Art Farm Birchs Bay Annual Sculpture Prize 2022

This month, Arts Law has reviewed the terms and conditions of the Art Farm Birchs Bay Annual Sculpture Prize in Tasmania. Read the terms and conditions of this competition here.

The deadline for this competition is 15 August 2022.  

What is the rating? 

Arts Law has awarded the competition 5 stars out of 5. Read on to find out more detail. 

How did Arts Law help?  

Arts Law previously reviewed this competition in 2021 (view here) and gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars. The organisers, Art Farm Birchs Bay (Art Farm), made a commitment to improve their terms this year, and we are pleased that they followed through with this commitment. We were delighted that Art Farm took on board all of our suggestions this year to make the competition’s terms even more artist friendly. Well done to Art Farm!  

How artist-friendly is this competition?  

This competition is very artist friendly and the terms are an excellent example of best practice when dealing with artists. It asks for a reasonable copyright licence from winners in exchange for prizes and commits to respecting their moral rights.  

How do the copyright terms stack up?  

We are impressed by Art Farm’s improvement of their copyright terms. Art Farm has adopted all of Arts Law’s suggestions in relation to granting a copyright licence and to acknowledge the entrant, term, territory and purpose. 

The terms explicitly state that copyright remains with the entrant. This is very good. However, if an entry is shortlisted the entrant grants a non-commercial and non-exclusive licence to Art Farm to represent the work for promotional and publicity purposes, across all territories for a period of 5 years. It is great to see that the copyright licence is only granted to the shortlisted entrants, rather than all entrants. Further, it is good that the licence is non-exclusive so that artists are free to licence their work to others and that there is a sensible time limit on the licence. For these reasons, we consider the licence fair and reasonable.   

Once the exhibit is complete, Art Farm will retain digital copies of documentation of the work for use in archival and promotional material. This is normal procedure.  

Furthermore, when it comes to the protection of sculptures under copyright law, photographs cannot be taken of sculptures which are on temporary public display without the copyright owner’s consent. Art Farm has committed to upholding the rights of artists by including a term that Art Farm will ensure all visitors will be informed that no personal photographs of work can be used for commercial purposes.  

Overall, the copyright terms are a fair, respectful and sensible treatment of artists’ rights and Art Farm ought to be commended. 

Does the competition respect moral rights?  

We are pleased with the competition’s treatment of moral rights, which have drastically improved since last year where the competition’s treatment of moral rights was silent. The competition now states that any representation of work published by Art Farm will be credited to the artist by name and title, and no significant alterations or material changes will be made to images of the work without artist’s explicit consent. This is a fair outcome for all artists, ensuring that they are credited for their work and that their work is treated with integrity by allowing no changes to be made without prior consent. 

In respect to integrity, we are pleased to see that the competition continues to invite artists to contribute to the placement of the sculpture, noting that the final decision is made by the Program Coordinator. Further, Art Farm will only exhibit sculptures with the artist’s consent, and if consent is not given the artist can decline to have their sculpture exhibited or acquired at any time.   

Other issues 

In addition, Art Farm has modified the following terms to make them more artist friendly:  

Insurance: While the terms and conditions make clear that Art Farm will not cover the cost of accidental or malicious damage to artworks, Art Farm will take reasonable steps to ensure that artworks under their care are appropriately looked after. Art Farm retains public liability insurance and artists are not required to retain individual public liability cover unless stated otherwise. The artist will need to insure their works when they are in transit. 

Sale of Work: The artist is encouraged to list their sculptures for sale at a price set by the artist and Art Farm takes a commission of 30% on any sale. This commission is fair.  The terms and conditions clarify that where a sculpture is sold, ownership will remain with the artist until final payment is made by the purchaser. Following this, ownership will be transferred to the purchaser. Further, it is the responsibility of the purchaser to collect work from the Art Farm once the exhibition is over.  Payment will be made to the artists within 14 days of the invoice for the sold artwork is provided to the Art Farm. 

Commission: A key term of the sale of work is that Art Farm will deduct 30% of the final sale price as commission. Should the artist wish to negotiate a discounted sale price with the buyer, then the commission will be proportional to the final price – this makes it fairer for artists when selling their work as they will not have to bear all the reduction in cost to ensure the sale of the work. However bartering of the price of a sculpture is not allowed. 

Installation and removal of sculptures: It is important to note that artists must be available to install and de-install their works at the nominated dates. The installation and removal of work is the artist’s responsibility and some assistance by prior arrangement may be provided.  The selected sculptures are to remain in position for one year and after that must be removed. 

What is Art Farm Birchs Bay Annual Sculpture Prize about?  

Art Farm is a non-for-profit association established to foster engagement between community, art and the landscape. The renowned Annual Sculpture Prize is an annual exhibition featuring Tasmanian and interstate artists.  

Entries are open to artists worldwide who are 18 years old and over. Entries can be sculptures, varying in mediums, modes and size. All entries will be considered in relation to a range of mediums and concepts, concept development and execution, durability, and safety. There are two categories of entry – large sculptures, for works more than 1 metre diameter which will be exhibited on the trail; and small sculptures, works less than 1 metre diameter, which will be exhibited in the garden.  

Art Farm will examine all entries and nominate a shortlist of sculptures available for exhibition, from which the winners will be chosen. The Annual Sculpture Prize artworks remain on the trail from 15 October 2022 until 27 February 2023. 

What prizes are on offer in Art Farm Birchs Bay Annual Sculpture Prize?  

The competition will award $11,500 in prizes and acquisitions, as well as the opportunity for finalists to list their sculptures for sale to the public.  

For the non-acquisitive cash prizes, the major sculpture prize will receive $4,000 and the small sculpture prize will receive $1,000. There is also a People’s Choice Award which will receive $500.  

Furthermore, there are two acquisitive prizes available for both small and large sculptures. Firstly, the Art Farm & Five Bob Acquisition winner receives $3,000, and results in works being purchased for the permanent collection of Art Farm for year-round display on site. Secondly, the Kingborough Council Acquisition entails purchase of the work by Kingborough Council for $3,000 with removal to a location designated by the Council.  

Overall, the competition offers cash prizes with an opportunity for profile-raising, on fair terms. Arts Law worked with the competition organiser to make these terms and conditions artist friendly. 

You can lodge a query with us here if you would like to obtain advice from Arts Law about this competition. 

About 

Arts Law regularly reviews the terms and conditions of competitions and rates them out of five stars. Our review looks broadly at the terms and conditions of a competition. In particular, we look closely at how a competition deals with an entrant’s copyright and moral rights, and consider this in light of the prize.  Entrants should always take into account the possible profile-raising which may result from being a finalist or winner.  

By accepting the terms and conditions of a competition, entrants should be aware that they may be entering a legally binding contract.  

For more information, see our free information sheet on competition conditions. Artists are welcome to contact Arts Law for legal advice on the terms of a competition. We also invite competition organisers to contact Arts Law for best practice assistance to make their terms and conditions fairer for artists. 

Please note: Prior to February 2018, Arts Law’s rated out of five stars only the terms of a competition which dealt with copyright and moral rights. Arts Law’s competition reviews are now more holistic, such that our rating out of five stars now reflects a broad review of all the terms and conditions of the competition. For more information see our website. 

Further Information 

Please email us at [email protected] to tell us about any competitions or prizes you think we should check.