Please – add your voice to the call! Sign this petition.
Click onto the link below (“The Undersigned”) or go to the web address provided.
http://www.petitiononline.com/carv2006/petition.html
To: Canadian Artists, Artistes Canadiens
PETITION: A Living for Visual Artists
CARFAC and RAAV hope to significantly raise exhibition fees over the next few years.
At the same time, under the Canadian and the Quebec laws on the status of the artist, CARFAC and RAAV are pursuing artists’ rights through negotiations with presenters. Jointly, Carfac and RAAV are negotiating with the National Gallery of Canada. RAAV prepares important negotiations with Quebec presenters. These actions are extremely significant for artists and will impact on our ability to earn a reasonable income for years to come.
There is some opposition by public galleries to the fee increases. While the percentage of fee increase might seem large, these simply represent the percentages that are needed to catch up. Fees have not been increased, except for cost of living, over the past 20 years, and there was no differentiation in the fees paid by large and small galleries.
When exhibition fees became a legal right for artists nearly 20 years ago some public galleries were reluctant to pay them. Some still don’t want to pay them today. Many ask artists to waive many of the fees they are legally entitled to.
Public art galleries are public institutions operating in a public economy. Artists are part of that economy and essential to the public exhibitions they present. As the creators of the work exhibited Artists deserve to be compensated.
CARFAC and RAAV need your support in asking for fair treatment and our basic rights.
“I petition that artists in Canada deserve proper compensation for the work they present in our public art institutions. The rights that artists are demanding are basic human rights. As culture becomes more central to our social and economic well-being, artists have a right to fair compensation for the work they do and the right to decent living and working conditions.”
“I support CARFAC and RAAV in their efforts to improve the livelihood of artists through the new 2005 fee schedule and fee policy, and in their efforts to negotiate a fair deal with National Gallery of Canada and other public presenters across Canada and Québec.”
Sincerely,
http://www.petitiononline.com/carv2006/petition.html
Credited to Mike MacDonald, National Spokesperson CARFAC and Yves
Louis-Seize, Président du RAAV
creative solutions