) may be priced at $10 – $40.
Our top price for large works of art in the shop is around $200. Given the wide range of art and gifts available in our shop, it is rare for us to sell anything over $100. Buying art is a highly personal thing and a piece of art must really connect with someone for them to spend over $50. Our average for items sold in the shop is around $17-20 (items sell in the range of $1 to around $100) – and we usually sell 300+ items monthly.
Simply put: If you want to sell and get your works and your name known, you must: 1) produce what people want and 2) price them in an affordable range that the public will pay.
HOW DO I ENSURE MONTHLY SALES?
KEEP IT FRESH
Pay attention to what sells. Adjust prices if needed. You are expected to bring us NEW items every month and take away what doesn’t sell. Test the market and LEARN. Bring in seasonal items and of course remove last season’s items. Pay attention to our emails which will list upcoming events you might want to prepare for.
One of the reasons we host classes and events (besides the obvious one of serving the public) is to bring visitors into the shop and gallery. When we host a BIG city-wide event, that's a good time to pay extra attention to YOUR "shop" -- bring in extra, new/fresh, relevant-to-the event items. PAY ATTENTION to our emails (the Mailchimp ones), our Facebook page and Website. This is your responsibility, to know what we have going on. It's up to you to be an ACTIVE and INVOLVED PARTNER to MWCA -- it's a win/win for us both for you to: 1) refresh your items monthly AND 2) promote MWCA - our events, classes, shows and shop. The more people that find out about us and visit, the higher our sales will be.
WHAT DOES “REFRESH” MEAN?
We constantly urge our artists to "refresh" their items here in the shop monthly. What does that mean? For most of our artists, this does NOT mean totally replacing everything in your “shop” every month.
For EVERYONE …
· Check your area -- Organize and dust and generally spiff it up. Do you need a new display?
· Pull out seasonal items
· Bring in new items
· If something hasn’t sold in 2-3 (AT MOST!) months, pull it out – you can cycle it back through the shop in a few months if you want.
For 2D artists or artists that only have a few items:
· Replace works at least every two months, monthly is even better. When you only have a few paintings on display, if the same painting is here for months, it means it is not a good fit for the shop for any number of reasons. Pull it out and you can try again in a few months. Sometimes lowering the price is a good idea. If it hasn’t already been in a MWCA show, you may want to enter it in a show.
WHEN AND HOW DO I GET PAID?
We do not currently charge a rental fee. You keep 75% of the money made from your sales. We pay for bags, tissue, processing fees and accounting fees (MWCA nets around 8% once we take out expenses). If you have any sales, you will get an email early in the following month that your check is ready. Example: artists who had sales in January will receive an email by or before February 10 that their checks are ready.
HOW DO I TAG MY ITEMS?
You will be assigned a code. ALL items must be tagged with your code and a price. Depending on your works, we may ask you to provide a way to display your items.
SHOULD I ENTER MWCA SHOWS?
It is HIGHLY recommended that artists who want to break into the market enter our Gallery Art Shows. People shop our shows for art and we will sell works in the $200-600 range in shows (but still our best advice is to price your works in an affordable range). Our shows are the best way to sell artwork! You are missing a huge opportunity if you are not entering our shows, even if you don’t win a ribbon.
Learn more about our Gallery Shows HERE
ARTIST BIO
We ask all shop artists to provide a brief artist bio that we will print and post alongside your works.
REQUIREMENTS to be in our shop
• You must be a current member and keep your membership current. Learn about Membership HERE. If you are not yet a member, you may still apply to be in the shop. If your works are accepted, you must become a member after acceptance and before you bring in your works..
• New shop artists must have their items “juried into” the shop by the Shop Committee. We are looking for items that are well done, reasonably priced and not duplicates of items we already have in the shop. We already have a lot of pottery and jewelry and will be selective about future pottery and jewelry items allowed into the shop.
• Works must be original and created by you. We don’t re-sell items.
• You must use the APPLICATION FORM to submit photos of your items.
* NO COPYRIGHT violations - in images, paintings or fabric use. If a fabric is listed "for personal use only" or similar verbiage, this means it cannot be made into something and sold to the public. Yes, this is done in other places, but it is illegal.
It is not guaranteed that your items will be accepted. It may take two to three weeks for our shop committee to complete its review of your works. Our shop committee is made up of volunteers who are also shop artists.
THANK YOU for your interest in our Local Artist Gift Shop! Please drop by and visit at your convenience!
~~~ FAQs about our Gift Shop ~~~
WHAT HAPPENS IF I'M APPROVED?
FIRST - you must become a member. You can do this online or when you visit the art center. You must keep your membership current to stay in the shop (annual renewal). Learn about Membership HERE. If your works are accepted, you must become a member after acceptance and before you bring in your works.
Initially, the shop committee will select your works that will be allowed in the shop -- usually around 1-3 items (artwork) or if you have "smalls" like jewelry, we'll usually accept more -- to test the market. You will have a probationary period of one year if you are allowed in the shop and during that time the shop committee will continue to curate your items – you will need to submit photos. We will also be evaluating how responsible you are at fulfilling *your* part of our partnership: primarily this means refreshing your shop items monthly and supporting the shop through promoting MWCA and your items here on social media.
HOW DO I PRICE MY ITEMS?
We get a lot of questions about how to price items. Unless you have a following who is already buying your work, our best recommendation is to price your works in an affordable range. We assume that you want to sell and if items are too expensive, they will not sell. You will likely NOT get your time paid back. It is the rare artist who can command high prices (even what you think is fair). Examples: in our shop smaller artworks (5x7 or 8x8 or smaller) may be priced at $10 – $40.
Our top price for large works of art in the shop is around $200. Given the wide range of art and gifts available in our shop, it is rare for us to sell anything over $100. Buying art is a highly personal thing and a piece of art must really connect with someone for them to spend over $50. Our average for items sold in the shop is around $17-20 (items sell in the range of $1 to around $100) – and we usually sell 300+ items monthly.
Simply put: If you want to sell and get your works and your name known, you must: 1) produce what people want and 2) price them in an affordable range that the public will pay.
HOW DO I ENSURE MONTHLY SALES?
KEEP IT FRESH
Pay attention to what sells. Adjust prices if needed. You are expected to bring us NEW items every month and take away what doesn’t sell. Test the market and LEARN. Bring in seasonal items and of course remove last season’s items. Pay attention to our emails which will list upcoming events you might want to prepare for.
One of the reasons we host classes and events (besides the obvious one of serving the public) is to bring visitors into the shop and gallery. When we host a BIG city-wide event, that's a good time to pay extra attention to YOUR "shop" -- bring in extra, new/fresh, relevant-to-the event items. PAY ATTENTION to our emails (the Mailchimp ones), our Facebook page and Website. This is your responsibility, to know what we have going on. It's up to you to be an ACTIVE and INVOLVED PARTNER to MWCA -- it's a win/win for us both for you to: 1) refresh your items monthly AND 2) promote MWCA - our events, classes, shows and shop. The more people that find out about us and visit, the higher our sales will be.
WHAT DOES “REFRESH” MEAN?
We constantly urge our artists to "refresh" their items here in the shop monthly. What does that mean? For most of our artists, this does NOT mean totally replacing everything in your “shop” every month.
For EVERYONE …
· Check your area -- Organize and dust and generally spiff it up. Do you need a new display?
· Pull out seasonal items
· Bring in new items
· If something hasn’t sold in 2-3 (AT MOST!) months, pull it out – you can cycle it back through the shop in a few months if you want.
For 2D artists or artists that only have a few items:
· Replace works at least every two months, monthly is even better. When you only have a few paintings on display, if the same painting is here for months, it means it is not a good fit for the shop for any number of reasons. Pull it out and you can try again in a few months. Sometimes lowering the price is a good idea. If it hasn’t already been in a MWCA show, you may want to enter it in a show.
WHEN AND HOW DO I GET PAID?
We do not currently charge a rental fee. You keep 75% of the money made from your sales. We pay for bags, tissue, processing fees and accounting fees (MWCA nets around 8% once we take out expenses). If you have any sales, you will get an email early in the following month that your check is ready. Example: artists who had sales in January will receive an email by or before February 10 that their checks are ready.
HOW DO I TAG MY ITEMS?
You will be assigned a code. ALL items must be tagged with your code and a price. Depending on your works, we may ask you to provide a way to display your items.
SHOULD I ENTER MWCA SHOWS?
It is HIGHLY recommended that artists who want to break into the market enter our Gallery Art Shows. People shop our shows for art and we will sell works in the $200-600 range in shows (but still our best advice is to price your works in an affordable range). Our shows are the best way to sell artwork! You are missing a huge opportunity if you are not entering our shows, even if you don’t win a ribbon.
Learn more about our Gallery Shows HERE
ARTIST BIO
We ask all shop artists to provide a brief artist bio that we will print and post alongside your works.
