Artist Alley Information Update!
The rules are up on the Artist Alley Rules and Information page!
Badge Pickup Times
Artist Alley
- Location
- Prince George’s Exhibit Hall B (table location?)
- Times
- Thursday 12 PM-11 PM
- Friday 9 AM-12 PM
- Saturday K19 Artists Alley tables on SALE, first come first served, 9AM-10 AM
February 5th, 2012 – URGENT UPDATE Regarding AA Taxes for Katsucon 18:
The past few years have been a time of great evolution in our Artist Alley. As changes have occurred slowly we were unfortunately unaware that so many people are now doing the level of business that would classify them as Vendors and would require them to obtain a MD business license and Tax ID number for the purpose of reporting sales tax. In response to the many call receive the MD Comptroller’s office contacted us to inform us that this is the case, and to request that we provide them with a managed list of the Artist Alley vendors in addition to the list we provide them for the Merchants’ Hall.
We apologize for not being aware of this change in circumstance sooner, and for the lateness of this update, but at this time we are doing everything we can to make sure that everyone has the information and materials they need to remain fully compliant.
To make this transition as easy as possible on all of our participating Artists/Studios, our Assistant Director of Exhibits, Mark White (mjwhite.katsucon@gmail.com) will be collecting all of your information. Please provide him with your LEGAL NAME (of each participating Artist and, if applicable, the Studio name) and your MAILING ADDRESS as soon as possible. He will provide the information to the Comptroller and the Comptroller will register you.
Note: please do not send your information to Emily or the Artist Alley contact email, please send it directly to Mark at mjwhite.katsucon@gmail.com. If we don’t have your information very soon to provide for registration with the Comptroller’s office, you will still be welcome to participate in the Artist Alley but you will not be authorized to make any sales at the con.
Due to the time constraint in place at this late date, the Comptroller’s office has kindly offered to bring all of the affidavits to the convention for you to sign rather than mailing them out individually (which we appreciate greatly) to each artist/studio. At the end of the convention, Katsucon will mail all of the completed affidavits back to the Comptroller. You, the Artist/Studio will be responsible for remitting your sales taxes directly to the to the Comptroller’s office att hat time. This is the only time you will need to have direct contact with the Comptroller.
Thank you for your understanding and for assisting us in resolving this issue as quickly as possible. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
January 23rd, 2012 – Katsucon is excited to announce that 2012 will be the inaugural year for a new feature, the Cosplay Photo Backdrop!
This will be an enduring, massive-scale illustrated cosplay photo backdrop, with various genre scenes for attendees to pose and interact in front of. It’ll be located in the Artists’ Alley to bring attention to that other breed of “Artist” who is rarely a part of the established “Alley” – cosplayers – and allow them to directly interact with the two-dimensional art of the artists featured in the Alley. Photographers can then involve themselves as well, combining their work in a spontaneous manner to create art that begins at Katsucon and is created from talent and in a context that is unique to Katsucon.
The Backdrop will be 60′ long by 8′ tall. It will feature four panels of scenic, background art, similar to the hand-painted cel backdrops in the animes we all love. It will be a high-resolution, high-quality vinyl banner in scale with people standing in front of it, as though preparing an anime cel background in front of which characters – cosplayers – can be displayed.
Katsucon branding will separate each scene from the next, and artist-specific branding will be included on each image to make sure the art is attributed and that the artists who create the work can benefit from it. The backdrop will include a variety of scenes, covering many themes common in anime and comics.
RIGHT NOW, WE WOULD LIKE TO INVITE OUR ATTENDING ARTISTS TO BECOME A LASTING PART OF KATSUCON’S ART TRADITION!
At the moment, we are looking for artists interested in creating art for use in this banner. This will entail a very quick turnaround time, and will need to be submitted as a high-resolution (300-600 DPI, the higher the better) .eps file.
In reward for helping out Katsucon’s Art track in this way, each contributing artist will have their choice of URL’s and branding displayed in the lower portion of their backdrop. They will also be awarded a complimentary table in the 2013 Katsucon Artist Alley.
The backdrop will have four panels, each of them separated from the next by Katsucon branding. Each panel will depict a separate scene. Two have been assigned, and two remain.
Phil Kahn from Guilded Age will be painting a mecha-inspired starfield for all your intergalactic and time-traveling needs.
Eden Benton from Panforté will be painting an interior church scene, perfect for waifu weddings, Code Geass-like secret schemes, Hellsing-like dramatics, and more.
If you would like to paint one of the remaining two scenes, please read the descriptions below!
- Scene A: A nighttime view of a ninja-esque rooftop, using forced perspective looking up – featuring a moon, clay tile roof. Inspiration from the style of the “Program” short from the Animatrix. (Vector art- Illustrator) Printed dimensions: 15′ wide by 8′ tall.
- Scene B: A bright, sunny schoolyard full of sakura trees, with the school buildings in the background. The sakura should frame the shot so that characters can pose with romantic or moe style beneath them. (Painterly style) Printed dimensions: 10′ wide by 8′ tall.
None of these backdrops should contain any human figures/characters, and no copyrighted characters or riffs on characters, either. The purpose is for these backdrops to be classic anime contexts into which attendees and cosplayers can place themselves for amusement and to encourage types of interaction in the Artists’ Alley other than transactional interaction.
If you’re interested in participating, please respond to Emily Smith (artalley@katsucon.org and/or emily.smith@katsucon.org) AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and let me know which scene you would like to paint.
Any artist is free to choose whichever of the proposed scenes is best suited to their own art style and talent, but remember, there is a tight deadline so please take your available time into consideration when expressing an interest. I will select an artist for each of the scenes immediately and send the technical details required for you to begin work.
If you have any general questions or need clarification on this project’s intent or goals, please ask me on the forums!
Best,
Emily
November 1st, 2011 – Artist Alley Acceptance Letters and Waitlist Letters have been sent out. If you have not received one of these two letters in response to your Application, please check your spam and trash folders in case the email was misdirected. If you still can’t find it, contact the AA Department Head at artalley@katsucon.org and provide your name, studio name, and your proper email address.
Hello, Artists! It’s September 30th – Here’s some updates on the progress of our Artist Alley application to keep you all in the loop!
Our Artist Alley for 2012 will have approximately 200 general artist tables, plus around 30 tables which will host anime clubs, guest artists, and other conventions’ representatives. Our AA Application has gotten around 220 applications to date, with some of these for double tables and some for half tables. Therefore, we’re announcing that our AA Application, as well as our AA Waiting List, are now both full.
Please remember: NOTHING WE’RE ABOUT TO SAY BELOW CONSTITUTES ANY PART OF AN OFFICIAL ACCEPTANCE LETTER. NO CONTRACT NOR PROMISE IS FORMED BY THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS. And we have not yet entered the payment stage of the AA process for Katsu 2012 – if you send payments now, they will be canceled.
But it’s hard to plan ahead when you don’t know if your app has gotten in or not, and the stress of not knowing is frustrating, sometimes to the extreme. The AA head, Emily, is an Artist just like you all. She’s preparing for conventions for her business while also working through the application queue. This means that she’s not yet done with the process of working through that queue, since it requires individual attention to each application. As it’s said: “We all have day jobs.”
Therefore, this announcement is just letting you know that the process is still ongoing, but giving you a peek as to where things stand right now.
- Applications received before September 15th have been placed into our Applicant Pool. They are being examined individually for compliance with Katsu’s AA rules, and no approvals will be given until this examination is complete. We expect that most, if not all, of them will have no problems with them. If you applied before September 15th, please breathe easy and be patient.
- If you have applied for an AA table anytime from September 18th onward, you’ve been placed on our Waiting List. You will, in the order of applications received, be the first Artists we turn to in order to fill out our room.
- The applications we received between September 15th and September 18th are the ones right between Applicant Pool and Waiting List. They’re “in the fog,” and we can’t be sure which group they fall into until the by-hand processing of all 220+ applications is complete. Therefore, we won’t make a guesstimate right now that might later create hurt feelings if our estimations are inaccurate. We would rather tell you “We don’t know yet, but we’re working on it!” than tell you “Yes” and have to change it to a “No.” We’ll make sure not to make the wait any longer than it absolutely has to be!
COMING UP:
So, what’s next? Artists can expect their official Acceptance Letters to arrive in their e-mail inboxes in MID TO LATE OCTOBER. Payments will be accepted shortly after this.
Artists on the Waiting List will also receive an email letting them know of their status. In short, expect to hear from us either way!
Until that time, take care and keep on arting.
Thank you for your attention. Please direct any questions or comments to artalley@katsucon.org!
Hello, Artists! It’s July 18th, Katsucon 2012 is seven months away, and Katsucon’s Artist Alley department is here to check in with you to deliver some updates about the current status of the Artists Area.
Here’s some quick snippets of what work is going on behind the scenes, followed by an FAQ to answer your more detailed questions!
- 90% • Artists Area Rules & Policies
Currently in final revisions. When they’re done, we’ll be posting them for your examination & critique. - 90% • Table Layout is drafted!
We’re working on the last little details, and as soon as it’s all settled, we’ll post the table layout for you to see, examine, and critique. - 20% • AA Staff Recruitment!
Artists Area has begun to collect a team of highly dedicated staffers for the AA this year. As department head, I’m hand-picking them so that we’ll all work together well and so that there won’t be a single AA staffer who shrugs and says, “I dunno, um, ask somebody else?” in 2012. No matter the question! - 10% • AA Signage Development!
For 2012, official signage for each aisle and row in the Artists Area will exist, and in doing so will be better, more comprehensive, prettier, and generally more awesomer than the previous years’ solutions to the problem of navigating the AA. We are in the beginning stages of executing this, and I’m super excited about what we’re going to achieve with it.
One really exciting feature is going to be the Message Board at the front of the AA, where artists will be able to post small stacks of business cards as well as announcements to declare sales, to tell a commissioner that their order is ready for pickup, leave notes for other Artists whose tables are too far away from yours for a paper airplane to reach, or even just to publicize your studio’s table number for easier finding. It’s a pretty simple idea, but I think it’s going to make a world of difference in the organization, accessibility, and friendliness of the Alley.
FAQ
What will the AA look like this year? The Artists Area will be located in the same area of the convention as before. It will take up one full exhibit hall in the Gaylord Convention Center, beside the Dealers’ Room. The walls between the exhibit hall holding the Dealers’ Room and the exhibit hall holding the AA will be closed throughout the convention. The table layout will be based on a “loops” or “pods” scheme, so that all artist tables are backed either by the walls of the room, or by other tables. No tables will face walls or columns. There will be more tables available than last year.
What sorts of art will the AA contain this year? The Artists Area will contain tables for artists of all mediums, whether they work in illustration, painting, comics, fiber arts, sculpture, or beyond. The mediums will not be segregated as in previous years, and the rules for table content will be uniform among all artists. Along with Artist tables, the AA will also be home to Club tables, Artist Guest tables, and the Art Show.
Will the AA be secured this year? The Artists Area will be a secured room overnight.
How much will the AA cost this year? A standard 6′ table in Katsucon’s 2012 AA will cost $95.00. Each table purchased will include two free Artist badges as well.
What will the table size be this year? As before, AA tables will be 6′ in length. The space behind tables will be extended, especially on wall tables, to ensure artist comfort & room to store stock.
Is the Katsucon Artists Area juried this year? No. Katsucon maintains a commitment to a non-juried Alley.
What will the hours for the Katsucon Artists Area be this year?
Artists Area Setup Hours:
Friday: 9 AM – 12 noon
Saturday: 9 AM – 10 AM
Sunday: 9 AM – 10 AM
Artists Area Operating Hours:
Friday: 12 noon – 10 PM
Saturday: 10 AM – 10 PM
Sunday: 10 AM – 3 PM
Before and after operating hours, the Katsucon AA will be secured by convention security, and no one (including Artists) will be allowed back in until the next operating time.
Art Show Operating Hours:
Friday: 10 AM – 10 PM
Saturday: 10 AM – 10 PM
Sunday: 10 AM – 3 PM
The Art Show will maintain its own Operating Hours on Friday morning, during which time it will be separated from the rest of the AA space.
Artists Area Teardown Hours:
Friday: 10 PM – 11 PM
Saturday: 10 PM – 11 PM
Sunday: 3 PM – 4 PM
At close of the convention, all artists must leave the Exhibit Hall in the condition they found it, broom-clean, by 4 PM on Sunday afternoon. Katsucon staff will secure the room at this time.
When is the AA opening this year? The Katsucon 2012 Artist Alley will open for applications on September 9th, at 9:00 PM EST.
Where can I go to ask more questions?
If you have any questions specific to your studio or works, please contact me at artistalley@katsucon.org. For general inquiries about this year’s rules and policies, please post your question to the Katsucon Forum or Facebook page, so that others may benefit from your questions too. =D For general discussion, commentary, and questions, the Katsu Forums are always open.
