Category: Art Business Guide

Insurance for art and artists in the USA and Canada

8/9/2019

I've developed a dedicated page which is a Compendium of the companies providing Insurance Policies for artists and art collections in North America - the USA & Canada

You can find this at Insurance for Art and Artists in the USA & Canada.
It provides links to information about INSURANCE POLICIES for USA & Canada for:

Artists, Artisans and Art Studios
Art Businesses
Art Galleries and Art Fairs
Art Collections

PLUS: On the page I also include and recommend you READ BUSINESS INSURANCE Guidebook For Artists BY CERF+ (A Studio Protector Publication). This is an EXCELLENT GUIDE to what you need to know about business insurance for artists. Just click the link and download the PDF file to keep and read at your leisure.

My reason for creating this page is that I have known individual artists in the USA who have been hit by really terrible events - such as fire and tornado and flooding.

For example, eight years ago, back in early September 2011, very bad wildfires in Bastrop, Texas meant Carol Marine (Carol Marine's Painting A Day) and her husband David and son had to vacate their house very fast in the early afternoon. Her house and studio were subsequently burned to the ground. See

Carol's blog - Before the Fire in which she tells us what she chose to grab as she left her home and studio fast.
Plus Karin Jurick's blog - Help for Our Good Friends which points us all to....
this post by Jennifer (David's ex-wife and Carol's co-author) which highlights Carol and David lost their home - a fundraiser - and also recounts what happened as Jennifer was there when the alarm was raised

When we stood in the front street, we could see huge clouds of billowing smoke. There wasn’t even enough time for them to take more than their computers. I backed my car through their front yard and up to Carol’s studio, but we didn’t take anything more than a few small paintings of Carol’s. They lost all her art that filled their house.

Carol commented at the time

The good news is, we have fire insurance. I'm trying to think of more good news, but that's all I got.

I know that having proper insurance for your art business makes such a difference when trying to start again

All that remained of Carol's brand new studio after the fire at her home in Texas. Her home was also levelled. She and her family had insurance to start again...

I am not associated with any of the companies in the listing and get no benefit from it. It's very much a "public information" page (as much of this website is) and was one purely derived from:

knowing people who had been personally affected in a terrible way by adverse weather and other events - it's my way of paying back for the help that people got when they were affected
hitting Google and finding out the companies and policies being recommended by various art organisations and those who provided a decent amount of information which suggested that they were serious about insurance for art, artists and art collectors.

I'll periodically review this - normally to check that all the links are still live!

However, I'd be more than happy to hear from you about your recommendations
if you have a recommendation based on a company you have used which:

you are pleased with
proved to be a major disappointment

PLEASE USE THE FORM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. This signals to me it's about insurance for the USA/Canada.

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I'm not particularly interested in hearing from companies recommending themselves unless they have a demonstrable and serious commitment to providing insurance for artists.

PLEASE NOTE:

I do NOT provide insurance
I do NOT sell policies
I do NOT provide quotes
I do NOT offer advice as to the most appropriate insurance strategy or policies for YOU. Guidelines are generic i.e. general.
I am NOT liable for any problems you have as a result of reading this page or any site it links to. YOU make the decisions not me.
my DISCLAIMER on Insurance for Art and Artists in the USA & Canada

DISCLAIMER: One has to start somewhere when inviting insurance quotes - HOWEVER
(1) Inclusion of a link to a website does NOT endorse or otherwise indicate the organisation provides a reputable and effective service - although I aim, with your help over time, to compile a useful and comprehensive compendium of crowd-sourced recommendations about different insurers - and which to avoid.
(2) I'm also not responsible in any way for the services provided at the other end of a link or advert
(3) I don't know which adverts you see (Google tailors them to you and YOU control what you see) and I do not specifically endorse any services offered by advertisements.

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Legal Matters for Artists - ignorance is no defence

21/1/2019

2 Comments

"Ignorance is no defence" is a very basic legal principle and an age old 'law'.

It basically means that you cannot use your ignorance of the law as an excuse for why you ignored it or flouted it. It also prevents people from avoiding prosecution for things they have done wrong.

As an artist you can neither ignore the law nor try to excuse things you have done by saying you didn't know.

If you go into business, it's a basic principle that you must find out all the things you "need to know" to conduct your business affairs properly,

Legal matters for artists

Legal and business considerations exists from the moment an artist conceives a work
Tad Crawford

I'm no lawyer - and therefore not an expert. However I do know enough to be periodically horrified when I realise the ignorance of some artists about the law that relates to their various activities.

Ignorance may be bliss - but it is very definitely no defence and some artists leave themselves open to various liabilities as a result!

I've created a NEW page, called Legal Matters for Artists, which provides a brief summary of matters which can have legal consequences for artists and what you "need to know" about. You can find it

in the Office Practices section
of the PRACTICE Section
of my website Art Business Info for Artists

In essence it's a combination of a checklist of legal issues relevant to artists PLUS a compendium of other legal resources

It's also relevant to those arts and artists' organisations which conduct activities covered by law relating to art business.

Headline matters

Various laws are relevant to artists - but do you know what these are?

The "headlines" of legal matters cover the following. Under each heading I highlight and suggest the type of issues you may well "need to know" about or be aware of.

Artists Rights
Art Sales - Auctions, Galleries and Dealers
Artist Contracts with Galleries and Dealers
Online Sales: art / commissions / tuition
Art Sales / Tuition: At Home / Open Studios
Art Insurance and Safeguarding
Moving and Shipping Art - including over international borders
Money and Art - and Tax
Art Estates and Legacies
Personal data collection and data protection

Each of these provides links to other pages on my website which provide some of the answers - or links to places which can.

Pages are in development for the following sections - although legal issues which need to be considered are highlighted on the Legal Matters page.

Art Competitions and Open Exhibitions
Patrons and Commissions
Artist as Author / Publisher
Artist as employer / employee.

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Learning more about art

It also contains links to:

various sources of expertise and commentary on art law
various articles and online sites providing information about art law
a book about art law
lawyers specialising in art - including pro bono and fixed price lawyers
courses providing professional development for museum and gallery professionals
tuition in law relevant to art - including a Distance Learning Diploma in Art Law

If anybody can think of anything I've omitted please leave a comment below or contact me

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a lawyer. Nor do I provide professional advice on legal matters. If you need legal advice you need to consult a professionally qualified lawyer. Given the size and scope of this site I also do NOT warrant that:

any information is complete and/or professional
all links lead to the most current and up to date information.

2 Comments

Paul Klein on How to Succeed as an Artist

21/10/2018

1 Comment

This video is well worth watching by those trying to succeed as artists.

Paul Klein has been involved in the art world and with artists for over 40 years. He used to run a gallery. He now focuses on teaching an online professional course for artists - and he works as mentor to TED Fellows.

Making good art is a necessary but not sufficient condition for becoming a successful artist.

He considers there are three necessary preconditions for being a successful artist

Be Distinctive - do not resemble other people. Be yourself and find what makes your work distinctive
Become Engaged - it's not all about the art, you have to get out of your studio Associate with those who are better than yourself. Make opportunities for your art to get seen and for more eyeballs to see your work.
Make Good Art - everything is subjective. People respond in an emotional visceral way to your art.

He identifies a mantra I have heard from a number of people - and frequently repeat to artists I've met in the last decade or so.

50% of an artist's efforts should be outside of making art - that means 30-70 of an artist's time should be on making an artist's career.

Sometimes artists can benefit enormously by having

a business partner,
a long term business strategy - and
by applying creativity to their career.

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(Your subscription is only activated after
you verify the link in the email you will receive)

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TIPS: Business Cards for Artists

5/6/2018

0 Comments

What's the best way of an artist creating a good impression with a business card?
What size should it be and what do you need on a business card?

The Business Cards for Artists page on this website provides a summary of:

why you need a business card as an artist
what are the essential items of information for an artist's business card
what are the optional extras
why the look and feel really matters for an artist
the options around size of a business card - which vary by country!

I've also includes links to articles which make suggestions around design
Plus some options for suppliers of business cards.

As an artist, do you have any recommendations about:

content and design
a recommended supplier where you live? (Note: only recommendations by artists will be published)

Read more about Marketing for Artists

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NEW: The Best Art Business Books for Artists

4/4/2018

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The Best Art Business Books for Artists is the new home for information from another site I developed with the same name. It's a work in progress at present but now has enough content to make it worth highlighting and my other site is about to be closed down.

Initial categories cover:

Short Art Business Guides - for a quick read
Starting Out - for those who aspire to an art career
How to have a career and make money as an artist
How to sell your art
Understanding Art Galleries
Copyright
Art in Transit
The Artists' Resale Right
Art Legacy Planning

Interestingly most of the books on the new page are EITHER new OR new editions of books that have been around for a while.

So much has changed in the past few years. In particular the emphasis on business online is now much more important.

I'm finding that I really need to look long and hard at content as I do the transfer - and I'm needing to buy new editions of books I've loved in the past.

Plus I know than a few authors have recognised the need to update and have new editions in the pipeline.

For example, a couple of days ago I was contacted by Caroll Michels - author of How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist (a book I really rate!) - about the NEW edition of her book which is published later this month. This has got a LOT of new content to reflect the changes in the workings of the art market and the new challenges for all artists - even established ones. For example:

the use of social media and website development as marketing and publicity tools – what works and what doesn’t work;
the confusions between the “art-buying public” and the “consumer market”;
neighbourhood gentrification and the growing challenges of securing a reasonably priced work/live space; and
the pros and cons of the new business models for artist career development.

So I hope you'll join me in my investigation of what's currently on offer and the best books about the art business for artists which offer both great content and good value for money!

There's a lot more to come and this page will be continuously updated over the next few months - and years!

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Your subscription is only activated after you verify the link in the email you will receive

Tell me about YOUR favourite art business books!

I'm also interested to hear about what new art business books you've been buying and getting value from.

If you'd like to share your recommendations with fellow artists just leave a comment on this blog post - or contact me and give me a recommendation.

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Art Business Info: NEWS

Insurance for art and artists in the USA and Canada

Legal Matters for Artists - ignorance is no defence

Legal matters for artists

Headline matters

Learning more about art

Paul Klein on How to Succeed as an Artist

TIPS: Business Cards for Artists

NEW: The Best Art Business Books for Artists

Tell me about YOUR favourite art business books!

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Visitors so far

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Art Business Info: NEWS

Insurance for art and artists in the USA and Canada

Legal Matters for Artists - ignorance is no defence

Legal matters for artists​

Headline matters

Learning more about art

Paul Klein on How to Succeed as an Artist

TIPS: Business Cards for Artists

NEW: The Best Art Business Books for Artists

Tell me about YOUR favourite art business books!

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Visitors so far

GET Art Business Info. NEWS by Email

Author

Archives

Categories

Legal matters for artists