about vaaa

ABOUT VISUAL ARTS ALBERTA ASSOCIATION

Since becoming a registered society in 1997, Visual Arts Alberta Association has worked very hard to determine and meet the needs of Alberta’s visual artists.  From its early membership of 45 individual members and 4 group members, Visual Arts Alberta has grown in 2010 to numerous members across the province.

Visual Arts Alberta is a non-profit, Provincial Arts Service Organization (PASO) with a mission to promote and assist Alberta visual arts and artists, providing a communication hub between members of the visual arts community and the general public.  Additionally, it is the goal of Visual Arts Alberta to provide Alberta artists with current, vital information on arts opportunities locally, regionally, provincially, nationally and internationally to ensure that they are able to actively and knowledgeably participate in the broader visual arts world.

In 2008 Visual Arts Alberta, with the assistance of Grant MacEwan Arts & Cultural Management students, conducted a Market Research Survey of our membership.  Much of what was specified in our membership’s responses was implemented, including expanding existing programs, starting new programs and terminating little used programs.

Existing Programs of Visual Arts Alberta

• The highly successful VAAA Public Art Gallery was founded in 2000, and provides Alberta visual artists with the possibility of exhibiting in one or more of 10 juried exhibitions held annually in the Gallery–2008 saw over 110 artists exhibit in group and solo exhibitions. The VAAA Gallery sells exhibiting artists’ work and pays artist fees. Over 7,000 visitors have attended VAAA art exhibitions over the past year.
• Visual Arts Alberta’s most highly utilized program is the Art Card Marketing Program for Artists.  Since its inception in 2002, well over 100,000 Art Cards have been designed and created for Alberta visual artists. With the assistance of our commercial printing partner, the affordable pricing includes layout and design, saving artists both time and money.
• The Annual Juried Membership Show (in 2011 the exhibition is titled ENERGIZE), held in conjunction with The Works Art & Design Festival,  receives submissions for jurying, and is one of the most widely attended events of the year.
• The Visual Arts Alberta Weekly Information Updates was initially instituted in 2005 as a trial to determine if there was a need for this service provincially.  Since that time our subscriptions have grown to over 300 artists province-wide.
• Begun 6 years ago, the highly successful Art/History Educational Tours has seen 12 to 21 travelers joining Visual Arts Alberta yearly on art tours to destinations that have included Italy, Greece, eastern Europe, China and France.
• Since 2003, VAAA High School Scholarship Program has annually provided up to four rural Alberta high school students with tuition and travel expenses to attend Summerscapes for Teens at Red Deer College. Several of these scholarship winners have included work completed during this experience in their portfolios in order to gain entrance into a post-secondary fine art program.
• Since 2004 Visual Arts Alberta has regularly presented Professional Development  Workshops for Artists.The highly successful pilot project for this program was funded by a project grant from the Edmonton Arts Council. Over the past five years programs have been run in Edmonton, Calgary and Okotoks, and have included:
  • Photographing Your Art -  Dan Power & Kevin Law
  • Accounting/Business in Art -  Carol Patterson
  • Marketing & Time Management for Artists – Les Graff
  • Getting Your Work Out There – Laura Vickerson
  • The Creative Process from Start to Finish -  Lyndal Osborne
  • The Ballinglen Experience / The Artist Experience Abroad – Paddy Lamb
  • Public Commissions – Alan Henderson
    
• The annual art auction, Vaaa BAY is Visual Arts Alberta’s primary fundraiser.  This event is presented in the VAAA Gallery in November and December has become an art event not to be missed.  In 2010, at the first annual Vaaa BAY, Visual Arts Alberta Association earned over $4,000 during this three week silent auction.  Visual Arts Alberta had over 50 Alberta artists donate over 70 original works of art, with over 200 guests in attendance.
• Fundraising Campaign – Due to Canada Revenue Agency rules, Provincial Art Service Organizations like Visual Arts Alberta cannot be registered as charities, and therefore are unable to issue tax receipts for donations.  However, in spite of this restriction and in a clear indication of support from our membership, Visual Arts Alberta was able to raise over $6000 in cash donations in the first quarter of 2009.

In direct response to our membership Market Research Survey in 2008 Visual Arts Alberta has developed new programming to better serve Alberta artists, including:

• Visual Arts Alberta Art Blog – www.visualartsalberta.com/ or vaaaaartblog.com — This new program began in 2008 after our membership asked us about an easy, one-stop website that could supply current, vital information on Visual Arts Alberta and the visual arts world in general. Calls, opportunities, exhibitions, events, artist residencies, employment and funding opportunities are updated daily, providing Alberta artists with an exceptional tool for career development.  Since its inception, the blog has grown to over 700 regular subscribers and averages over 15,000 hits per week.
• CARFAC - Canadian Artists Representation/Le Front des Artistes Canadiens – In 2007 Visual Arts Alberta was invited by CARFAC National in Ottawa to take on the CARFAC program in Alberta.  It was agreed that Visual Arts Alberta would work on behalf of CARFAC National in the Province of Alberta, thereby for the first time in a long time, providing Alberta visual artists with a national voice to defend their economic and legal rights, and educate the public on fair dealings with artists.  2009 has seen this partnership begin in earnest, with Visual Arts Alberta having representation on the national CARFAC Board of Directors, and being able to provide easy access to programming through CARFAC National.
• Annual Provincial Open Photo Competition – 2008 saw the first Call for Submissions for the Visual Arts Alberta Open Photo exhibition. The response was overwhelming, and the jury and guest judge Bob Chelmick were very impressed by the diversity and high quality of work submitted and selected for the exhibition in the VAAA Gallery.  Due to the huge response in 2008, Visual Arts Alberta partnered with the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium to host the 2009 Open Photo in its Kaasa Gallery from July through to September.  The overwhelming public response has made this one of VAAA’s most popular annual programs.

2009 Alberta Gallery Survey – Four years in the making, this gallery survey was inspired by the very popular surveys done by CARFAC BC, Newfoundland and Saskatchewan.  The intent was to provide Alberta’s artists with a useful planning tool for exhibition and marketing strategies, as well as to afford Alberta galleries a resource that they can give to artists–a valuable time-saving tool for both.  Although grant funding was not approved to create a printed version of this gallery survey, a downloadable PDF version is freely available to both Alberta artists and galleries.

How do you become a member of VAAA? What comes with membership?

VAAA/CARFAC MEMBERSHIP FEES

The cost for membership for an individual member of the VAAA is $40, the cost for a CARFAC individual membership is $45.  A combined membership costs $75.  Discounts are available for students, seniors, and associate members as detailed on the membership form available below.

vaaamembershipform1

 

 

VISUAL ARTS ALBERTA ASSOCIATION
3RD FLOOR, HARCOURT HOUSE ARTS CENTRE
10215 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T5K 1M7
780.421.1731 | info@visualartsalberta.com | Toll-Free 1-866.421.1731