Art Contests are Unethical and Exploitative
Artists should be compensated fairly for their work. They should be able to negotiate the ownership and/or usage rights of their intellectual + creative property.
Reasons why you shouldn’t enter that mural art contest
Art contest solicit hundreds of designs and potentially only paying for a few while commodifying on the art, content produced, and community engagement on their social media platforms.
Regardless of your experience level, you deserve to be fairly compensated because a chance to win $500 is not an “opportunity”. No one should be working for free.
The value of visual arts for the business of music festivals
Art is revolutionizing the music festival business because the arts and music programming are intertwined. Visual art is highly visible, especially on social media, and creates a digital experience long after the event is over. It transforms the way visitors engage with music festivals and it solidifies their visual identity, brand identity, + brand value.
Meaning — you should consider your artwork as a marketing asset that could be integrated into a marketing campaign. In order for your art to be used commercially in the form of collateral and/or ads, potential clients would need to purchase a license from you before they are able to use it commercially. If not, that would tread into copyright infringement territory.
Onsite installations, like a temporary mural, adds a lot of value to a music festival because it is not just a mural. It is an experiential asset that will curate and exist in user-generated content that festival organizers are banking to produce free content for them.
When exposure is viewed as exploitation
This issue with exposure is understanding that it is not a form of payment yet businesses may argue the (potential) value it has based on their social media following, like what is shown below.
It is important to note that they cannot sell a sponsored post of your artwork if they didn’t hire you to create it under the terms of work-for-hire. They are trying to spin that being posted on their page is at least a $3K value but in order for them to sell your artwork as a sponsored post, they would need to license the artwork from you and depending on the terms of your license, a license could easily be worth more than $3K on its own.
Basically, exposure can be seen as exploitation when it’s not mutually beneficial for the artist doing the work.
This applies to photographers as well. As seen in the comment below, it is not fair compensation to “offer” to pay someone $100 to photograph their festival for 12+ hours per day while requesting thousands of photos as deliverables. It is standard for photographers to be paid for their time AND their images would need be licensed before any company can use / sell their photos to sponsors.
Determining a fair compensation rate
This mural contest is suggesting an artist create an 8x10 mural for $500 with the understand that the contest organizer will provide all necessary supplies. This is not a fair compensation rate based on the “spec work” requested deliverables
Spec work is any job in which a client requests to see final / finished work prior to agreeing to pay a fee. In this instance, they are requesting design examples to be submitted for a chance to be selected and securing $500 as payment.
Artists submitting their portfolio or resume should be sufficient enough. Asking artists to create for free is unethical. Additionally, their contest terms is not legally defined and their comment (as seen below) on social media would not protect the rights of the creators in the court of law.
A few factors that should be included in a fair compensation rate are:
Design fee
Square footage of the mural
Supplies + Equipment
Licensing fees
On average, a square foot can be anywhere from $15-50 per square foot, sometimes even higher, depending on the surface you are working on.
So on the low end, an 8x10 mural would cost $1200 to paint. And, they are looking for 3 murals which should run them $3600 at the very least. But, based on their budget, they are looking to get 3 murals for $2500 — not including licensing fees.
Creative licensing fees can range anywhere between a couple hundred of dollars to $50K (and upwards); depending on the use and limit of the work.
So in this instance, they are leveraging themselves a really good “deal” at the cost of the local artists.
Final notes
Protect your art, your work, and yourself. You are worth more than $500 regardless of your experience level.
Honestly, it’s wild that a company that just secured $6M in investment funding for strategic growth would run contests rather than hiring an artist that fits within their budget.
If you’re looking for ways to gain experience, consider a paid apprenticeship with a local artist or organization.
As of June 20, 2023, the Heartside Historic Mural Team is accepting an apprentice. The deadline to apply is July, 19, 2023 at 4 PM. You can find more information at linktr.ee/DwellingPlace