Information For Artists

The Society.

The British Art Medal Society exists to promote and encourage medallic art, including the production of contemporary work. Its members are makers, collectors and enthusiasts of medals. BAMS is a non profit making organisation, and is linked to a charity, the British Art Medal Trust (registered charity no. 288869), which publishes The Medal, a bi-annual journal with an international reputation dealing with contemporary medals and the history of medallic art. The medals commissioned by the Society are publicised and offered for sale to members in The Medal and on the Society’s website (www.bams.org.uk). Medals no longer for sale remain permanently in the website galleries. The medals are sometimes placed on temporary exhibition by the Society.

The commissioning process.

Artists are encouraged to submit medals for commissioning by BAMS. Ideas can be discussed at an early stage with the Artist Secretary; contact details are at the bottom of this document. When the submission is ready for consideration it should be sent to the Artist Secretary, including the following:

• Contact details.
• A brief statement up to 300 words outlining the thinking behind the medal.
• Drawings / photographs of the proposed medal.
• Costings where these exist.
• Links to websites or other sources that contextualise the work.

These should be emailed as a Word, pdf or text document with attached images to: ben.carpenter@wlv.ac.uk The email should not exceed 2MB. If it is not possible to digitise the submission, please contact the Artist Secretary in order to make alternative arrangements.

Artists may be encouraged to develop ideas by other members of the BAMS Council, and it may be more practicable to continue to liaise with that individual. In this circumstance, the Council member may take responsibility for forwarding the proposed work to the Artist Secretary.

Submission of pattern.

If a proposal is accepted for consideration, the artist will be invited to submit the physical pattern (the finished medal in any material suitable for making a mould from) in order that a final decision can be made.

Subjects for medals.

The choice of subject matter is left to the artist, but the Society suggests subjects if required. Medals should generally be less than 10cm. (4in.) in diameter. Similarly, it is preferable for medals to be kept below 500gms in weight; however, artists can work up to a maximum of 1kg by arrangement with the Artist Secretary.

Medals cast and finished by the artist.

Artists who arrange production themselves should agree the cost with the Society before proceeding. Bills for casting and finishing should be sent to the Artist Secretary, for forwarding to the Treasurer.

The Society will need an example of the medal at least three months before publication of The Medal (i.e. in June or December).

Where medals are produced by the artist, the commission payment to the artist is £30 per medal sold (the Society will pay an advance of £300 against the sale of the first ten immediately prior to publication).

Medals cast by the Society.

Artists wishing the Society to make their medal should contact the Artist Secretary.

The Society will need a pattern at least six months before publication (i.e. in March or September).

Where medals are produced by BAMS, the commission payment to the artist is £15 per medal sold (the Society will pay an advance of £300 against the sale of the first twenty immediately prior to publication).

All Medals.

Commission payments: An advance commission payment of £300 is made immediately prior to the publication of the medal. Subsequent commission payments are paid to artists annually in the Spring.

Moral rights: The moral rights to the work belong to the artist.

Copyright: Copyright of the work belongs to the Society, or otherwise by negotiation, but in all cases both the artist and the Society may reproduce the medal photographically. All sales of the medal must be directed through the Society. Two examples are retained by BAMS for exhibition. Artists are entitled to two free examples (which may be marked AP), and can acquire/retain more at cost price for their own personal use (that is, for their own archive or for use as gifts). The artist’s original pattern shall become the property of the Society, unless negotiated otherwise.

Editions: The maximum size of an edition will be one hundred, plus the artist’s two examples (which may be marked AP for Artist’s Proof). The actual number will be fixed after the medal has been offered in three issues of The Medal (approximately eighteen months). Sales tend to be in the range of 20-80.
It would be appreciated if artists would sign their medal and number the edition.

Publication: For deadlines, see above. Artists are asked to provide notes about themselves and the medal (including a title) for inclusion in The Medal journal and the Society’s website. The photography for reproduction is arranged by the Society. Those artists with a website should inform the Society, so that reciprocal links can be built between that site and the Society’s site. Artists are requested to inform the Society if they create a website at a later stage, so that links can be created.

Pricing: Medals are priced according to the following formula: Price to members = Cost of production + artist’s commission payment + BAMS overheads and postage and packing. Thus a medal costing £60 to cast and finish will be priced at about £120.

For further information, or to make a submission for consideration, contact:

Benedict Carpenter,
Senior Lecturer Fine Art (Sculpture),
School of Art and Design, University of Wolverhampton,
Molineux Street,
Wolverhampton WV1 1SB
tel: +44 (0)1902 323 454
email: ben.carpenter@wlv.ac.uk

11/01/2012