November 2007
For any of our members who are not aware of the history, ESSA stands for
the “Exhibiting Societies of Scottish Artists”. In 1999 we,
the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA), got together with the Royal Scottish
Society of Painters in Watercolours (RSW) and Visual Arts Scotland (VAS)
as a partnership organisation to promote the regular public exhibition
of the member societies work at a national level.
To this end ESSA leases the Royal Scottish Academy Building from the National
Galleries of Scotland for a period of seven weeks each year and over the
years has raised some £92,000 to ensure that the public continue
to have the opportunity to appreciate the excellence of artists in Scotland
through our exhibiting societies. ESSA is non-profit making and is registered
as a Scottish charity.
David Colvin was instrumental in the creation of ESSA and has been Chairperson
for many years, but in the summer he expressed his wish to retire and
hand over to a successor. This caused the three Presidents and vice Presidents
some considerable research and discussion. Who would be an appropriate
person to carry our Societies forward in this relatively new Century?
From our point of view the SSA is unique - I can think of no equivalent
in the UK - and the job to promote the adventurous spirit in Scottish
art, the representation of the new, as well as established talent is ours.
We must be enabled to flourish. Under a new Chairmanship it is a time
to work with our colleagues in the other two Societies to raise our profile
at a National and International level and in so doing preserve and strengthen
our individual identity.
Who better to take over the reigns of ESSA, than the former diplomat and
High Commissioner, Howard Pearce?
He has had a wide-ranging Diplomatic Service career, including assignments
in South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and the South
Atlantic; High Commissioner to Malta (1999-2002) and Governor, Falkland
Islands (2002-2006) he has recently retired to West Linton in Scotland
and agreed to work on our behalf and take on the Chairmanship.
It is with sadness and gratitude that we say goodbye to David Colvin after
so many years, but I am confident that he will remain a good friend and
supporter of our Society.
On a slightly more sombre note, it is worth mentioning that we have been
allocated the downstairs Galleries in the RSA for the forthcoming exhibition
in March. This reduced space means that we are encouraging, and are obliged
to favour, smaller works from the open submission.
Sadly mindful of the crowds of people who stood freezing outside the building
on the night of the Private View last year and of the many who were turned
away, we are considering how to manage the amount of people who can be
in the building at any one time. ‘Staggered openings’, has
been the most favoured solution, (as opposed to inebriated people staggering
about). The plan is to begin the private view in the afternoon and encourage
people to come to view the work, socialize but leave after a reasonable
amount of time to allow others in. After the throng last year, a dire
warning has been issued from The National Galleries of Scotland that the
invitation list for the Private View this year must be limited.
By contrast, I hope that as many of you as possible will attend the AGM
on December the 8th where I look forward to having the opportunity to
meet crowds of SSA members and to hear your views. Until then and with
best wishes,
The SSA/Stavanger 2008 North Sea Project residencies are at various stages
as I write -
Anne Lise Stenseth has completed her residency in Nairn/Edinburgh.
Geir Egil Bergjord finishes his residency at Cromarty Arts Trust on Nov
10 and has posted a very popular diary of his time there at http://bergjord.com/cromarty/
Ingeborg Kvame is at The Watchie, Catterline until the end of November.
Turi Gramstad Oliver is at the Booth in Shetland until November 26. She
has also spent some time in Orkney.
Maja Nilsen arrived in Edinburgh at the beginning of November to take
up her residency at the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.
Elaine Allison & Pat Bray have just returned from Sand where they
had and exhibition at the end of their residency.
Paul Furneaux is in Sandnes/ Bjerkreim and he has an exhibition in Sandnes
at the moment.
Duncan Robertson is in Stavanger and has a blog and photo gallery at http://duncanrobertson.vox.com/profile/
and http://www.flickr.com/photos/duncanrobertson
Kate Downie is based on the island of Karmoy but has visited Stavanger
and Oslo as well.
Fiona Hutchison takes up her residency at the beginning of December in
Stavanger/Bjerkreim.
SSA Exhibition Dates 2008
Receiving Days
Monday, 3 March (10am – 5pm)
Tuesday, 4 March (10am – 7pm)
Collection of non-selected work
All works not hung in the
Exhibition MUST be collected
Saturday, 15 March (10am – 4pm)
Sunday, 16 March (10am – 1pm)
Private View
Thursday, 20 March
Exhibition Open
Friday, 21 March – Thursday, 17 April
Collection of works exhibited
Friday, 18 April (2 – 5 pm)
Saturday, 19 April (10am – 1pm)
Professional Membership
Everyone who joins the SSA does so as an Ordinary Member.
After being a member for at least two years, artists can apply to be considered
for Professional Membership by notifying the Secretary of their wish to
do so.
Candidates are asked to submit a CV and 6 – 10 images of recent
work on CD and they must be of good standing.
An elected committee of Professional Members will then assess the images.
While Ordinary Members pay £40 annually, Professional Members pay
£50. For this they are allowed to submit more work to the annual
exhibitions and have less commission deducted from sales. Applications
to be submitted to the Secretary by 22 February 2008.
Sponsorship
and the Individual Artist
Many of you will have experienced that moment when, after the initial
joy of being offered an exhibition in a good gallery, a slight panic takes
over: you realise how much this is going to cost you. Of course it depends
partly on the gallery where you exhibit, but framing, the invitations,
postage, opening expenses and maybe a catalogue, can come to anything
from £1000 to £5000. Most artists have to sell a lot before
they have covered their costs and start earning, but still, you go for
it, as you want your work to be seen and you want to sell.
When I was living in Dublin I was offered a solo exhibition in the Grafton
Gallery and experienced that kind of shock. I realised I needed about
£1000 for the framing. With two small children at home and one salary,
I simply didn’t have that money. I decided I needed to find someone
else who would be willing to bear the cost. Being Dutch I began by approaching
Dutch companies with offices in Ireland. The Dutch embassy provided me
with a list.
As a good client of Douwe Egberts I started with them, but to my disappointment
they had no conception of the important connection between coffee and
art! I then wrote letters to around ten other Dutch companies, asking
them to sponsor my exhibition and offering them in return one of my paintings
for their offices. Only Philips Electrical (Ireland) said yes. Their sponsorship
paid for the framing and part of the opening costs and they invited all
their clients and board to the opening. Many bought my work. The Irish
Independent published an article on ‘Shedding light on arts sponsorship’,
congratulating Philips Electrical for their inspired concept of helping
an artist and excitedly informing us that the best-dressed lady in Ireland
had been seen at the opening. How could I have missed her!
In 2000 the then gallery 24 Royal Circus offered me the Festival Exhibition
and I decided to try again to find one or more sponsors to fund the catalogue.
I tried the Scottish Arts Council, some trusts, but to no avail. The Dutch
Embassy in London however focussed on Scotland that Festival, so they
agreed to help. Philips Electrical (Scotland) wasn’t interested,
but when I approached the Rabo Bank, famous for their sponsoring of the
arts in the Netherlands, I had my second sponsor and a catalogue. And
now, in 2007, I have again found two sponsors for my November exhibition
‘Double Vision’ at the Open Eye Gallery, which shows my work
and that of Dutch artist Gea Karhof and Nepalese artists, Ragini Upadhyay
and Seema Shah.
Besides the Royal Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands which is helping
again, my solicitors Morton Fraser have supported the exhibition. Thus
the cost of the invitations and catalogue were covered by sponsors. A
huge relief as this exhibition is my responsibility. The exhibition will
be shown in the Netherlands and Nepal next year, where the artists in
those countries will take over responsibility for it. I must mention that
the SSA has played an important part in all this: it was at the annual
exhibition of the SSA in March that I discovered that Morton Fraser Solicitors
are great patrons of the arts and particularly supportive of their artist
clients. In return for sponsorship, they held a corporate event for their
clients in the gallery and were of course mentioned in all publicity.
If you decide you too need help for a project don’t hesitate to
try the SAC (or Creative Scotland as it soon will be) and the usual trusts
- some people are successful. But if you are not, think carefully about
other possibilities. Do you have another nationality: approach your embassy.
Does your work appeal to particular organisations or businesses? Approach
them.
Always make a well-presented application, with photos of the work and
a budget of all the costs and funds already in place, and think also about
what you can offer the sponsor in return. Maybe the copyright of one of
your works for their Christmas card, a lot of publicity, a talk for their
staff, or something completely different?
Be inventive; don’t be put off by rejection and good luck! With
so little public funding around for the individual artists we have to
hope that the private sector will become more responsive and realise the
value of supporting the many great and promising individual artists in
Scotland.
Nan Mulder
Exhibition 2008 News
Van collection points
Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow.
Collection arrangements will be managed according to the uptake at each
point. It is, therefore, essential that anyone wishing to use the van
collection service should notify the Secretary by 18 January 2008.
ESSA suggested that the three Societies – SSA, VAS and RSW arrange
a professional members’ exhibition of postcard sized work to raise
funds during the 2008 exhibition. This would replace the auction as a
fundraiser, further details will be available from the respective Secretaries
at the end of November.
The Private View for the 2008 exhibition will take place on Thursday 20
March. This year the Private View is to be staggered over a longer period
to control numbers. Please check the time on your invitation and bring
the card with you as you will not be allowed into the event without it.
Opportunity
Edinburgh Printmakers
Curator Wanted
To curate an exhibition of local, national and international artists working
with issues of climate change (exhibition dates 24 May to 5 July 2008).
Artwork must involve printmaking processes
Between 6 and 10 artists
Exhibition across 3 gallery spaces
Absolute deadline for proposals is 12 December 2007, mark proposal ‘Climate
Change Exhibition’, gallery floor plans are available on request.
Fee is negotiable, according to experience.
23 Union Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3LR T 0131 557 2479
gallery@edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk
www.edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk
Call
for Entries
Society of Scottish Artists
Annual Open Contemporary Art Exhibition
21 March – 17 April, 2008.
Call for submission of installation proposals
Deadline: 31 December 2007.
Installation proposals must include visuals which may be up to five images
on CD, photographs and/or drawings, with a written proposal (up to one
A4 page). Enclose an SAE with sufficient postage for return of your material
and a £10 handling fee (cheques payable to the Society of Scottish
Artists).
Installation submissions and further information:
Noreen Sharkey Paisley, Secretary 2 Wemyss Ave, Glasgow G77 6AR
0141 616 2566
News
in brief
The SSA has recently been presented with two beautiful catalogues of the
work of the late Ian J Massie by his son Paul. The catalogues will be
placed in the SSA archives at the Dean Gallery which members can access
on appointment.
Exhibitions:
Double Vision
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
10 November to 28 November 2007
Nan Mulder - Gea Karhof - Ragini Upadhyay - Seema Sharma Shah
George Donald RSA RSW
New Paintings
10 November to 28 November 2007
Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
SSA Professional Members Christmas Show
Eastwood Park Gallery, Eastwood Park, Giffnock, Glasgow G46 6UG
24 November to 18 December
SOCIETY OF SCOTTISH ARTISTS
2 Wemyss Ave
Glasgow G77 6AR
Secretary: Noreen Sharkey Paisley
Phone: 0141 616 2566
Email: ssa@tangledwebs.co.uk
Web: www.s-s-a.org
Honorary Presidents: Richard Demarco OBE
George Wyllie MBE
President: Elaine Shemilt
Vice President: Christopher Wood
Council:
Rick Ballard Calum Buchanan
Chrissie Heughan Fiona Hutchison
Alan Kilpatrick Fiona Maher
Iain McColl Nan Mulder
Judith Rowan Sarah McKenzie Smith
Graeme Swanson Allan Watson