1. Governance

There will be a one third artist representation, elected by the artist membership, to serve on the Board of Directors for a term of three years. These Artist Representatives will be responsible for amending procedures and policies on behalf of the artists, and may be called upon to make changes to the Artist Guidelines with a majority vote. They will also create artist committees when needed.

From these elected Artist Representatives, the Artist Liaison will be elected by the artist membership to serve on the Board of Directors and Board of Directors Executive Committee. The Artist Liaison will serve as chair of the Artist Representatives and will determine the agenda for, and direct the artist meetings. The Artist Liaison will submit an end-of-the-year report to be included in the Board of Directors Annual Report. An artist must be an artist member two full years to be eligible to serve as Artist Liaison. The position of Artist Liaison is a one-year term with the possibility of a second term. After the Artist Liaison’s term has been served he/she will continue to serve on the Board of Directors as an artist representative to the completion of his/her Board term.

A minimum of two artists meetings will be held each year, one in the spring and one in the fall. If needed, additional meetings may be added to this schedule. The Artist Liaison will ask the Gallery Director to send a notice of the agenda to all Artist Members at least one week prior to the meeting. Only Artist Members in good standing may vote.

2. Membership, Fees & Terms

To remain in good standing, Artist Members are required to:

Pay annual dues:
The Gallery Director will send each artist member a dues invoice January 1st. Dues for artist members are $80.00 per year with an initial billing on January 1st payable by February 15th. Artists who have not paid by February 15th will be sent a certified letter on February 16th and will be assessed a late fee of $10.00. After February 15 artist membership dues are $90.00. If an artist’s dues have not been paid by March 1 and no attempt has been made by the artist to proceed with an alternate payment plan, the artist’s membership will be terminated. On March 2 the artist in arrears will be informed by certified mail that he/she has been removed from the artist membership.
NOTE: Artists interested in performing volunteer work may assist the Gallery staff at a rate of $1.00 per hour and may receive credit of up to $80.00 toward their next year’s dues. Attendance at artist meetings and service on committees will not be considered volunteer work.
Participate in one exhibition per year (this may be a group exhibition) and participate in a one to five person exhibit every three years.
Update artist files on a three-year basis: submit a current resume, slides, and biographical information.
Undergo an Internal 5 year artist review:
An artist invited to join the Gallery is extended a five-year term of membership. After five years, the artist is required to undergo an internal artist review. For the review, the artist must submit a current resume and twenty slides representing his/her current work. It is the responsibility of the Screening Committee to determine whether the artist will be invited to remain in the Gallery for an additional five-year term.
- Charter members of the Baton Rouge Gallery, Paul Dufour and Jim Burke, retain lifetime memberships and are not required to undergo the five-year review.
- All other members will retain membership for five-year terms.
- At the close of this five-year period, the Gallery Director will notify said Artist Member of his/her up coming review by the Screening Committee. This review will examine the current resume for exhibition record, commissions, awards, etc. and a selection of works completed within this five-year period. This review will focus on whether the work demonstrates professional growth and a commitment to the creation of quality art.
- For the Artist Member to retain membership status, not more than two dissenting votes will be allowed.
- An Artist not receiving the required vote at the 5-year review will be given one year of probation [this means the suspension of exhibition privileges and annual dues] and will be required to undergo the review again the next year. If at this time the artist does not receive the required vote, his/her membership will be terminated. The Artist will be notified by certified mail by the Gallery Director as to his/her continued affiliation, probation, or termination.
- Screening Committee review results will be available to the Artist Membership and Board of Directors upon individual request, but not to the General Membership or public except through the artist in question.
An artist dropped from the membership [due to an infraction of any of the above requirements must reapply for Artist Membership.
Leaves of Absence:
An Artist Member may take a one-year leave of absence [January 1to December 31] with dues being reduced to $25 during the leave. A written request for a leave of absence must be submitted to and approved by the Gallery Director. Artists may not take more than one consecutive leave of absence.

3. Screening Committee

The purpose of the Screening Committee is to maintain standards among the Artist Membership. This committee does not have the authority to change policy. It will be composed of ten Artist Members elected annually. Two of the ten members will be carried over from the previous year and will act as co-chairpersons. The committee will endeavor to have at least one representative in each of the following categories:

Sculpture, metal and ceramics
Two-, and three-dimensional glass
Painting, drawing and printmaking
Film and photography
Fiber, mixed media, assemblage, installations or other

If an applicant applies with work that does not fit the above categories, an artist member whose work experience lends itself to the medium will be asked to serve on the committee.

Only artists who have been Artist Members of the Gallery for two years shall be eligible to serve on the Screening Committee.

Except for the two carry over Artist Members, the other eight must not have served the previous year.

The co-chairpersons will be elected by the previous year’s Screening Committee and cannot serve a third term, having previously served for a year as a regular member and a year as a co-chair.

If a screening committee member is up for a five year review he/she will be excused from the meeting when his/her review comes up.

4. Screening Committee Procedures

The Screening Committee Co-Chairs will meet in October to vote on new applicants to the Artist Membership and Artist Members up for five-year review. The Committee’s duties will also include reviewing non-member and special event exhibitions.

The Screening Committee must have seven of the ten Members, including both Co-Chairs, present to meet.

The Gallery Director will set the date for all meetings of the Screening Committee and will be responsible for notifying the Committee Members of the meeting time.

Prior to the meeting, the Gallery Director will meet with the Committee Co-Chairs to review the screening process.

One week prior to the Screening Committee meeting, the Gallery Director will send the resumes of every applicant and proposals for non-member and special exhibitions to each of the Screening Committee Members for review.

The Co-Chairs will start the jurying process with a review of the screening procedures and criteria for membership [see Section 5, Applicant Eligibility].

The Committee will view all slides at least twice. The second viewing will include discussion, after which each Committee Member will record his/her vote and comments on a written ballot to be tallied by the Co-Chairs.

There can be no more than two dissenting votes for an applicant to be accepted for membership.

5. Applicant Eligibility

No work executed under supervision, including undergraduate or graduate work, or work done in collaboration with other artists, will be considered.

Professional experience should include exhibitions, awards commissions and grants.

Artists submissions must include:

Two actual works
Ten to twenty slides properly labeled
Slide description sheet
Professional resume (two copies)
Artist statement regarding the submitted work
Self-addressed stamped envelope

An artist’s merit will be evaluated by criteria that includes, but is not limited to, the quality and/or consistency of:

Imagery: Should show a fresh and original approach to the subject matter
Craftsmanship
Focus: Should be sustained throughout a body of work
Presentation: The manner in which the work it is presented should be in keeping with the nature of the work
Professional Experience: The artist should show participation in juried, local, national, international exhibitions, awards, commissions, grants, etc.
Slides: The slides should be correctly exposed, focused, have color clarity, be masked or have a non-distracting background, be properly labeled and accurately represent the qualities of the work of the artist
Resumes: The resume should show the extent and quality of the professional experience and be well presented
Actual Work: The work must be ready to be exhibited ie. finished, neat, clean, and presented in a manner in keeping with its nature

6. Exhibitions

The exhibition calendar of the Baton Rouge Gallery consists of twelve, month-long exhibits. The opening receptions for each exhibit will take place on the first Wednesday of every month. The opening day of the exhibit will be the preceding Sunday. The preceding Friday and Saturday are designated as “change over” days to be used for the removal of the previous show and hanging of the current exhibit.

Prior to each exhibit the staff will mail a checklist and calendar to participating artists telling them the pertinent dates of their exhibit. This checklist will include:

The installation date, reception date, takedown and clean up dates. The checklist will detail the information required of the artist and the dates the information is due, including: an updated resume, current slides, biographical information, guest mail list, and a tentative list of artworks including title, year, price, and medium.

On the last Friday of an exhibit, takedown day, the artists involved must make the gallery space presentable for the following exhibitors. This includes, but is not restricted to, removing all nails, patching and painting the walls and cleaning up any special installation detritus. If an artist does not comply with this requirement fines maybe levied and/or exhibition opportunities restricted.

7. Invitations & Mailing Lists

The exhibition invitations will be ordered and purchased by the Gallery staff. The Gallery staff will send invitations to the Gallery mailing list by bulk mail. As an option and upon request, the Gallery will provide each artist with up to 100 invitations and first class stamps to use on their personal mailing lists. If artists would like the Gallery to bulk mail their invitations, they are requested to provide their mailing lists in Excel format to Gallery staff if possible.

8. Receptions

The Gallery will host a two-hour opening reception for each exhibit. The Gallery will provide wine up to $100.00 worth per reception, punch, coffee, cups, napkins and service ware. Exhibiting artists will be responsible for any additional refreshments. Artist member group show receptions will be paid for by the Gallery.

9. Installation

For all exhibitions other than group shows, installation of artwork will be the responsibility of the exhibiting artists. Group shows and invitational exhibitions will be installed by the staff. All shows must be installed and lighted prior to noon the day the exhibition is scheduled to open to the public. Artists are responsible for any special considerations for the viewing and security of their work. Some of these considerations would involve, but are not limited to, painting pedestals if necessary; requesting from the Director adequate Plexiglas pedestal cases for the protection of small objects; and providing for any assistance or equipment necessary for the installation of any heavy or oversized artwork.

The Executive Review Committee must review and approve the work of each exhibition prior to its opening.

All work included in an exhibition must have been completed with in the three years preceding the exhibition and not previously shown at the Baton Rouge Gallery.

No art shall be removed from the Gallery during an exhibition until the exhibition has ended. Art should be removed from the Gallery on the last day of the exhibition after 6:00 p.m. If this is not possible, other arrangements should be made with the Gallery Director before the close of the exhibition. Exhibiting artists are responsible for taking down their shows and must leave the Gallery clean and ready for the next exhibition. This includes, but is not limited to, spackling, sanding, and repainting the walls. If an Artist does not leave the gallery walls in perfect shape the artist will be fined between $25 – $50, depending on the extent of repair, and not allowed to exhibit until the fine is paid. If this means the Artist does not meet his/her requirements for membership the Artist may be dropped from the membership.

Exhibited work that is sold during an exhibition, whether the sale occurs in or out of the Gallery, will be considered a Gallery sale and the Gallery will receive its agreed share of the price.

10. Pricing of Art

Exhibiting artists will price their own work. At least 90% of the work exhibited must be for sale. There will be no price on request [POR] designations. Proceeds from all sales will be forwarded to the East Baton Rouge Recreation and Parks Commission (BREC). BREC will then pay the Artist's commission of 60% of the sale price. This payment will be mailed to the artist from the BREC office. Sales tax will be collected on all sales. Non- member artists will receive 50% commission on works sold.

11. Schedule

The Gallery exhibition season will be on a calendar basis beginning January 1st of each year. On February 16 the Gallery Director will mail a questionnaire to the Artists Members who have paid their dues and have no outstanding fines to determine their preferences with regards time and co exhibitors for upcoming exhibitions. The schedule of exhibits will be coordinated by the Gallery Director and this schedule, as much as possible, will be based upon the desires expressed by the Artists.

These guidelines shall not be construed to override or circumvent the by-laws of the Baton Rouge Gallery, not to override the authority of the Board of Directors of Baton Rouge Gallery. In the event there should be a conflict with these artist guidelines and by-laws, the by-laws shall prevail.