Anthrocon Artists' Alley

Anthropomorphics conventions are traditionally very art-intensive, and Anthrocon is no exception. In addition to our sizeable art show, each year we set aside a place for artists to show off their work, sell prints or just sit and draw in sketchbooks. Known as Artists Alley, this area is available to all artists on a first-come, first-served basis. Space is limited, but we do our best to accommodate as many artists as possible. Artists Alley will once again be sharing space with the Art Show and the Dealers Room in Hall B of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

The Artists Alley is not the Dealers Room. Important differences include:

• Artists do not pay to use the Artists Alley.
• Artists are not required to have a Pennsylvania Tax ID number.
• Seats in Artists Alley are chosen by lottery. You must sign up for a seat in the Alley each day.
• You must bring in your art materials/items to sell each day, and take them with you each evening.
• There is no electrical power available in Artists Alley.
• Artists may only sell work of their own creation.

Artists Alley General Rules

1. Seats are available to artists wishing to display and sell artwork of their own creation.
2. Artwork sold in the Alley must be relevant to furry fandom. Additional criteria for items to be sold in Artists Alley include:
1. Two-dimensional media (drawings, paintings, prints) on any non-living medium is permitted.
2. Three-dimensional media is permitted. This includes but is not limited to sculptures, carving, glasswork, woodwork, and costume crafts. Items which have been purchased as-is or "off the shelf" may not be sold in Artists Alley. Items which are copies (i.e. cast pewter or resin) are also not permitted.
3. Items which would be considered general merchandise without the artist's work (i.e. Wearables [clothing, buttons, etc.], personalized knick-knacks, etc.) are not permitted to be sold in Artists Alley.
4. Sales of anything other than artwork of the artist's own creation is prohibited in Artists Alley.
5. Items which are a collaboration between more than one artist (i.e. comic books, CD's) are not permitted to be sold in AA since artists are only permitted to sell their own work.
6. All artwork displayed must be no more mature than PG-13. If there are questions on suitability, or if discrepancies arise, the Artists Alley/Con Store Manager will have the final authority.
7. Items with mature themes may be sold, provided that these items are not on public display. Adult-oriented materials must be either covered (such as with Post-it notes over the objectionable parts), or kept in a clearly marked binder that is not accessible to minors.
8. It is the artist's responsibility to make sure that mature material is discreetly handled when being viewed by customers. Please keep mature artwork in separate binders or places separated from your more "general-audience" art. Don't just have a tag between the regular and mature materials. Likewise, please monitor your customers to make sure that they are not displaying mature artwork in an indiscreet manner.
9. If there are any questions about what items might be permissible, please contact the Artists Alley Manager at . AA Manager rulings may be appealed to the Convention Chairman, whose ruling shall be considered final.
3. Each artist is allotted one-half of a table, 48" x 30".
4. If the Alley is not full, artists may spread into any unoccupied table space, but they must be prepared to surrender that space at any time.
5. We cannot accommodate people acting as agents for artists, or people reselling other people's art. Such items are for the Art Show, not for Artists Alley.
6. The only people who should be sitting behind Artists Alley tables are artists who have participated in the Artists Alley lottery. At no time is it permissible for anyone to be sitting on the floor or behind the tables who have not participated in the lottery. This means that you may not invite friends to sit behind the table with you. Repeat offenders will be remanded to convention security.
7. The table must be staffed by the artist for the majority of the time the table is held by that artist (We understand that artists, like other attendees, are here to enjoy the convention and need to eat, drink, and, well, you know...). Inquiries will be made if we notice that a seat is repeatedly left vacant for long periods of time, or if a substitute is in place for longer than is reasonable, and your possessions will be moved to the cashier table and your seat may be given to another artist for whom we had not had room.
8. Leaving the Alley early
1. If any seated artist chooses to leave before the end of the day, they must remove all of the Artist's Copy receipts from their receipt book and turn in their receipt book to the Artists Alley cashier. Note that we are unable to pay artists until the end of each day. Exceptions will be made in the event of emergencies.
2. Should a seat become available, the supervisor on duty will attempt to contact artists on the Waiting List; the first artist on that list who can be contacted will receive the vacated seat.
9. All materials must be removed from the table when the artist checks out. Anthrocon accepts no responsibility for materials left unattended. This includes artwork, personal items, etc.
10. We also ask artists kindly to remove any garbage before leaving the area.
11. ELECTRICAL POWER FOR ANY REASON IS NOT AVAILABLE IN ARTISTS ALLEY. This is because Anthrocon is charged for any usage of electrical power in the Convention Center.
12. Items generating an unacceptable noise-level are strongly discouraged. This includes portable stereos, computers, handheld game units, etc. Repeated complaints of excessive noise may result in loss of seat privileges.
13. Due to union restrictions, they may bring in only what they can carry on their own, or in a small 2-wheeled luggage case such as one sees in airports. As a general rule: if the case will fit in an airplane's overhead bin, it is acceptable.
14. Please note that because no money is permitted to change hands between artists and customers, tip jars are not permitted in Artists Alley.
15. Anthrocon does not and can not become involved in disputes between buyers and sellers in Artists' Alley. Anthrocon's role is limited exclusively to processing payments on consignment. It does not imply endorsement of or responsibility for any party.
16. Anthrocon reserves the right to change, amend, or modify these rules at any time without prior notice.

Artists Alley Sign-Ups

Although we have expanded the Artists Alley, unfortunately we sometimes can have more artists than we have seats available. For this reason, seats will be allotted by lottery. When we run a lottery, we take all the names of people who have signed up and randomize them. The first 125-135 (depending on how many seats we have available) receive seats. Everyone after that gets placed on the Waiting List.

Please note that having a seat one day does not guarantee a seat the next. Seats may not be "reserved" from one day to the next by leaving belongings or signs.

Artists Alley signups will take place each morning in the Signup Room (Room 303-305 in the Convention Center); additionally, early signups will be available as described below. Signups for the Friday Artists Alley will be as they have in years past - show up in the Signup Room between 10 AM and 11 AM on Friday. At 11 AM signups will close and we will hold a lottery to determine who gets a seat in the Alley and who will be on the waiting list. You must be present when your name is called!

SOMETHING NEW! Early Sign-Ups! In response to many requests and after seeing how well it has worked for other conventions, we are going to implement early signups for Saturday and Sunday in the Artists Alley this year.

Early Signups means four things for you, the artist:

1. For Saturday and Sunday, you will know by 9PM the night before whether you are on the Seated List (you have won a table seat), or you are on the Waiting List.
2. We will run the lottery each night with the names from early signups. If seats for Saturday fill up from Friday's early sign-ups, we will only take Waiting List sign-ups on Saturday morning. Conversely, if fewer artists sign up early than there are available seats, those signing up on Saturday morning will be competing for the remaining seats. The same goes for Sunday.
3. IMPORTANT: If you have won a seat, you still have to be present in the Signup Room at the lottery roll call when your name is called (Convention Center Rooms 303-305, 9AM Saturday morning, 9AM Sunday morning). If you are not present, your seat will be given to the person at the top of the waiting list, and your name will be moved to the bottom of the waiting list. Both lists are randomized before we call names from them, so no one knows the order until roll call begins. So make sure that you are in the Signup Room at 9AM sharp.
4. If you ended up on the Waiting List, your best chance of back-filling a winner's seat is to be present when roll call is made the following morning (see #3). If a winning artist is absent (and this does happen), we give their seat to the person at the top of the waiting list. If that person is also missing, we go to the next person on the waiting list. If there are any available seats remaining after the roll call, we will not contact people on the waiting list until after the Alley is open for business.

Artists may sign up early for Saturday during Friday morning signups and between noon and 6 PM in Artists Alley. Similarly on Saturday, you may sign up for early for Sunday during Saturday morning signups and between 10 AM and 6 PM in the Artists Alley.

Remember, there is no early signup for Friday's tables. For Friday’s Artists Alley, signups will only be in the Signup Room (Rooms 303-305) from 10 AM – 11 AM.

Lists of who has won a seat in the Alley and who is on the waiting list will be posted by 9PM Friday night for Saturday's tables, and by 9PM Saturday night for Sunday's tables. You can find the results in the following places:

• outside of Operations in the Convention Center
• outside of The Zoo in the Westin
• online at http://www.anthrocon.org/alley/saturday for Saturday, and http://www.anthrocon.org/alley/sunday for Sunday.

Good luck!

Communications Between Artists and Customers

Because artists may sit in Artists Alley for all three or only one or two days of the convention, Artists Alley staff and Anthrocon cannot be held responsible for communications between artists and customers (i.e. for returning sketchbooks, commissions, etc.). We provide a small bulletin board for notes between artists and customers, but ultimately the responsibility lies on the artists and customers.

If artists leave their cell phone numbers with Artists Alley staff, if a customer is seeking an artist, Artists Alley staff will contact the artist with the customer's contact information. Anthrocon's Artists Alley staff will never give out an artists' contact information without the express permission of the artist.

Sales of Artwork

Ordinarily, each vendor (defined as a person collecting monies for the sale of merchandise or services) must have a Pennsylvania sales tax license, and additionally must be registered with the local authorities through the convention for a vendor's permit. The fees for these vendor's permits are charged to the convention and the permits are currently limited in number. There would not be enough for everyone, and the costs associated with obtaining additional permits would be prohibitive. We could not conduct Artists Alley in the traditional fashion without charging exorbitant fees to the artists and compelling them to register for a license and collect sales tax. In order to allow for sales in Artists Alley, we have devised the following system. We apologize if it seems inconvenient, but the alternative is to require all artists to obtain sales tax licenses on their own, or to forbid any sales from taking place whatsoever.

Anthrocon will be the centralized dealer for the entirety of Artists Alley, selling the items there on a consignment basis. We will collect the money and the necessary sales taxes, and will distribute the funds to the artists. Anthrocon is thus responsible for keeping the paperwork in order and for filing the tax forms, and everything is kept legal. The advantage to the artist is that Anthrocon is able to guarantee check payments, and is capable of accepting credit and debit cards for payment. At the end of each day, the artist walks away with cash in hand for all sales that day.

Due to the strictness of the local and state laws regarding our merchants, we absolutely can not allow the direct exchange of cash for merchandise or services within the Artists Alley, or within any other area under the control of the convention. Anyone found in violation of this rule may be subject to losing Artists Alley seat privileges for a period of time. Further violations may result in expulsion from Artists Alley or from the entire convention. All decisions of this nature will be carried out by the Anthrocon Artists Alley/Con Store Manager or Artists Alley Staff as designated by the Manager. Additionally, if such a violation occurs in the presence of a state or local official who has come to monitor our activities, the guilty party will be solely responsible for fines or other legal penalties that may be imposed.

The Sales Procedure, Step by Step

1) After your name is called in the lottery, you will be issued a receipt book. This will be returned to us at the end of each day. Each receipt is in three parts -- white, yellow, and pink. There is a cardboard tab that you can place under each pink copy to keep the writing from going through to the next.

2) When a customer wishes to purchase a print or sketch, write out a receipt on the white copy, pressing hard enough to make sure the yellow and pink copies are made. Include YOUR NAME, the title or number of the piece(s) (or some other way by which you can identify it) and the sale price. Do not total the sale. Tear off the two copies. Keep the white one in the book and give the pink and yellow copies to the customer. Again, KEEP the white copy, GIVE the pink and yellow.

3) Send the customer to the cashier. We will total the purchase and add 7% tax. We will keep the pink slip and will give the customer a cash register sales slip. That slip will be stamped PAID and will have the number of your receipt on it. It will help to minimize lines if you suggest to the buyer that he make his rounds of the room and take all of his receipts to the sales table at one time.

4) The customer will give you the sales slip. The PAID stamp is your proof that the item was paid for. If the PAID stamp is missing, DO NOT give the customer his merchandise - there is a chance that we do not have record of the sale, and you will not receive payment from us if we do not have proof of sale. Keep that slip along with the white copy of the receipt. Give the customer his art, letting him keep the yellow slip.

Now to get paid!

1) Payments to artists will be made at the end of each day immediately after Artists Alley closes (6 PM on Friday and Saturday, 4 PM on Sunday). If you wish to check out of the alley before that, you will have to wait until the end of the day to receive payment, although exceptions may be made for extenuating circumstances; contact the Artists Alley Manager if you have any questions. If you do check out early, we suggest that you check to make sure you have a "paid" sales slip for each white receipt; if not, you may still have a buyer waiting. No payments can be made in the 1-hour period prior to closing!

2) At checkout, bring your receipt book to the sales table. We will compare our pink copies against your white ones. If we are missing a receipt, your "paid" sales slip is proof that payment was made. Once all of your sales are added up we will pay you in cash for the total. Return your receipt book at this time. Congratulations, you have successfully participated in Anthrocon's Artists Alley!

If you have any further questions, please e-mail the Artists' Alley Manager at .

Anthrocon Artists Alley rules version 6.3, June 2010