Joining a professional body or art society
If you are keen to advance your career, gain valuable peer support and grow in confidence, joining a recognised professional body is a worthy challenge, as Sarah Edmonds explains
If you are keen to advance your career, gain valuable peer support and grow in confidence, joining a recognised professional body is a worthy challenge, as Sarah Edmonds explains
Great Britain is home to some of the oldest and most respected art institutions in the world. Indeed, The Society of Artists of Great Britain was founded in London in 1761 to rival the well-known Paris salons. Key figures broke away to form the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768. The Federation of British Artists comprises nine of the UK’s leading art societies specialising in oil, portrait, marine, wildlife, watercolour, pastel, printmaking and sculpture – all of which exhibit annually at the Mall Galleries, London. Every region proudly protects its art society, from St. Ives to Edinburgh and everywhere in between.
Don’t be intimidated by the perceived establishment culture of a professional body, submissions are encouraged from all walks of life. The selection process is rigorous but necessary in upholding the standards of excellence in a chosen medium. Whether you prefer to work solo rather than as part of a collective, one can agree that supporting and maintaining our historical links to great painters holds great value.
In this article, The Artist consultant editor Haidee-Jo Summers shares her journey from art student to member of two Federation of British Artists (FBA) societies: the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) and the Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA).
Q At what point in your career did you decide you wanted to join a professional art institution?
A When I was a student in the early 1990s I had applied to join the city art society, a prestigious group made up of elected members. I asked one of my tutors why he wasn’t a member and he said he didn’t really like to take part in group activities and preferred to work alone. He said ‘the way I see it you either are or aren’t a society artist’ and I felt at once that I was. In fact, I had joined two city art societies (Nottingham and Leicester) and really enjoyed the experience of being around much older and wiser artists. I had always been shy and had been bullied at various schools, so the kind encouragement and support of these artists really helped with my confidence. I loved the feeling of belonging.
It was just a couple of years after graduating that I had the opportunity to study for a few days with a local artist from Leicester who was also a member of the ROI. He encouraged me to enter the annual exhibition that year (1997) and on my first try I had my painting accepted and won one of the Winsor & Newton Young Artist awards. Not only that but it sold for much more money than I ever could have imagined selling a painting for at that time. The prize was a tour around the Winsor & Newton factory with the other prizewinners and several hundred pounds worth of art materials – again, a fortune to me! From that day I dared to hope that I could perhaps one day become a member of the ROI and it became my major career ambition. I had no idea what that would involve or how long it would take. I just knew I wanted to belong to this group of artists.
Q How rigorous is the selection process and why do you think this is important? A If you’re interested in becoming a member you must first enter work into the annual exhibition – and be accepted. This is actually harder than it might sound as a huge number of entries are received and inevitably a lot of good paintings won’t make it through each year. If you are rejected, do visit the exhibition and look at the successful entries. Try to assess honestly whether your work is of the necessary standard. One good indicator that you’re travelling in the right direction is that you regularly have work pass the pre-selection stage. If this is the case, do stick at it. Save your best work during the year to give yourself the greatest chance of success – and keep entering. If you
want to become a member you’ll need a great deal of tenacity, don’t fall at the first, second or even third hurdle!
After having work accepted for three or more consecutive years you can apply to become an associate member of the ROI. The whole of the membership will then look at your work and take a vote. Once you become an associate member you can automatically enter works into the annual exhibition and, each year (for a maximum five-year period) thereafter, the members will take a vote on electing you to full membership. Once you reach full membership it is expected and hoped that you will remain a member for life. It is a rigorous selection process and it takes time and patience to become a member of any of the FBA societies but I think that just makes the achievement all the more worthwhile.
Q What value has it added to your career as an artist?
A This question always catches me slightly off guard because I spend more time thinking about how I can be of use to my societies rather than what being a member does for me! The main benefit for me is the friendship and belonging with other professional artists who also love oil painting (ROI) or marine painting (RSMA) like I do. Some of these member artists are painting heroes whom I’ve worshipped from afar for 30 years and more, especially Ken Howard, Trevor Chamberlain and David Curtis. It does a lot for your confidence when these truly outstanding artists have enough faith in you and your work to elect you to membership of the society.
Q Do you think it’s important to enter open exhibitions?
A Well, that all depends on what you hope to get out of it, as it isn’t for everyone, but there are many different reasons why you might enter the open exhibitions. If you aspire to become a member of the society eventually then yes, it is essential that you enter. But that’s not the only reason you might choose to do so. One is the peer support, as I’ve already mentioned, and the great morale boost of having your work selected out of all the many entries. Another is the great camaraderie of attending the private view and exhibition events, meeting so many other artists there and making new friends. It’s beneficial to be able to add to your CV or biography that you have been accepted into prestigious open exhibitions and it’s a real treat to see your work hanging
in the beautiful Mall Galleries. You may be approached by a gallery owner or other useful contact who has spotted your work there. Also, you will likely attract new collectors who might otherwise not have come across your work.
Q What is the value of these institutions in our industry and how can we support them?
A The FBA is a major visual arts charity that comprises nine of the UK’s leading art societies. Many of us consider the FBA and the Mall Galleries to be the home of figurative painting in the UK. Our societies are historical and link us to the great artists who exhibited together in the past such as John Singer Sargent, Laura Knight, Walter Sickert and Stanhope Forbes. We have an important role to play in sharing our knowledge and enthusiasm with aspiring artists, carrying forwards the baton of figurative painting into the future. The FBA societies strive to maintain and uphold standards of excellence in a chosen medium or genre. Contemporary figurative art encompasses elements of both representation and abstraction and while stretching the boundaries of what a chosen medium can achieve we continue to champion observation and draughtsmanship.
The annual exhibitions of the member societies serve as a highlight in our calendar year, a visual feast and a chance for artists who have spent so much of the year working alone to come together in person and exchange stories and ideas. Every exhibition visit, painting purchase, open exhibition entry fee, donation and membership subscription fee helps the FBA to continue this vital work. You can lend further support by joining the Friends of the Mall Galleries and can find out all about that on the Mall Galleries website. I look forward to meeting you at the RSMA and ROI exhibitions this year!
Haidee-Jo Summers ROI RSMA: https://www.haideejo.com/
The Federation of British Artists: https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/aboutus/federation-british-artists