The International Artists Association defines a “professional artist” as one who:
- earns a living through art making;
- or possesses a diploma in an area considered to be within the domain of the fine arts;
- or teaches art in a school of art or applied art;
- or whose work is often seen by the public or is frequently or regularly exhibited;
- or is recognized as an artist by consensus of opinion among professional artists.
If you are a visual artist and fit this description? Join CARFAC BC to get the benefits that should come with being a visual artist! Or if not from BC, check out the list of regional affiliates on our main page.
Our membership types are versatile to reflect our broad membership group here in British Columbia.
The Voting categories means you as a member will be able to vote, if you wish to, on current CARFAC BC initiatives during our annual AGM. It also means you can request to join one of our monthly Board Meetings, to vote on current programs and initiatives as a representative of the membership.
Membership categories with voting rights:
- Artist (annual fee of 60$): For most of our membership, this category is if you are a professional artist. This includes artists that are new to the field, well established, and everything in between.
- Household (annual fee of 100$): This category is for artist families, couples, or other groups that consist of more than one artist at the same address. This category is also for professional artists in relationships that want to be represented in the same membership, even if they don’t live at the same address. In terms of how many people in your household qualify for this category, that’s self determined, but only one membership profile will be created.
- Senior Citizen (annual fee 40$): For professional artists that are also considered seniors, with our definition being age 65 and older. It is a self declared and identified category, so select if you feel you match this description.
The Non Voting categories are for other professional individuals, associates, and institutions that make or support visual arts, but do not have voting rights with CARFAC BC. You will still receive the membership benefits, as specified on our membership benefits page on the website.
Non – Voting Membership Categories:
- Student (annual fee of 30$): For artists currently enrolled in a visual arts program, either full or part time, but with active class work. All undergraduate and graduate visual arts programs qualify.
- Associate (annual fee of 60$): Individuals with an interest in the visual arts, but not currently a professional artist. This category would be for people such as the staff of a gallery or an art advocacy organization in BC who are interested in the benefits of membership, would benefit from the access to artists rights information that we can provide, or want to support us directly.
- Institution (annual fee of 115$): This category would be for a visual arts entity larger than an individual or household. This includes museums and art galleries, educational institutions, and other institutions with an interest in the visual arts, such as government run visual art sectors of other provinces. Non-profit organizations are also considered institutions in our membership model.
Corporate (annual fee of 260$): A business or organization interested in visual arts that’s for profit, or regularly has an annual operating budget of over 500K. If you are representing a company interested in this membership level, please contact bc@carfac.ca to discuss possible sponsorship representation on CARFAC BC’s sites.