HELP! Paintings damaged at exhibition :(

teacat · Joined: 06 Oct 2006 Posts: 114 Location: Melbourne

HI all - I need some help (and some sympathy...) - I picked up my exhibition last Monday and was packing it all up when I noticed that two of the canvasses had water damage. When I made noises about the damage (one damaged irreparably , the other not so bad), I was told basically, BAD LUCK, you signed a waiver - we are not responsible, you should've had your own insurance...
I just cried, so they said they would "look into it". I know what that means.
Now, the damage was caused by severe flooding from storms the PREVIOUS THURSDAY! Nobody contacted me, at all. It was only when I was packing the art up, that I saw the damage. The water had poured down the walls over the canvasses. I still havent properly checked the others yet - am too devastated.

My question is: YES, I signed a form stating that I didnt hold the council responsible for any damage, BUT in the case of a freak storm which caused an enormous amount of property damage, is there any way in which I could still claim the value of my work?

I'm more upset that they didnt respect or care enough about my work, or value me as an artist...

Marg

belle · Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: Newcastle

hi Teacat, I can't advise you but you have absolutely my whole sympathy. Someone else will have better legal knowledge but the term 'duty of care' comes to mind. Surely when the flooding occurred the first thought should have been to save the works.

gggraph

My understanding, and you would need to get actual legal advice on this, is that NO waiver on any form excludes claims made for actual negligence.* These are put there to discourage people from taking action. IF you feel the council has been negligent, you may have a claim. Their defense is likely to be that the flooding was unforseeable, and therefore they were not negligent.

Either way, their handling of the situation seems to be very poor.

Grant

* The Grand Prix corporation down here used to put something similar on its tickets. Consumer Affairs made them take it off.

sunfire · Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 1430 Location: Toodyay

That is terrible Teacat, you also have my complete sympathy, I can just imagine how devastated you must feel.
It seems disgracefull that they never let you know or warned you.

I have had some minor damage to a couple of mine over time, but thankfully nothing as bad as that.
I read that part on the form every time & keep my fingers crossed.

good luck, I hope you can get something sorted out.

thecatsgrin · Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Posts: 2181 Location: Gippsland

My sympathy also...it sucks.
Try contacting consumer affairs, there may be something they can advise you on, as Grant mentioned, somethings in print put up by shops, organisers, etc, are'nt always within the law... For example , they cracked down on shops having signs up stating that they do not allow refunds, as they are required by law to give refunds under most conditions, and there may be some sort of law governing the sort of issue at hand.
In any case it is worth a look.
I would have imagined that there would be some sort of insurance taken out by the organisers.

Annee · Joined: 28 Jun 2007 Posts: 109

If it's the council who are so careless, can you get onto the local paper with your story and tell all? Councils don't usually like the bad publicity and you may get some assistance that way. It stinks, there must be a way around it. So sorry to hear about your experience.

teacat · Joined: 06 Oct 2006 Posts: 114 Location: Melbourne

Thanks heaps everyone - have had a real good sook this past week and decided that I will approach it from this angle. Told them I would give them 14 days to talk to their insurer, if there was no satisfactory outcome I would go to the press.
The artist exhibiting after me pulled her entire exhibition in support of me - said she refused to exhibit in a place that would not value her or her work.
That was a wonderful affirmation.
Anyway, I will keep you all posted.
I SO APPRECIATE your support and sympathy - made the loss a lot easier:)

heartco

Good luck with that Teacat. When we pour our heart and soul, time and effort into our work, only to have it brushed off as 'meh', yes, absolutely heart breaking. I enter into shows, and sometimes wont go back there when I see how they have been (un) organized, and the number of entries that clearly do not fit into the space (but they make it fit)
I too have also read that 'disclaimer' and wonder if I should insure. I haven't so far.
Heidi

Boris01 · Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 228 Location: Western Australia

Good on the artist who was to exhibit after you for pulling her exhibition in support , thats a nextremely awesome thing to do

most of the galleries and competitions have got the same attitude over here - meh , its only art , so what if its damaged - its not a car or anything of value

One of mine got stolen and the venue said exactly the same thing ( after waiting for 3 weeks to tell me what had happened , assuring me I'd be compensated , etc ) "You signed this piece of paper"

I talked extensively to three major insurers after that and proved to the venue that I COULDNT have insured my work - no insurer here would cover it , and they still said the same thing " you signed this paper but"...

Lawyer said that technically I did sign a waiver BUT they still have "occupiers liability" , but as theyre a big corporation theyd just win in court

so I went to the press and screwed em over in return , they changed their tune pretty quick after the bad publicity

Youve got the same problem as we've all got on this forum ( well most ) - we live in australia and the majority of people just dont give a stuff about art , its not a car or a football so it doesnt matter if it gets damaged , the most annoying part is in alot of cases the people RUNNING these competitions & community shows have the same attitude

Of the galleries Ive dealt with in the past , Ive only had 3 damage my work , I just point out what they've done , tell them I fully expect them to do nothing about it due to their obvious lack of professionalism and care , and then proceed to tell every artist I talk to about it .
Thats worked 3 out of 3 so far - all of em have gone out of business over the last few years ( Im not saying I had anything to do with that , but its nice to see them fail after such bad attitudes towards caring for other peoples work )

Hopefully the artist who pulled out the show after you encourages OTHERS to do so , and the gallery / venue starts to look at how theyre acting and change their attitude

Go to the press and stand up for yourself , they'll cave in and apologise once they thin kits going to damage their "good reputation" ( not that theyve done anything to deserve one in the first place it looks like )

thecatsgrin · Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Posts: 2181 Location: Gippsland

You cant have an art show with out art.... so if people do take a stand, and let the dissaproval be shown, then things may just change.
In one way it will, the quality of the art on show will drop and it will be a loss for them in the long run...because that in turn puts buyers off etc....

I wonder how many people buy art from shows only to get it home and realise there is damage... it probably just gets passed over on to the artist, and we end up with the bad name....

Tell all...LOUDLY! Very Happy

teacat · Joined: 06 Oct 2006 Posts: 114 Location: Melbourne

Thank you all for your support! I did enquire about insuring my work while on show... firstly - it took me a very long time to find an insurer who would cover them annually and secondly - THE PREMIUMS!!! omsfg! They made the whole thing impossible and totally unaffordable.

So like everyone else, I cross my fingers too, every time a show goes up.

And why, when the gallery gets a fair percentage of our profits, should we cover our own work? Surely that should be part of the expected deal for the artist - after all - without our art there would be no gallery - no sales!

Perhaps we as artists should start insisting that insurance coverage be a mandatory part of the exhibition deal. Perhaps if enough big names got behind this and supported us little people, then we wouldnt have to go through this nightmare every time we put our work out for sale/show. I have noticed that all the shows and competitions too, are also including the clause about taking no responsibility blah blah blah...

Bugger them! They get 20-60% of the profit margin. Its just robbery!

I have given the City of Casey 14 days to respond. I have informed them that should the outcome be unsatisfactory I will go to the press before xmas. I shall also post heavily online.

Enough is enough.

Thanks everyone - you all make me feel so much better, so supported. Its hard enough out there, without having people abuse your trust and disrespect and devalue your worth as an artist...

xoxox
Marg

KimO · Joined: 06 Feb 2007 Posts: 1470

How awful for you Marg! Well, I hope your plan should make them sit up & take notice. How disgracefull that they didn't even bother to tell you!!

Allison- · Joined: 06 Dec 2006 Posts: 193 Location: Hobart

i was displaying at a council run art show and someone there told me they had just put their foot throught an artwork leaning against a desk...how the hell does that happen??

so sorry to hear about your artwork.....these places should be taking better care of where and how they store artwork...you story is ridiculously unfair...i wish people displaying and moving and storing artworks would take more care, because the artist can't always be there.

Devilbiss · Joined: 06 Jul 2007 Posts: 3214

Most of these art shows are run to make money.
I have similar stories as well.
I don't enter council run art shows any more...once bitten....

Stefan Maguran

I'm a bit confused here - I assume that the works you enter in a council run show are for sale, so if they are damaged by the council, the compensation is pretty straight forward. No?