ASKING FOR IT – a special rant on International Women’s Day

This morning I awoke with every intention of going into the studio for a major clearing session. I’d just put two large projects to bed and relished the thought of restoring order to the chaos that my fabric stash had become.

Complete with hula hoops, long story.

But then I remembered: today is International Women’s Day.  And I have a simmering rant to share, reanimated by an email I received only yesterday from an American quilting magazine’s editor. Her request closely ran as follows, with some edits to protect her identity:

She was writing a series of articles on how to stitch (particular styles of) quilts, and showcasing the quilts of various artists for examples. In her article for an upcoming issue, she was focusing on ‘a certain topic’. She came across my ‘wonderful’ website in her research for this article, and hoped I would agree to having three of my quilts (listed) shown in this article. She needed full and detail high resolution photos of each quilt, with its name, dimensions and copyright date, and a paragraph or so about how I accomplished the quilting, my thread choices and why I chose those threads, and what machine was used. She also needed a statement giving my nonexclusive permission to publish this quilt in print and digital media. She concluded by adding she was working on a very short deadline, so would appreciate it very much if I would get back as soon as possible.

Now, since I do not subscribe to magazines in general, I had never heard of this publication.  I generously assumed this was a recent startup, with an editor who, though polite enough, hadn’t quite mastered the etiquette of asking for a favour. Upon Googling, I learned that this is a large publication with physical and online subscriptions, with a Facebook following numbering over 200,000 Likes. Hello?

With my usual empathy for deadlines, I quickly sent my standard response,
“Thank you for your invitation.
I am wondering what is your fee to artists for using their images and information? There was no mention of this but I’m sure your publication compensates artists for their contribution to its success.”

And the swift response was,
“ … we do not pay a fee to artists for this type of publicity. If that is something that you would require, I’m afraid I won’t be able to include your beautiful work in the article.”

Hmm.

Fair enough. I don’t blame the editor. Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free? And citing ‘publicity’ is the gold standard for this type of response. Translation: “the excellent exposure we provide for you should be enough renumeration in itself!”

If I accepted all offers of free exposure, I would have little time or energy left to do the real work in my life. Artists have been known to ‘die of exposure’.

But sadly, there’s nothing new here. I am frequently asked by commercial publications to contribute articles and images for free. I am not alone. I don’t know a single artist, textile or other, professional or hobbyist, man or woman, who has not been mined for free stuff, from auction donations to images for calendars, to public presentations.

Many requests come from a good place, with charitable intent, and I’m pleased to accept some of these commitments as part of my desire to make the world a better place, with gratitude for my luck and ability to be able to contribute. But over the years I’ve learned that commercial forces try very hard to prey on this generosity as well as the gullibility of new and emerging artists, and women are excellent targets. After all, isn’t the crucial work of mother, homemaker, family cook and social supporter usually done for free? Isn’t your quilt making part of that?

I make my living as a textile artist. Historically, very little has come back from free images and articles I provided to quilt magazines over my thirty years of professional practice. I’ve had articles published in Canada, Europe, Britain, the US, and Australia, and only one time has anyone contacted me for a (very small) purchase, and not one offer to teach paid workshops. This, after hours spent collecting the information, and wrapping it up the way the editor wants it – just the tip of an iceberg when taking into account the making of the artwork itself and all the years it took to get there. Moreover I’m struck by the realization that editors who ask for free services, and the audiences who enjoy it, likely earn a more stable income (with benefits) than I can ever hope to reach with my full time work in art making.  They are essentially feeding on my creativity while giving nothing back.

The problem is endemic. I wonder – Do we, as female quilt artists, offer ourselves up too cheaply? And what about the editors, many of whom are female? Do they not hold some responsibility?

As quilters and textile artists, it is time to stand up for ourselves whether we are professionals or hobbyists, and ask for financial compensation for the use of our words and images. It does work! One of my favourite successes was to convince a Seminar Series organizer at a local University to pay artists for their presentations. I am happy to say I was the first artist to receive an honorarium. My seminar was released online and got thousands of views, many times more than any previous count. It was excellent publicity for them. Both sides won. This is how we need to approach it. Ask politely. Explain. Enlighten.

And for certain quilt magazine editors, I respectfully suggest that you reconsider your historic stance of not paying your art contributors. Artists have a most difficult time earning income, yet their audience enjoys the visual benefits for free. Especially in this age of digital sharing, artists are already giving their imagery away. Of this I do not complain: this is one of the beauties of the visual arts and it brings me great joy to share. However, if there is no renumeration for creative work that brings profit to others, eventually the very foundation of your livelihood is undermined, as is mine.

On International Women’s Day and every other day, I want to see women supporting women where it counts. Please consider being part of the solution.  Stand up and ASK FOR IT.

Let’s help each other! Your opinions and experiences, successes and failures, are most welcome in my Comments box.

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24 Responses to “ASKING FOR IT – a special rant on International Women’s Day”

  1. Sarah says:

    I think you have a point here, and am not a professional artist, so don’t understand exactly how being a individually. artist works, but I buy a lot of quilting magazines, so I’m probably a customer of the publication that contacted you. One thing you said does strike me as not quite true. You said the customers of the magazine make more money, and are more stable than you, but just consume and contribute nothing. That’s not true. If you go to the hospital, I’m pretty sure you want the nurses to take care of you. This is our contribution. We create a stable society so you can create instead of constantly scraping to survive. Get irritated with the magazine if you want, it sounds like you have a right, but remember that their customers are your community, and they take care of you, even as your art feeds their souls. We don’t have anything flashy or exceptional to show for it, but a queen bee with no worker bees won’t get very far. That’s why humans live in a community. Together, were !more than we would each be individually.

    • Lorraine says:

      Hello Sarah, Interesting take. I agree about community sharing and involvement, and if you read my blog carefully you would see that.
      In your mention that society takes care of artists so they can create…. I’m not sure what you mean. Everyone needs to earn money in order to pay for food, clothes, a roof, perhaps even dream to put kids through school – the basics of life. I don’t know of any society that provides all this to artists for free. Nurses get paid, don’t they? So do doctors, plumbers, landscapers and so many other professionals in their fields. Professional artists aren’t any less needful of a basic income, yet most absolutely do scrape to survive. In spite of this you will have a hard time finding a group that is more generous and community-spirited.
      The gist of my blog is that artists must insist on being renumerated for creative work that brings profit to others.

  2. Excellent article which I completely agree with..this has also been my rant over the years, the conflict being galleries, or publications feel they are doing me a favour and I feel I am doing them a favour, so generally the twain shall not meet…lol..also I feel that they aske for s to do a lot of extra work to get involved, i.e. Photos in right format, words, deadlines, etc…and I am busy working…I am best ro just avoid it all except for donating to raising in causes that benefit my community and afar, which I see as Pay back or tything..and do I do give when asked…so thanks for airing this …..

  3. Tana LaDuke says:

    AMEN!

    If all artists did this then all artists would be compensated better.

  4. ANY Texture says:

    Definitely food for thought, Lorraine! I haven’t been approached by any publication (yet?), but what you say makes complete sense to me! Thanks for saying this out loud!

  5. Vickie Edwards says:

    Right on! Loved every word of your rant!
    Love and admire your work.

  6. Albert Cote says:

    Kudos! As a male Textile artist who also seems to be exploited a lot I thank you for sharing your story. I started feeling like I was being a “Snob” or ungrateful that people enjoy my work enough to use it. BUT, you are absolutely correct. Many years as a painting artist my works were in many galleries on display for free for months sometimes.
    Maybe one or two sold, but the galleries opened there galleries with “free” work from artists. Now some galleries offer a minor fee to the artist. Not enough to live on or even buy more materials.
    Yes, we need to collectively stand up and demand payment for work published in magazines and other publications.
    LOVE YOUR WORK AND WORK ETHICS!

    • Lorraine says:

      Hello Al, I am so pleased to hear from the men in the trenches, and especially from a celebrated quilt artist like you! As I said in the blog, every artist I know has been exploited and knows exactly how it feels. Thank you for sharing!

  7. Charles Peck says:

    Excellent rant, ah well in truth, article. As any artist living from their work knows, this is a perennial attack on the well being of the arts & affects all who make art.
    I will save this to share.Thank you for this article.

  8. Nancy Newman says:

    Lorraine, it still remains a mystery why artists are always asked to give away their time, effort and talent for ‘the exposure’. No-one ever seems to ask the bank for free interest for a year, or an insurance company to waive their fees for a policy, when people are being asked to contribute to a silent auction or other worthy causes.
    I was also approached by one of these DIY publications, of which I had never heard, asking me to send them nearly $1000 worth of my purses, at my own expense, so they could ‘feature’ me in their magazine. They wanted me to explain in detail how to make it, which struck me as counter productive to the whole notion of exposure. I declined, and not completely politely.
    Your rant is great, necessary and worth repeating. Your work is continually amazing and deserves to be acknowledge and paid for. Good for you.

    • Lorraine says:

      I don’t think it’s a huge mystery. We let it happen every time we say YES to exploitation. Artists are the kindest most generous people on earth and they are easy targets. I’m SO glad you stood up for yourself, and shared your story. It’s not easy!

  9. Jeanne Duperreault says:

    Lorraine, as a former librarian and later a freelance editor, i have dealt with people wanting to use material without permission innumerable times! i had to do quite a bit of educating at a museum/science centre about obtaining permission, paying for material, and crediting the artist/author. i was astonished at the ignorance and the resistance to doing things properly!Later i worked as a permissions editor for an educational publisher and spent a lot of time contacting authors and artists to obtain material for textbooks. We always paid, and sometimes quite a bit and that’s the way it should always be. i will never understand why people think it’s ok to rip off someone else’s material, whether it’s art, writing, music, tv shows, movies … i know people who do this quite regularly. i call it stealing. I’m glad you stood your ground–people have to learn!

    By the way, your show in Kingston looks fantastic! No surprise! 🙂

    • Lorraine says:

      I think it’s all about education. People just don’t realize! I’ve found that it’s possible to turn things around with quiet conversation and perseverance. The Ontario Crafts Council always pays for images, also generously, whenever they use our materials – sometimes I’m so astonished I consider turning it down, just out of gratitude! But now my solution to this kind of windfall is to buy art from a living artist with the proceeds. It’s win/win for everyone.

  10. Marcelle Roy says:

    Good for you!!
    Wishing you great success, to you and all you hard working so deserving artists
    Marcelle {remember her?]

  11. Vivian Cothros says:

    You are absolutely right Lorraine! Thank you for taking the time to write this and remind all women, not only artists, that their work and time have value and should be properly compensated. Vivian

  12. Diana Scholtens says:

    Thank you so much Lorraine! This rant will be so helpful to many of us who follow in your footsteps. You are a great inspiration and it is of benefit to me and others to learn from your journey.

  13. Lorraine,

    I couldn’t agree with you more. Very well said!!
    I too will reread this a few times.
    Thank you for ranting.

    Dianne

  14. Annick Bourdon says:

    Great “rant”. Thank you!
    I will re-read this several times as you make terrific points!
    Very proud to know you & support you!
    Annick

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