Art Show FAQ
General Questions:
What is the art show?Where is the art show?
What is the difference between the art show and the art auction?
Where can I find the full guidelines for this year's art show?
Why doesn't the art show take credit cards?
Why not hold the auction on Sunday?
What is a Quick Sale price?
What is "Bad Karma Art"?
What is the difference between the Art Show/Auction and the Silent Auction?
How many bids to send an item to the voice auction?
Do you need any help?
Artist Questions:
Do I need to be a registered attendant of the convention to display art?Do I needed to pre-register for the art show or can I just show up with my stuff?
What information do I need to provide with my art?
Can I just send the artwork to you to display without my presence at the convention?
Can I setup my art on Thursday before the convention?
Where are the bid sheets to fill out? Can I fill them out ahead of time?
Do you have any space left?
What format do you recommend for mail-ins so they can be hung properly?
If the pieces do not sell, how do I pay for return shipping?
Why do I need to give you my contact information?
How do I receive payment for my artwork sold?
When are the checks mailed out?
Can I be paid at the convention?
Where do the fees and commissions go?
Why can't I just register all this information online?
Buyer Questions:
What forms of payment do you accept?What do I do if a piece I'm bidding on goes to auction?
What if I don't pick up the art I win?
Do I need to be registered to bid?
What is the art show?
The CONvergence Art Show is a gallery showing of artwork of all different genres and mediums that fit the loose definition of Science Fiction or Fantasy. The artwork is displayed for the convention-goers Friday and Saturday, where they can bid on the pieces in a silent auction. Pieces with a certain number of bids at the close of the show on Saturday afternoon are then sent to the voice auction Saturday night. The artwork is sold for the artist by the convention and they receive the profits of the sale, minus commission.
Where is the art show?
The show is almost always located in Plaza 5 and 6. The voice auction may be located in different locations each year, check your program guide for the location this year.
What is the difference between the art show and the art auction?
The Art Show is a silent auction that takes place over Friday and Saturday, where people can browse all the artwork on display and make bids on them. The Art Auction is a voice auction in which the pieces that got a specific number of bids in the Art Show are auctioned off to the highest bidder. The Art Auction is normally held Saturday night of the convention, a few hours after the Art Show closes.
Where can I find the full guidelines for this year's art show?
The Guidelines are constantly being updated, but once they have been revised, they should be available on the art show page of this website.
Why doesn't the art show take credit cards?
We wish we could. Really, we do. We know that a lot of people would like to pay by credit card. But the profit margin that the convention takes on sales is so low that we can not afford to handle credit cards. Especially since this is a single-weekend event. Credit card companies charge higher rates for customers that only use their service once a year, like we would. We're always looking in to ways to make this happen, but have not been successful yet.
Why not hold the auction on Sunday?
Not everyone stays through Sunday. Plus, in order to have time to handle all the sales after the auction, we would have to hold the auction very early on Sunday morning. That would reduce the audience considerably as well. In order to ensure the best sale price for our artists, we must hold the auction Saturday night to pull in the largest audience possible.
What is a Quick Sale price?
If no bids have been made on a piece by Saturday morning, when the show opens, a piece can be sold
at the Quick Sale price. Get one of the art show staff to assist you in arranging to buy the item
at that price. Once that is done, the item is sold, no one else can bid on it, it is yours. You can't
actually take the item at that time. It is only fair to the artist to continue to show the piece through
the end of the show.
If a piece does not have a Quick Sale price, it can not be Quick Sold on Saturday.
What is "Bad Karma Art"?
This is a term applied to artwork that was bid on and won, but the buyer never came and purchased the item. Bidding on an item in the show, or the auction, is a promise to buy. The name Bad Karma Art has been attached to this for a number of years, because the bidder has broken that promise and generated bad karma for themselves.
What is the difference between the Art Show/Auction and the Silent Auction?
The Art Show is specifically selling art, for the artists, and taking a small commission as profit to be directed back to our parent organization of MISFITS. The Silent Auction is not limited to just artwork, and displays a number of different types of items for sale. In addition, all the items for sale in the Silent Auction are donated, and all the money collected from their sales goes back to MISFITS.
How many bids to send an item to the voice auction?
The standard number recently has been three, but this can change from year-to-year, so check the guidelines published at the convention or on this website for more current information.
Do you need any help?
YES! PLEASE! The show is run entirely by volunteers, and it takes a lot of work to put the show on. So any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Do I need to be a registered attendant of the convention to display art?
No, you do not.
Do I needed to pre-register for the art show or can just show up with my stuff?
No, you do not. However, pre-registering makes sure you have a space to hang your art when you get there. If you are not pre-registered and there is no more room in the show, we will be unable to accept your artwork. Also, by pre-registering, your information should already be entered into our database and we can print out bid-sheets for you as soon as you arrive.
What information do I need to provide with my art?
About three months prior to the convention, several forms will be posted on the Art Show page of this website. The Artist Form will need to be filled out. There are Display Art and Print Shop forms for providing us with information about the pieces you are bringing or sending. There is an Agent Form, which only needs to be filled out if someone else will be bringing your artwork to the convention for you. If someone else brings your artwork to the show without an Agent Form signed by you, they will not be allowed to hang it in the show.
Can I just send the artwork to you to display without my presence at the convention?
Yes, you can. But you will need to pay a slightly higher hanging fee, and provide funds for the return of the artwork, in the event that it does not sell.
Can I setup my art on Thursday before the convention?
Yes. As soon as the panels are setup and we are ready for business you can setup your artwork. Note that artists who help us setup have a better chance of scoping out the good spots and getting them.
Where are the bid sheets to fill out? Can I fill them out ahead of time?
You do not need to fill out bid sheets any longer. They are printed out at the convention from the information on the forms you submit. The bid sheets contained redundant information and it seemed like a waste of time for you to fill the information in twice.
Do you have any space left?
If it is prior to the convention, yes. If it is during the convention you will have to come and see if you can find space. It depends on the size and number of pieces you have. Space gets limited by late Friday or on Saturday.
What format do you recommend for mail-ins so they can be hung properly?
For the ART SHOW: It's easiest if they are at least matted.
For the PRINT SHOP: We do ask that your pieces be shrink wrapped.
If the pieces do not sell, how do I pay for return shipping?
Return shipping fees (by UPS Ground with tracking) should be included with any mailed in art. If payment for hanging fees, postage and any shipping insurance the artist may request is not provided by the artist and is not covered by sales, then the Head of Art Show will retain the art and contact the artist to make arrangements.
Why do I need to give you my contact information?
The first reason is that if you sell something, we need to know where to send the check. The second reason being in case of emergencies. The Artist Form contains a check box to indicate whether you wish to have your information shared with other conventions. If you do not check that box, your information will not be shared with anyone.
How do I receive payment for my artwork sold?
After the convention is over, we review all the sales information, double and triple check it. Once we are confident that the amounts are accurate, a check will be cut and mailed to you, along with the final paperwork..
When are the checks mailed out?
The process of verifying the information and getting all the paperwork in order can take up to a month to complete. We do not set an exact date for the mailing of checks in case we discover a problem.
Can I be paid at the convention?
No.
Where do the fees and commissions go?
All the money collected by the show goes towards the profit made by the convention as a whole. The convention profits are used to fund our non-profit parent organization, MISFITS. For more information about this, please contact us.
Why can't I just register all this information online?
We're working on it.....
What forms of payment do you accept?
Cash (in American currency), Checks, Gold Bars.
What do I do if a piece I'm bidding on goes to auction?
At that time bidding is frozen until the voice auction. You can attend the voice auction to try to win the piece. If no one bids on the item at the auction, the item will go to the highest bidder on the bid sheet. But the chances of it not being bid on are very slim.
What if I don't pick up the art I win?
Then we send two nice gentlemen from the Orion Syndicate to have a 'talk' with you.
In reality, this is what we call Bad Karma Art. We will contact you to try
to resolve the transaction as soon as possible (we are dependent on Registration to get us
contact information). We have already payed the artist, so until we can collect the money for
the piece and complete the transaction, the convention is out the price of that piece.
Do I need to be registered to bid?
Your badge number is your bidder number. So you must be registered with the convention to bid, but otherwise you do not need to go through any additional registration process.