Illustrators Unite: Art PACT

As you know-- or maybe you don't really know-- illustrators / artists are prevented by law from forming a union. That's right. Because we're considered individual contractors (ie "working under a contractual agreement", we are considered as being discrete business entities --just like the local chocolate Factory or the local shoe manufacturer, and as such, cannot form a union or it would be considered a monopoly. Hmph. Silly isn't it? Workers that *can* form unions are employees of any sector of industry; illustrators are not considered employees unless they are salaried directly by an employer.

What you may also know, is that artists working in the illustration industry have, for a few generations now, been getting royally screwed on fees. That's right: fees for illustration work haven't undergone any significant increases in about 30 years. ...Longer actually.

At the last IlluXCon in 2012, a few illustrators held a panel discussion on the current dismal outlook of the industry, and determined that illustrators must take matters into our own hands if we want to see improvements in the working conditions of our industry. (Hear the full discussion here, on Drawn Today.) Art PACT is a "guild" of sorts, and any and every professional or budding artist working in the industry is encouraged to join and throw his or her voice into determining how we can help shape the industry to meeting our needs for fair and living wages. This is for each of us, a right and a responsibility.

Right now, Art PACT is currently only a page on Facebook, but the nascent organization has plans to create a website and begin to garner more support in the artist community.  Some interesting ideas include building an online rating system to allow artists to anonymously rate publishers according to their fees, payment regularity, art director friendliness, and other general work conditions. It will be both a forum for illustrators and a resource for their publishing clients to know what are the expectations within this field.