The Vernon Public Art Gallery is seeking local Indigenous artists and artisans to display and sell their artwork in its gift shop.
“We are excited about our many local talented artists and wish to express our appreciation of all their skills and talents. We would truly love to represent a wide variety of our local cultures in the space that we have,” said gallery attendant Laurel Schwarz in a media release.
The goal of the art gallery is to provide emerging artists with opportunities to display their work while contributing public access to cultural and artistic experiences. The gallery achieves this through differing exhibitions as well as its gift shop made up of Canadian hand-made consignment.
The consignment is divided by percentage: 60 per cent goes to the artists and 40 per cent to the gallery. Payouts to the artists are done every three months. If the artist is interested in the gallery’s art rental program, the split will be 70 per cent to the artists and 30 per cent to the gallery.
The works will be put up for sale at the price chosen by the artist.
“We strive to keep our gift shop fresh and attractive at all times. How and where the merchandise is displayed is at the discretion of the VPAG staff. An effort will be made to rotate gift shop items to provide as much exposure as possible to our various artists and artisans,” said Schwarz.
A panel of the gallery’s staff will decide which artworks would be fitting inclusions with other works currently in the gift shop.
Final decisions regarding the number of items accepted and displayed will be made by gallery staff. The gallery may photograph consigned works for promotional efforts.
The gallery is in the process of building an online shop to go along with its current website. The plan is to have all gift shop items listed on the online format as soon as possible.
Questions can be asked by emailing the gallery at info@vernonpublicartgallery.com, or by calling 250-545-3173.
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