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Frequently Asked Questions About the Open Studios Art Tour©
General Questions About the Tour
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How does Encore Weekend work?
Encore is an extra optional weekend that Open Studios artists across the entire county may participate in. Artists are encouraged to do Encore weekend and enlist other Open Studios artists in their surrounding areas to participate as well. The more artists that do Encore, the more visitors it will attract. It is not only an opportunity for visitors to get to more studios, but to revisit studios with work they may be considering purchasing. A number of OS artists have experienced strong sales and quality contacts during previous Encore weekends. Encore also provides a back-up opportunity if adverse weather affects the turnout during an artist's main weekend.
Do you have to be an "established" artist?
New and emerging artists are very welcome as long as they can demonstrate a body of work within at least one medium that reflects an individual style or personal vision and fulfills the criteria of the event.
Why isn't Open Studios open to any artist who wants to participate?
Open Studios was established by the Marketing Committee of the Cultural Council in 1985 to showcase the visual artists in our county while providing the public with a unique opportunity to collect art and learn about the creative process. Since there were (and are) few galleries, this event provided visibility not otherwise available to professional artists. While the community enjoys the chance to see art and to meet and learn from the artists during the Tour, Open Studios is essentially a marketing opportunity for serious professional artists. It requires a great deal of their time and effort.
Visitors continue to identify "quality of the art" as the chief reason for attending the Open Studios Art Tour, so it's important to continue to attract strong artists to the event. This means that there must be criteria for participating. Any artist may apply, but with under 300 participating slots available, not every application will be successful.
Why is the number of participants limited?
Surveys have indicated that 275 studios is the size preference of the majority of the visitors. Too many more than this number is perceived by visitors as overwhelming; impossible to visit during 3 weekends. Limiting the number of participants is also dictated to some degree by the Preview Exhibit, the cost and manageability of producing a high quality catalog, and demands on the Cultural Council staff.
Why must the artist be a resident of Santa Cruz County, and how is "residency" defined?
Because the Open Studios Art Tour was developed to be a marketing initiative for local artists, any participating artist must be a resident. Residency is defined as living in Santa Cruz County a MAJORITY of the calendar year. An artist is considered a resident of Santa Cruz County if they are registered to vote in the county and can produce a Driver's License that shows local residency. If you work in Santa Cruz County, but do not live within county boundaries, you are not eligible to participate in Santa Cruz County's Open Studios.
Can I use someone else's studio? (What is "hosting"?)
Hosting is where one Open Studios artist shares studio space with another Open Studios artist for the duration of the event. If an artist accepted for Open Studios does not have a studio or has a studio in a remote area, he or she may be hosted by another Open Studios artist.
What about artists already sharing studio space - can they be in Open Studios together?
Yes, as long as all artists participating have been accepted as Open Studios artists. Any artists already sharing studio space must submit separate OS applications, regardless of marriage, partnership, or familial relation unless they collaborate on and share the authorship of ALL their finished work.
Each artist is expected to show his/her own process during the event – including materials, tools, equipment, works-in-progress and visual aids.
All Open Studios artists must agree not to host non-participating artists in the space over which they have interest or control. Nor may they exhibit or sell work for non-participating artists during the Open Studios weekends.
If I'm accepted in Open Studios and don't have a studio, how do I find a host?
Artists are responsible for finding their own hosts if they are unable to participate at their regular studio or if they are plein air artists. It is recommended that you look through previous catalogs and find either 1) A friend, 2) An artist that works in a similar medium, or 3) an artist whose location is appropriate. Both host and hosted artists must officially participate into the event. If a Hosted Artist is accepted for Open Studios and the prospective host is not, it is up to the artist to find another Host. The Cultural Council and Open Studios Committee will assist where possible, but no guarantees are made.
What if I'm sharing studio space with artists not in Open Studios?
Artists working in "cluster studios" should encourage their fellow artists to officially participate in Open Studios. Artists who are not officially participating in Open Studios are asked not to present themselves in any way during the event that may lead to the public perception that they are in Open Studios.
What about retail studios/facilities?
The purpose of Open Studios is to showcase the work of artists and their studios that are not regularly open to the public. Most retail galleries don't fit this criterion because they are open year-round. The Open Studios Committee has outlined five characteristics of a retail studio in the Guidelines and considers any artist whose space satisfies three or more of those characteristics to be ineligible for Open Studios.
Suppose I work on my kitchen table?
Much wonderful art is created in nontraditional workspaces. Part of the fascination of Open Studios is being able to see variety of ways in which people work. As long as you can provide visitors with an opportunity to see your process as well as your finished body of work, there is no restriction on the location of your workspace. If your actual workspace is quite small, you can set up a display in an adjoining area.
What if I work using several media?
It is not unusual for an artist to work in several media. The screening for Open Studios asks that slides be submitted which reflect a cohesive body of work. This presumes that professional artists have developed a body of work within at least one medium even if they work in multiple media.
When slides are submitted revealing extremely diverse work in technical proficiency, style, or medium, the question always arises: Is this student work representing varied class assignments? The more diverse the work, too, the less the visitor can predict what they will see when visiting a particular studio.
With regard to showing several media at Open Studios: Artists are allowed to show different media and styles during Open Studios provided the quality of the work is that of the work submitted for screening. Exhibiting work that would not meet the Screening Criteria will jeopardize future participation. Open Studios is not about showing student work or having a "garage sale" of older, weaker art. Artists should only show work that they would like to be known for and meets the same standards as their screened work.
The goal of the screening is to present the highest quality event possible, while maintaining size restrictions. As in all competitive events, your 10 slides will be reviewed and compared to all of the other applicants, and a scoring system will be used based on the 2 criteria listed below.
Your application will be screened primarily by review of the ten images you submit. You should assume that the panel viewing your anonymous images will have no prior knowledge of your work - that their recommendations will be based solely on what they see in these ten images.
Note: Because there are fewer spaces available for participants than there are applicants, some artists who meet the criteria may not be accepted into the event if other artists who also meet the criteria receive a higher score. All decisions are final.
Screening Criteria:
- The body of the work must indicate a CONSISTENT technical proficiency with the medium.
- The body of the work must reflect a CONSISTENT individual style and personal vision.
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