Who are we?
Susan Schwartz and Virginia Broersma are the artists spearheading this project to provide free, artist-centric contracts to artists so we can advocate for better business practices within the art world.
This project began during the pandemic in the spring of 2020. Susan and Virginia began researching the possibility of creating a contract that could ultimately help artists protect their rights and future financial interests in their work. We hosted community conversations to hear directly from artists about what challenges they face and the rights they are having difficulty protecting. Out of these conversations, it was clear that it was time to create a new sales contract for today’s realities. The 1971 Artist’s Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement became a model and guide to learn about how artists have struggled to secure their rights over the past 50 years.
Now - 50 years after the Artist’s Contract was written - we decided to draft a new sales contract with the input of the artist community and make it free and available for any artist to use. With the completion of this contract called the FARE (Fair Artists’ Reserved Equity) Contract, we have recognized that we can - and want to - create a hub for any type of contract a visual artist may need to protect their rights, their work, and to establish better business practices within the art world.
Stay tuned for more updates by joining our mailing list:
Contact us:
Reach out to learn more about partnering with us on workshops and other ways to support the project.
virginia@theartistsoffice.net
We are based in the Los Angeles area.
Publications:
NFTs, Smart Contracts, & DAOs: A Resource for Creatives, by Alex Glancy
Sol Center for Liberated Work, Center for Cultural Innovation, March 2023
FARE Contract: Lawyer Susan Schwartz and artist Virginia Broersma have formulated an updated legal agreement to protect artists’ rights, by C.J. Kent
Artist’s Magazine, May/June 2022
Conversation with Virginia Broersma about the FARE Contract, by Mary Jo Matsumoto
Fox and Bunny, December 2021
It is Time for a New Artist’s Contract Supported by Blockchain Technology to Secure Artists’ Resale Royalties, by Susan Schwartz
International Law News, Vol. 48, No. 2, 2021 (American Bar Assn.)
Project Spotlight: The FARE Contract, Interview with Virginia Broersma and Susan Schwartz
Rhizomatic Arts
The FARE Contract, by Genie Davis
Art and Cake
NFTs- A New Market for Artists and Other Creators, by Susan Schwartz
International Law News, Vol. 48, No. 3, 2021 (American Bar Assn.)
Workshops:
The Artist’s Contract team teaches workshops on the history of artist contracts and why artists should use them from the beginning of their careers, as well as how to use the FARE Contract.
Interested in offering a workshop on contracts to your community? We would love to talk! Reach out to us to discuss more.
To date, we have given the following presentations:
The Artist’s Contract: Drafting New Terms for 2021, The Artist’s Office, August 24, 2020
The Artist’s Contract: Drafting New Terms for 2021, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, September 30, 2020
The Artist’s Contract: Drafting New Terms for 2021, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, November 16, 2020
The FARE Contract: A Tool for Artists’ Rights, Center for Cultural Innovation, February 16, 2021
The FARE Contract: A Brief History and User’s Guide, Georgia State University, March 12, 2021
Negotiating the FARE Contract, Presented by Susan Schwartz, California Lawyers for the Arts, March 2021
Using Blockchain Technology to Secure Artists’ Resale Royalties in the $64 Million International Art Market – A Fair Deal, Moderator: Susan Schwartz, American Bar Assn. International Law Section Annual Meeting Program, April 2021
Developments in NFTs and the Law, Moderator: Susan Schwartz, American Bar Assn. International Art and Cultural Heritage Law Program, May 2021
Legal Legacy: The Artist's Contract, ArtCenter College of Design, Panel discussion in conjunction with Kim Schoenstadt: Enter Slowly, The Legacy of an Idea. November 18, 2021
The Artist’s Contract: A Brief History and User’s Guide, CSU Long Beach, October 4, 2023
Other Activities:
The FARE Contract is in Los Angeles Contemporary Archives. Learn more here.
We have been an Exhibitor at the Other Places art fair in September 2021.
The FARE Contract is included in SETH SIEGELAUB: TEXTILE ART THEORY at Fondazione Antonio Ratti in Italy, 6 October 2023–7 January 2024. We were invited by Lauren van Haaften-Schick who curated a section dedicated to the Artist's Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale agreement, created by Seth Siegelaub in 1971 together with the lawyer Robert Projansky. This section dedicated to The Artist's Contract includes some of its updated versions by contemporary artists such as Virginia Broersma and Susan Schwartz, Arkadi Lavoie Lachapelle and Jean-Frédéric Ménard, Joseph del Pesco and Laurence Eisenstein, Adrian Piper, Alex Strada, whose works will also be on display.