Last November I attended ISCACON24 which is the annual convention for the International Society of Caricature Artists. I have been going for over 10 years. One of the highlights is a VIP reception for members to mingle with the guest of honor. This time, the guest speaker was Jason Seiler who is a phenomenal painter and artist from Chicago. He decided to do a digital painting demonstration during the reception. Projected up large on a screen was the caricature he was painting while members socialized and drank over the 3 hour reception. Jason interacted with members as he painted. They asked questions and the artist would respond, all while painting a guest who was ecstatic about being painted by him. The atmosphere was very unique and enjoyable. It was from this experience that I came up with the idea to offer a similar service for cocktail receptions, corporate events, fundraisers and other related functions in which an award-winning artist could paint a guest or host while engaging with attendees during the event. Think of it; as an added feature to your hi-end event, an award-winning artist sets up and does a live painting of the host, guest-of-honor or a winner’s favorite celebrity which can then be used for a charity auction once it is finished! 7 months later, we have put the finishing touches on our brand new service with our new web page featuring 6 incredible artists who you can now book for your function anywhere in the U.S. or abroad. I am very excited about this new service and I am looking forward to seeing what these artists can do for our clients. Check out the page and Let me know your thoughts!
Q: We have a charity that holds an annual fundraiser every July. Would any of your artists be willing to donate their time to help entertain our guests during the event?
A: First off, I applaud those organizers’ efforts who take on the thankless task of soliciting donated services from vendors like us. It can be challenging to ask for donations from service providers who are used to charging for their services. Goofy Faces has participated in many charity events in the past. Some are organized with artists who we book while others I personally donate my own time during my slower months. Unfortunately, not many artists can afford to donate their time for events for free, especially during peak season. Artists make the majority of their income in the summer months, especially each weekend. They also get very busy during the holidays. Coincidentally, this is when many organizations choose to hold their fund-raisers and seek donated help.
If you plan to contact entertainers to help out your cause, avoid using services like Gigmasters since many of us pay your booking fees to be listed on their site. Also keep in mind that as entertainers, all us of are inundated with these kind of requests on a regular basis. This makes it very difficult for us to pick and choose which benefits to consider when we realize that we must give up paid work in order to commit to yours. I suggest a different strategy for your requests.
Instead of contacting artists to see if they can work for free, find a donor or sponsor who would be willing to pay in advance for the artists services in exchange for their business name or company logo preprinted on each sheet of paper they use. This way, charity organizers will have no trouble finding artists willing to work any fundraising event, while a sponsor is recognized for their part in your charity. We have found this method to be far more successful and have booked many charities using this process. Many artists will offer to print up the paper for free and even discount their hourly rate to help your cause.
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