Anthrocon Art Show Frequently Asked Questions

General

I’m not an artist — can I resell previously-purchased artwork in the Art Show?

The Art Show is intended for artists to sell their own artwork, not as a marketplace for the resale of previously-purchased art, so we don’t allow third-party sales in the Art Show except in special cases such as charity fundraising.

If I submit art for the Art Show, is there the same requirement for tax registration as there is for dealers?

No, since the convention handles the sales.

Will there be any art there that is not appropriate for younger attendees?

We confine any artwork deemed to be unsuitable for a general audience to a separate “Mature Gallery”, with entry restricted to adults.

Space Reservations and Display

Do I need to read all the rules and info?? It’s a freakin’ book!

It’ll help! This explains all about how the Art Show works and answers many questions you’re likely to have. It’s got pictures!

Do you have a jury for the Art Show?

We don’t have a jury for the Art Show; all artists are welcome to participate.

Does the Art Show have a print shop?

No, only single copies of prints are allowed in the Art Show, and must be clearly marked as such on the bid sheet. If you wish to sell multiple copies of prints, we suggest you contact a distributor, who would sell your work year–round instead of only at the con.

Are mats or frames required? Can I use glass frames?

Your artwork must be protected in some way because, if it goes to auction, crew members must remove it from the wall, transport it to the auction room, and show it to bidders during the auction. Matting is preferred. If you’re really on a budget, you can use plastic art envelopes or print protectors. Please do not use glass-faced frames! We allowed this on a trial basis in the past, but had several instances of breakage.

I don’t want my space to be next to Artist X, or please put me next to Artist Y.

We’ll certainly try to accommodate such requests; please tell us what you want in the “Special Requests” area of the reservation form. However, we can’t guarantee we’ll succeed. As the Art Show fills up, it’s possible the only available space would make it impossible.

You don’t offer fractional spaces, but my works are small. I can’t fill a whole space.

There’s no rule that requires you to pack your (single) space, although it’s not fair to others for you to book 3 whole panels to display only 3 small items.

If I can’t fill all my space, can I share with another artist I know who has only a few works, and can’t come to the con? I’d act as their agent.

That’s fine! If your friend will want us to send them a separate payment check, we’ll need a separate reservation for them, so make sure they request or download the info packet or make a reservation using the online form. Then, both of you fill out the reservations and in the “Special Requests” area of each, explain that you want to share the same space assignment with the other. If mailing in the reservation forms, send both reservations back in the same envelope if possible.

If the other artist doesn’t make a reservation of their own, you’ll need a letter from them stating you have permission to show and sell their artwork. If anything of theirs sells, the payment will be included in your check, so you’ll be responsible for forwarding their share.

What is the maximum number of panels I can reserve? I would definitely fill them all.

There’s no set maximum to request, but if we reach capacity we might not have enough to go around. If that happens the people who’ve requested a lot of space will have to settle for less, so that everyone who’s reserved before the guaranteed-space deadline will get at least some space. If you don’t fill up all you’re assigned, next year you’ll be limited to the space you did fill.

I would like to post a picture on my panel of a huge artwork that I’ve done. People wouldn’t be bidding on the picture, but the work itself.

Sorry, we can’t allow that. People must be able to see exactly what they’re bidding on, not a photo of it — that’s part of the attraction of going to a convention, otherwise they might just as well use an online auction site. There’s also the logistical problem of getting the actual item to them when they come to pick it up.

Why don’t you offer mail–in service any more?

As our convention has grown, dealing with mail–in artwork has demanded more and more staff time that we feel should be directed to meeting the needs of attending artists, who have invested a considerable amount of time and expense to be present at the con.

How can I find an agent? Can you recommend someone?

Unfortunately, we’re not in a position to make recommendations. The thing is, the person has to be absolutely trustworthy — you’re sending them your valuable artwork, after all, and it would be all too easy for a dishonest person to claim they never received it. Even if they are honest, they do have to follow through with the responsibility of hanging the artwork, completing the paperwork, then picking up any unsold art after the con and shipping it back to you.

We suggest asking (online or at furmeets or conventions) for people who’d be willing to represent you. You should get to know them well enough that you can trust them with your artwork.

The deadline’s almost here, but I’m still looking for an agent. Do you need the agent info right now?

Not right away, but we will need to know before the convention who your agent is so that we know they are authorized to have your artwork and represent you. Please tell us by May 15 if possible, or if your plans change later, contact us with the updated information.

I want to use different names for my work in the General Gallery and the Mature Gallery. Should I make separate reservations for the two names?

Just make a single reservation under your own name (for business purposes). In the “Banner Name” field put the name you want in the General Gallery, tick the checkbox “I want a different banner name for my pieces in the mature gallery”, which will show another field where you can enter the name you want for the Mature Gallery.

Another artist and I collaborate as a partnership, and are known by a distinct pseudonym. How should we make a reservation?

One person makes the reservation for administrative purposes — whoever will be checking in and hanging the art at the con. Enter the pseudonym as “Artist Name” and “Banner Name”. If you want us to split the sales payment and send separate payments to each artist, enter “Split Payment” for “Name on Check/Bank Account”, and in the “Special Requests” section, provide the names of each artist, the addresses of the other artists, and state whether the payment should be split evenly or in some other proportion (two-thirds/one-third, 60/40, etc.).

Artwork Subjects

Is fan art allowed? What about pastiches or parodies?

Fan art of trademarked characters may be entered in the Art Show only if you don’t offer it for sale; as Anthrocon is the seller of record, we do not have permission (a license) to sell them. Artwork done in the “style” of someone else’s milieu is usually ok, as long as it’s not a direct rendition of a copyrighted or trademarked character or scene. If it meets the tests for a parody (detailed in the Art Show rules), it’s usually ok. However, in the face of objections from rights holders or their representatives, the Art Show Director retains the right to remove any disputed piece from display, or set it “not for sale.”

What about artwork of someone’s distinctive character?

Please get written permission for artwork of someone else’s character, even if they already know and approve — sometimes friends of a character’s owner will raise a question about it, so if we have a note in your file we know it’s all good without having to track down you or the character’s owner, and we’d have to set the artwork as “not for sale” until the permission question is resolved.

What about collaborations? I produce (glassware, woodwork, needlework, etc.) using other artists’ designs (with their permission).

We do allow collaborations, but you have to make a significant artistic contribution to the finished piece. For example, if you’re just pasting another artist’s print onto a clock face from a kit, that’s not enough. If you’re using another artist’s design to paint or woodburn a clock face, that’s allowable. On the bid sheet, you’d put both names to show it’s a collaboration. It’ll be your responsibility to share your payment for sales with the other artist(s).

Is taxidermy, or artwork incorporating real animal parts I found or harvested (feathers, bones, antlers, etc.), allowed?

The laws regarding the possession, sale, and transport of items incorporating real animal parts across state and international borders are complex, and it may be illegal to bring certain items into Pennsylvania, to sell them at Anthrocon, or for buyers to take them home. We’d have to research applicable local, state, and federal laws for particular situations. Please contact the Art Show Director with detailed descriptions of the items in question before April 30.

In general, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has told us that as far as state regulations are concerned, it’s OK as long as the animals were not killed in Pennsylvania, and if they’re not subject to any federal laws regarding endangered or protected wildlife. Materials purchased legally from a commercial supplier (such as feathers) may be used.

Are AI-generated images allowed?

All entries must be your own work. Images generated by artificial intelligence engines such as DALL–E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion may not be entered in the Art Show, because you did not create them yourself. We want to see your creativity!

I want to enter artwork dealing with a political topic, is that too controversial for Anthrocon?

We feel that Anthrocon can best serve its members by being a respite and escape from the worries of the everyday world. Works of a political nature depicting any representation of real-world symbolism, organizations, or persons may not be entered into the Art Show, but cultural depictions are allowed. Please contact the Art Show Director with any specific inquiries.

Would there be any problem with entering edible art (shaped bread or cake of some sort), provided (of course) that it is sealed properly?

If it’s an art display and is not for eating (on-site, at least), and is indeed sealed to keep vermin out, that’s OK.

Bidding and Sales

On Sunday, I want to defend my bids when written bidding closes starting at noon, but the closeout takes a half-hour or more and the charity auction starts at 12:30. Can you adjust the schedule to put more of a gap between these events?

We’ve considered ways to adjust the timing, but there’s no solution that’s entirely satisfactory. We can’t shift the auctions later because everything’s pretty tightly scheduled in the afternoon, and there’s always some uncertainty as to how long the auctions will take. Some years they’re over earlier than expected, other years they run over into the “pad” time between events. If the Charity Auction were to start later and run over into the time allotted for the Art Show auction, then that delay cascades so that the bidders there won’t pick up their artwork until even later, and we risk running into the brick wall of the time when we have to start packing things up.

We don’t want to close the Art Show written bidding earlier because that’s less time for people to put in bids so that would also be depriving the artists of money, and it’s better to close at the top of the hour to keep things simple — people are used to it closing at noon, so moving it up to a time like 11:30 would likely lead to confusion.

I bid on some artwork, but I don’t know if I won it — they won’t let me in, there are a lot of people waiting, my ride’s leaving, etc. Can you at least post a list of winning bidders?

We’re working hard to improve the efficiency of sales pickup. It boils down to there’s a lot that has to be done and not a lot of people willing to help do it. We can’t let people into the Art Show to check their bids or pick up their artwork until our crew has marked off the winning bids on all of the bid sheets — typically, over 2,000 pieces. We can’t individually escort everyone who just wants to see if they’ve won a piece, since that would take people away from the job of marking all the high bids and make the overall delay even longer.

We do try to accommodate extraordinary and immediate needs, such as family emergencies; please explain the situation to the person guarding the Art Show entrance, who will have been given guidelines of how to assist in such circumstances.

If you have an early flight or train, please let us know on Friday or Saturday and we’ll give you a pass for early sales pickup. Note, however, that it can take up to an hour or more to pick up and pay for your artwork, so if you must leave before 2 PM, you should make alternative arrangements, such as having a friend pick up your artwork for you. Tell us your situation in advance at the bidder sign-up table, and we’ll help you out. Please don’t wait until Sunday!

It’s impractical to post a list of winning bidders — considering the size of the Art Show, and the short timeframe involved, it would require immense resources to be able to do that. Other cons manage because they’re smaller, or allow themselves more time, but our feeding frenzy on Sunday morning increases the average amount of sales per artist by upwards of 20%, so we don’t want to give that up.

The schedule says sales pickup goes only until 5 PM, but I’ll be at both the auction and the charity show, which may run past 5!

Of course we’ll allow some leeway in case the charity show runs over, and we know it takes some time to get your artwork and pay for it. We’d like people to arrive by 5 PM if at all possible, because we need to finish up sales, complete the necessary bookkeeping, and start packing things up.

Any thought of introducing a shipping service?

We don’t have staff available to handle shipping services for people. We’ve inquired whether FedEx would do so, but they were not interested, nor in opening their Liberty Avenue store for special Sunday hours (it’s normally closed that day).

I was the high bidder on some artwork, but wasn’t able to pick it up at the con. What happens now?

Once everything gets settled down and sorted out after the con, we’ll contact you with the details of what you bid on, the total amount including postage and sales tax, and how to pay. Please be patient; this could take several weeks. If you’re not sure whether you were the high bidder, and you’ve set aside money to pay for something you think you may have won, don’t spend it without checking with us.

Sales Payments

When will I get my payment?

Payments for sales are issued within 60 days of the end of the convention. Of course, allow a few days’ delivery time for your check to actually arrive. Payments by check to addresses outside the USA are sent by US Postal Service First Class Mail International (air mail). International funds transfers are done through our payment processor, wise.com; if you have not already done so, please contact the Art Show Director to provide banking information.

To tally the sales, we reconcile the bid sheets of every item sold against our record of unsold artwork that has been taken home by artists to make sure that all pieces entered into the Art Show have been accounted for. This is done on an artist-by-artist basis, starting with those selling only one piece, in order to pay more artists faster. If we encounter some irregularities in our records, such as a bid sheet missing because it wasn’t returned at check-out and the artwork marked as unsold, we can’t figure out where the problem lies until we finish reconciling all the bid sheets, and it will delay your payment. Thus, please be meticulous when you check out!

How can I get paid faster?

Please notify us if your address changes, and (especially if you’re sharing a residence with someone else) make sure you inform your local post office of your current address. Checks are sent by first class mail, which the post office may not deliver if they don’t have the addressee’s name on file as residing at the address indicated (unlike junk mail which gets delivered anyway, no matter to whom it’s addressed). Make sure there’s a label with your name on your mailbox, too.

What if my check gets lost or destroyed?

If you haven’t received your payment by the end of September, please contact us. Mail does get misdirected or delayed. Sometimes it gets returned marked “addressee unknown” for no apparent reason weeks or months later. That’s why we ask for your phone number. We’ll never call except in critical situations such as this, when there’s no other way to contact you. If you do receive your check but the dog eats it, it goes through the laundry, etc., just let us know, we’ll send you a replacement. Don’t try to fool us and cash both of them, though — that’ll get you permanently banned, and we may file fraud charges.

Will I get paid faster if I complain to Kage, or on social media, about it?

No. Kage is not responsible for tallying up the Art Show sales. That’s overseen by the Art Show Director, Peter Kappesser (PeterCat), who devotes as much time as possible but has family obligations which at times must take precedence over Anthrocon matters. Payments are issued as quickly as possible, balancing all the circumstances. Public comments only delay things, as time is spent addressing the comments instead of processing payments.

Will I find out the price each piece sold for, and who bought it?

Yes, we will provide a sales report listing the price for each piece sold, when it sold (written bid or at auction), and the name and email address of the buyer, if they allow it to be shared. This may be sent separately from the payment check, in order to issue the checks sooner.

You returned the artwork I left behind, but some of it is missing!

That simply means those pieces were sold, and once we’ve tallied all the sales, we’ll be able to send your payment check.