{"id":114,"date":"2011-04-22T16:36:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-22T16:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnpicacio.com\/onthefront\/2011\/04\/22\/worldcon-2011-good-year-for-the-artists\/"},"modified":"2014-12-14T18:44:59","modified_gmt":"2014-12-14T18:44:59","slug":"worldcon-2011-good-year-for-the-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/johnpicacio.com\/onthefront\/2011\/04\/22\/worldcon-2011-good-year-for-the-artists\/","title":{"rendered":"Worldcon 2011: Good Year For The Artists?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I\u2019ve got a few words to share rather than pictures. <\/p>\n

Wanted to give a shoutout to several people who are working very hard to make this year\u2019s World Science Fiction Convention<\/a> a potentially great convention for sf\/f artists. For those that haven\u2019t been to Worldcon (same show, shorter moniker), you\u2019re probably asking, \u201cIsn\u2019t Worldcon always potentially great for sf\/f artists?\u201d Answer = some Worldcons more than others for the art crowd. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m especially excited about this year\u2019s show in Reno in August, from an art standpoint.<\/p>\n

Five reasons:<\/p>\n

1. Art Night<\/span>: for the first time, Worldcon is designating the second evening of the convention as \u2018Art Night\u2019 to celebrate the visual arts in sf\/f. They\u2019re featuring events and activities spread across the exhibit hall and program rooms. Activities will range from extended hours in the Art Show to featured artist demonstrations and interactive maker activities. For artists, every night is \u2018Art Night\u2019 but I think it\u2019s exciting that the con has realized that if it wants to attract the best pro sf\/f talent, then it should celebrate the sf\/f arts in a concerted way. Will be very fun and hopefully they\u2019ve created a new Worldcon tradition.<\/p>\n

2. Meet The Artist<\/span>: Kaffeeklatches are a long-standing tradition at Worldcons and better sf\/f cons. They\u2019re little gatherings between a single author and\/or artist and a small gathering of his\/her fans. There\u2019s usually a signup sheet involved and they\u2019re scheduled programming items. I don\u2019t think this year\u2019s Worldcon intends these \u2018Meet The Artist\u2019 hours as kaffeeklatches in the usual sense, but perhaps in similar spirit. It sounds like it\u2019ll be designated hours when artists are encouraged to visit with art fans and collectors in the Art Show which I think is good for driving traffic and energy there. I\u2019ve seen conventions where the Art Show becomes a forgotten zone because Worldcons tend to place all of their heavy emphasis on literary functions. It\u2019s good to see this year\u2019s Worldcon making sure that the Art Show will be vital and vibrant.<\/p>\n

3. Artist Showcase Book<\/span>: A very cool idea. I believe Worldcon is adopting this idea from the success seen at IlluXCon with their artist souvenir book. This will be a full-color book available to Worldcon members featuring bios and art from all of the artists exhibiting in the Art Show. This is separate from the usual Program Book seen at most Worldcons, and gives featured exposure to the Art Show\u2019s artists<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Worldcons cost significant money in order to attend: registration fees, hotel, airfare and spending money, whether they be authors, agents, editors, publishers, retailers, fans, or yes, artists. On top of all of that, no one spends more to attend a Worldcon than an Art Show artist (except for possibly retailers in the dealers room). Think about the very expensive framing and shipping costs for the art, and in some cases, insurance for same. And that prep time is valuable time spent away from professional gigs for the pro artists. And then they have to ship and insure the art to get it home again as well. This makes it tough for us professional artists to justify the cost of a Worldcon every year.<\/p>\n

Considering that, I\u2019m surprised an Artist Showcase Book hasn\u2019t been ventured sooner to draw attention to the artists that make an Art Show viable and vital, but kudos to this year\u2019s Worldcon for doing so. It\u2019s a great move in the right direction.<\/p>\n

4. All-Star team of showrunners<\/span>: No successful convention happens without people behind the scenes doing the heavy lifting to carry it off. Every year Worldcon changes cities. Different organizing committees run it each time \u2014 a new animal from year to year. That said, this year\u2019s organizing committee is like the NBA All-Star team of conrunners. Only they know the strange brew of circumstance that brought them together but if you\u2019ve attended successful sf\/f cons, the sharp-eyed will recognize common denominators like Ian Stockdale, Vincent Docherty, Laurie and Jim Mann, Patty Wells, Ben Yalow, John Lorentz, Deb Geisler, Geri Sullivan, Karen Meschke, and several other bright lights in the committee listings over the years. They\u2019re people who come from different parts of the US, and even different parts of the globe, and work hard on these cons for nothing more than the love of the game. This year\u2019s Worldcon features a group of the very best of the best conrunners in fandom, working behind-the-scenes. That\u2019s not normal. I\u2019m not gonna jinx these people by saying this year\u2019s Worldcon will be a perfectly-tuned, flawless con, but we can all expect it will be as expertly produced as there\u2019s been in recent memory. If you\u2019re a professional artist sitting on the fence wondering when is a good year to do Worldcon, this would be one of those years where the stars align in your favor because the talent behind-the-scenes is as good as the talent in the limelight (art stars such as Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Bob Eggleton, Richard Hescox, Dave Palumbo, along with leading art directors such as Lou Anders, Irene Gallo and more).<\/p>\n

5. Anne Gray and Colin Harris<\/span>: If you\u2019re a pro artist, these are two names you should remember. When you get to Worldcon, give \u2019em thanks if you see them. Along with Jannie Shea, they\u2019re the ones that have really spearheaded the effort to make this year\u2019s Worldcon an attractive and compelling event for the visual arts. They\u2019ve developed the ideas above and have consulted artists and art directors such as Lou Anders, Bob Eggleton (and even me) in order to raise Worldcon\u2019s game for artists. I think they\u2019re gonna be successful. All they want now is for the pro artists to attend and bring their art and talent to this year\u2019s show. I\u2019ll be there, and I can\u2019t wait to see how this turns out. If you\u2019re a pro artist, have a look at the show\u2019s website<\/a>. This could be a very good year for us artists. Let\u2019s make this year\u2019s Worldcon a memorable one for sf\/f art.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"