Apply for membership
Are you a visual arts practitioner living or practicing in Waterloo Region? Then this may be for you!
Membership is intended for single practitioners with a professional arts practice, or those actively developing one. See below for membership category eligibility. Students are not generally eligible for membership unless you have decided to return/attend school alongside your previously maintained arts practice. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions about your specific circumstance. We are happy to evaluate membership eligibility on a case-by-case basis.
Please note that proficient computer skills are necessary for communications and submissions to participate.
1. Send three high-quality jpg images that best represent your work to info@grandriverartists.ca.
2. Complete the form below.
3. For promotional purposes only, Grand River Artist Collective may post your images and information from the Artist Statement on our website. If your Curriculum Vitae is not available on your website, please send it to info@grandriverartists.ca.. If you do not have a CV, please send a brief history of your art training, education and exhibitions.
4. Click on Submit!
If you are accepted, you will receive an email with your membership card and a PayPal invoice for our annual fee of $120.
We list visual arts practices in two categories. Your practice belongs in the Professional category if you can say yes to all four main criteria below. Otherwise you are developing or emerging.
Your work has been selected for professionally juried and curated group and solo exhibitions. This is a different process than inclusion in a peer’s or a community art activity. Other arts practitioners with a professional practice and doing similar work see you as a peer. With some exceptions, for discussion with Grand River Artists, an undergraduate or graduate student would not be considered as having a professional practice.
Have completed training (formal or informal) in your field(s). You have finished school (or workshops, courses, mentorship, etc.) in your field, or you are self-taught and are now practicing your art for the long term.
Have spent a significant amount of time practicing your art. You have experience as an artist. Experience can mean lots of things. For example, you have been painting for a few years. If you can talk about your practice, your art and your personal approach, you are probably an experienced artist.
You are paid to exhibit in galleries and museums, and/or you receive payment for the sale and/or commission of artwork to clients. You don’t have to be making a living solely from your art, but you seek and receive income from it.
Developing (also called emerging) artists are defined as those with some training (formal or informal) and who are actively working towards the above criteria.