INTRODUCING THE Q-ART FRIENDS SCHEME
Our ‘Q-Art friends’ scheme supports the running costs of our London crit programme. We ask all those participants who can to become a Q-Art Friend and support the crits with a voluntary subscription of £20 for a year’s worth of London crits. The purpose of this scheme is to support the running costs of our London crit programme and help us to achieve our aim of breaking down barriers to art education and contemporary art. Those who encourage three others or more to join as a friend will be recognised as a ‘Q-Art Ambassador’.
OUR DECISION
In October 2008 we began with the simple idea to open up the art school crit format to artists from all backgrounds and demystify the art world through a series of published interviews. Since then we have gone on to attract over 3,000 individual participants, run 46 crits across London, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh, put on 5 annual exhibitions for over 200 crit presenters, run over 30 educational workshops, spoken at key sector conferences, held 4 book/video launches, published 4 books seIlling in the region of 2000 copies, and worked with over 100 art colleges, galleries, organisations and national museums. We have achieved all of this on what has been a virtually voluntary basis.
In the coming years there is so much more that we want to achieve. In order to continue our work, grow, and deliver on our aims we need to ensure that our future is secure, independent and resilient to the changing arts economy. All aspects of our programme need to be self-sustaining and in particular we need to ensure that we cover all of the costs associated with running our London crit programme, including those for marketing, website maintenance, programme composition and printing, administration, travel, facilitation of the crits, and refreshments.
Each year we need to generate £5,000, the full cost of running our London programme.
In order to adhere to our values of access, and because a number of the venues we work with give their spaces in kind, we are, importantly, keeping this as a voluntary subscription. Our decision to introduce an annual voluntary subscription, and to set this at £20, was informed by the outcome of a survey completed by regular crit attendees.
As a Q-Art Friend or Ambassador you can help Q-Art keep going with its fundamental ethic of accessibility, which we are so passionate about. Making the crits transcend institutional barriers and keeping them open to all ultimately helps make contemporary art and art education more widely accessible.
THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES
Q-Art Friends will make an voluntary subscription of £20 for a year’s worth of London crits.
Those that introduce at least three others to become a Q-Art Friend or Angel will be recognised as a Q-Art Ambassador on our website. Q-Art Ambassadors play a key role helping us bring down marketing costs whilst raising income and delivering our programme and mission to more people.
Q-Art Friends and Ambassadors will receive a card to show that they have made a voluntary crit subscription of £20 for a year’s worth of London crits . Alternatively, crit attendees, will be invited to make a donation of £5 on the door at each event. Places at events will continue to be allocated on a first-come first-served basis and booking is essential.
If there is anyone that would like to give more or make a contribution to our wider programme, this would be gratefully received. Those who make a donation of £100 or more will automatically become a Friend and will also be recognised on our website as a ‘Q-Art Angel’.
BECOME A Q-ART FRIEND
Here’s how you subscribe:
Download and fill in a subscription form and return this to [email protected] . Forms can also be requested from Sarah and are available at all of our events. Subscriptions can be made by Paypal, BACS and directly by cash at a Q-Art event.
£20 – Q-ART FRIEND
other – AN OPTION TO GIVE MORE
SUBSIDISED PLACES
We have partnered with Artquest and SEE who will each be subsidising 25 Q-Art Crit subscriptions for those who are keen to attend crits but who cannot afford the £20 subscription. In order to keep Q-Art as open and accessible as possible, eligibility for these subsidised places is self- determining so there is no special booking procedure to make use of this offer. Simply book onto a crit as usual and reference this offer. Subsidised places will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis as will future attendance at events.
We continue to look for additional sponsors.