Exhibition/Event Tools
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The Women's Caucus for Art encourages all of its members to develop their professional skills, including creating and managing exhibitions. On these Exhibition Tools pages, members will find information to begin their exhibition training, which will be enhanced by volunteering to work on Women's Caucus for Art exhibitions.
Exhibition/Event Development Guidelines
International Caucus members are encouraged to make connections and research possible events and exhibitions for our caucus. Here are some guidelines for the initial phases of developing a strong proposal with enough support and groundwork to be considered by our caucus and the national WCA board.
Any event, exhibition on the national level - the national exhibitions overseen by the National Exhibitions Chair, the WCA annual conference, the LAA awards, any of the internal caucuses (such as International Caucus) - that requires contracts, that involves expenditures or receipts, fundraising, that uses the WCA name in a public way - has to be approved by the national WCA board. The national board looks at whether a project's budget shows a realistic ability to succeed with a neutral or surplus outcome (there are no funds to cover losses), whether the project has the potential to bring bring negative attention to WCA, whether there is enough commitment from volunteers to make the project succeed, etc. It is an oversight process, aims to be objective and to ensure that we develop projects with a healthy chance of success.
1. Introduce yourself as a member of WCA and its internal International Caucus.
In initial discussions about an idea with a person or group outside of WCA, talk about WCA as a women's art organization that has been around since the early 1970s focusing on bringing attention to women artists and their work, using art activism to bring attention to issues affecting women worldwide. We are a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) of the United Nations and as such have broadened our focus internationally. The International Caucus of WCA is charged with maintaining our NGO status as well as connection with women artists, women artists organizations and other women's organizations internationally with the intent of support for causes, to make collaborations, to create exhibition opportunities for women in both countries.
2. Provide people with the WCA website, the WCA International Caucus website and links to significant WCA projects:
http://wcainternationalcaucus.weebly.com
http://www.nationalwca.org
Share the websites/blogs for some of our latest exhibitions
3. Do not make promises at this stage.
Define your interaction as exploratory. Any projects/exhibitions/events that will involve contracts and exchange of money have to be approved by the WCA board.
4. Find a local team.
Before we move ahead, we need to have a group of women in that region who are willing to be the organizers and contact people for that side of any project- ideally these women would be associated with an organization and/or an institution. We need to make sure these contacts, preferably a group of women associated with an organization and/or institution, have the background, skills and commitment to follow the project to the end. We need people to work on fundraising, publicity, catalog (creation, proofing, editing), shipping, gallery (installation, de-installation, signage, reception, etc)
5. Research funding.
On the WCA side, we need to have a year or more to seek out grant sources, funding and/or sponsors. In your discussions, ask about how exhibition funding typically works in that community. For example, some countries have government grants to help pay for exhibitions, to pay artists, etc.
6. Dialogue about different forms of connections and collaborations.
Examples: 1) Exhibitions/events between all WCA members and women artists there, 2) WCA international caucus members only and women there, 3) WCA International Caucus creating an exportable event in the U.S., 4) a small interaction such as WCA International Caucus members being invited to travel to that area as part of a performance piece or in support of an activism event.
7. Contacts within WCA:
8. Budget and Proposal Research
As we continue to research and discuss a possible project, here are some of the items we will need for the initial proposal for the International Caucus Chair and its members. At this stage, this information can be more of an overview. The details will be needed later for our final contracts with the other parties.
9. Budget/Proposal Process
As the project idea develops, it is helpful to use the national board proposal format to organize our research. (See Exhibition Proposal for WCA Board Sample page) This will prompt us to gather the information that we will use to run the proposal by 1) the International Caucus Chair (who will make sure all initial research is complete and that the project works within our caucus timeline), followed by 2) our International Caucus members to get their support to work on the project and, if they have no objections by our caucus and/or their concerns are addressed, followed by 3) the national board who needs to review our proposal. The national board has members adept at looking for ways to make strong proposals. If the project is approved by the national board, the project can proceed as defined by the proposal. If significant changes occur to the proposal (costs, entities involved, contracts), the proposal will need to go back to the national WCA board for review. The national board will need a report and a reconciliation budget (final tallies of expenses/incomes) at the end of the project.
Any event, exhibition on the national level - the national exhibitions overseen by the National Exhibitions Chair, the WCA annual conference, the LAA awards, any of the internal caucuses (such as International Caucus) - that requires contracts, that involves expenditures or receipts, fundraising, that uses the WCA name in a public way - has to be approved by the national WCA board. The national board looks at whether a project's budget shows a realistic ability to succeed with a neutral or surplus outcome (there are no funds to cover losses), whether the project has the potential to bring bring negative attention to WCA, whether there is enough commitment from volunteers to make the project succeed, etc. It is an oversight process, aims to be objective and to ensure that we develop projects with a healthy chance of success.
1. Introduce yourself as a member of WCA and its internal International Caucus.
In initial discussions about an idea with a person or group outside of WCA, talk about WCA as a women's art organization that has been around since the early 1970s focusing on bringing attention to women artists and their work, using art activism to bring attention to issues affecting women worldwide. We are a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) of the United Nations and as such have broadened our focus internationally. The International Caucus of WCA is charged with maintaining our NGO status as well as connection with women artists, women artists organizations and other women's organizations internationally with the intent of support for causes, to make collaborations, to create exhibition opportunities for women in both countries.
2. Provide people with the WCA website, the WCA International Caucus website and links to significant WCA projects:
http://wcainternationalcaucus.weebly.com
http://www.nationalwca.org
Share the websites/blogs for some of our latest exhibitions
3. Do not make promises at this stage.
Define your interaction as exploratory. Any projects/exhibitions/events that will involve contracts and exchange of money have to be approved by the WCA board.
4. Find a local team.
Before we move ahead, we need to have a group of women in that region who are willing to be the organizers and contact people for that side of any project- ideally these women would be associated with an organization and/or an institution. We need to make sure these contacts, preferably a group of women associated with an organization and/or institution, have the background, skills and commitment to follow the project to the end. We need people to work on fundraising, publicity, catalog (creation, proofing, editing), shipping, gallery (installation, de-installation, signage, reception, etc)
5. Research funding.
On the WCA side, we need to have a year or more to seek out grant sources, funding and/or sponsors. In your discussions, ask about how exhibition funding typically works in that community. For example, some countries have government grants to help pay for exhibitions, to pay artists, etc.
6. Dialogue about different forms of connections and collaborations.
Examples: 1) Exhibitions/events between all WCA members and women artists there, 2) WCA international caucus members only and women there, 3) WCA International Caucus creating an exportable event in the U.S., 4) a small interaction such as WCA International Caucus members being invited to travel to that area as part of a performance piece or in support of an activism event.
7. Contacts within WCA:
8. Budget and Proposal Research
As we continue to research and discuss a possible project, here are some of the items we will need for the initial proposal for the International Caucus Chair and its members. At this stage, this information can be more of an overview. The details will be needed later for our final contracts with the other parties.
- proof of an initial agreement between our International Caucus and the planning group in the other country
- insurance – who covers it, how much would be covered
- art handling and shipping information
- shipping: will we need to do collective shipping or will the venue accept individual shipments from artists
- sales information – tax, legal considerations, percentages (gallery/artist),
- Is there/will there be a curator, juror?
- Promotions information – catalogs, postcards, business cards, posters, social media, who is responsible for what, anticipated costs
- Rough timeline
- Location information and considerations
9. Budget/Proposal Process
As the project idea develops, it is helpful to use the national board proposal format to organize our research. (See Exhibition Proposal for WCA Board Sample page) This will prompt us to gather the information that we will use to run the proposal by 1) the International Caucus Chair (who will make sure all initial research is complete and that the project works within our caucus timeline), followed by 2) our International Caucus members to get their support to work on the project and, if they have no objections by our caucus and/or their concerns are addressed, followed by 3) the national board who needs to review our proposal. The national board has members adept at looking for ways to make strong proposals. If the project is approved by the national board, the project can proceed as defined by the proposal. If significant changes occur to the proposal (costs, entities involved, contracts), the proposal will need to go back to the national WCA board for review. The national board will need a report and a reconciliation budget (final tallies of expenses/incomes) at the end of the project.