Important Questions Artists need to ask.

Should Artists pay to enter competitions? Word competition is to compete first, contest for some prize or honor, then receive the award end of the tunnel. Should Artists pay to receive Awards and honor or these must be granted as recognition for their special skills and talents? Do Artists need to feel inferior to winners when they are not? Is this the proper investment on their artwork? You got my point! In addition, do truly competitions provide a peaceful atmosphere among competitors? Do Artists care to contribute to the spirit of peace or to the spirit of “Me first”?

• 1- Should artists pay to receive Awards? It has been brought to my attention, by some artists, asking me what do I think of invitations they received to pay fee and win Awards! Many times, a book can be read from its cover! In my opinion, given Awards is a recognition of good artwork that meet the main criteria when jury it. Should artists pay to receive Awards? If receiving Awards are ONLY for those who can afford the fee, I deeply sympathize with artists who can’t while deserving recognized Awards. Can I congratulate those who have been receiving unnumbered Awards because they can afford it? As a fair jurist, I wish I would but whom will I be deceiving or putting down?! You do the math. And whom will I be encouraging to continue their official deception to Artists? I think you got my point.

• 2-Sould Artists pay to get published in misleading publications? There are some publications that use masterful titles to satisfy Artists egos, such as Top 100 artists or Top Masters of the world etc. If Top 100 were chosen ten years ago, are there still different top 100 every year! If it is yearly publication, why it is published often? Are the top 100 truly the ONLY Top 100 artists in the world? If so, why the world did not hear about them prior to that publication was issued? I have looked at some of these publications, and as a jurist, I was hoping to review different artwork. Artists, should you choose to publish your artwork in any publication/magazine, inquire first; how many copies are printed? To whom are distributed? What is the sale price for each copy” this is another revenue for the editors in addition to collecting the fees to publish your artwork! Another essential point, your artwork is sold in high resolution to the public and can be reprinted, reproduced or copied by different parties for different reasons, are you aware of that? If you are offering prints of your artwork, do you know what that mean? Think it over.

• 3-Should Artists pay to enter competitions? Word competition is to compete first, contest for some prize or honor, then receive the award end of the tunnel. Do Artists pay to receive Awards and honor or these must be granted as recognitions for their special skills and talents? Do Artists need to feel interior to winners when they are not? Is this the proper investment on their artwork? You got my point! In addition, do truly competitions provide a peaceful atmosphere among competitors? Do Artists care to contribute to the spirit of peace or to the spirit of “Me first”?

• 4-Should Artists pay fee to exhibit? Please read this article and hope will help. https://www.monayoussefgallery.com/articles/should-artists-pay-fees-to-exhibit

The above are some of questions artists have asked me in private messages and these are my open and honest opinion. As always, I speak my mind and do not work in hid and seek games. I do hope that these points will add some lights to your decisions and I am always happy to help.

©Mona Youssef - Realist fine artist