*DOES NOT APPLY DURING REMODEL*
but is extremly good information
The VFW Art Gallery is open to the public for the First and Third Friday Art Walks each month from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm. (Although we usually stay open later because of large visitor traffic on First Fridays. Our visitor count is commonly between 2,000 and 4,000 people and is even higher some months. Our record attendance for a First Friday is over 9,000 visitors Third Friday crowds are significantly smaller.)
The VFW Art Gallery is also open to the public on the last Sunday in March, April and May, and again in September, October, and November for the Art District on Santa Fe's "Art of Brunch" program. The time is 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.
* The VAC holds an Open Call for art on the second Saturday of each month at 2:30 pm. Eighty percent of the art in the gallery is created by veterans and we open twenty percent of our gallery space to non-veteran community artists as part of our community outreach program. This means any artist can bring in their art to be viewed and possibly displayed in the VFW Post 1 Art Gallery. Art and artists are rotated in and out of the gallery every month. Anyone can be rotated out or back into the gallery on any given month.
The VAC requires accepted artists to be present at the gallery for the First Friday Art Walk. Also, an artist must be present at the second Saturday Open Call each month to be considered for showing in the gallery the following month. Artists who do not show up for Open Call without contacting the VAC Director or Assistant Director before hand to explain their absence will not be displayed in the gallery the following month.
While attendance is not mandatory at the Third Friday Art Walk and Sunday Art of Brunch events, it is encouraged, as each artist is expected to talk to visitors and sell their own work. While the VAC staff may accept payment for art when an artist is not available, it is better for the artist to be there to sell their art themselves.
If someone shows interest in an artist's work any time during the month when artists are not at the gallery, VAC staff will give the visitor the artist's contact information so they can speak with the artist directly about the art work.
The VAC charges a 10 percent commission on gallery sales from veterans and a 20 percent commission on gallery sales from non-veterans. There are no other fees or costs to be in the gallery.
Artists are given approximately 6 to 8 horizontal feet of wall space to display their art. The vertical space is approximately 9 feet. Artists may hang work in salon style up and down and side to side on the wires in their space. Artists may also have a folding print bin or a 4-foot folding table to also display on (tables must have a table cloth). The table and/or bin must be set against the wall. You may not sit behind your table and extend yourself into the open walkway, but if there is space, you may have a folding chair beside your table or bin.
Whatever the art displayed or table, print bin, or chair used, no artist may extend beyond the space they are allocated. We leave a reasonable space between each artist of approximately 18 inches and that space must be left vacant to respect the artists on either side of you.
Artists are asked not to show up or park in the lot for First and Third Friday art walks before 4:00 pm, as you will interrupt VFW staff who are working and may be parked in the lot and need to get out.
If you park in one of the rows in our parking lot behind the building, you are asked to pull in as far as you can so more cars can be parked in behind you.
No one will move cars during the evening except in an emergency. If you park in our lot, you are there until the end of the evening when everyone leaves for the night.