It's that time of year again

It's the beginning of the year again, and SNAP! is once again open for submissions. I've been submitting pieces for a couple of years now, and every year I run into the same dilemma of whether I want to continue or not.

For those who don't know, SNAP! is an annual fund raiser for ACT (Aids Committee of Toronto). It consists of two auctions - a live auction of donated works by established artists, and a silent auction of works donated by "less-established" artists. There's also a competition for us lesser folk. In order to donate work, you have pay a $10 submission fee for each piece to be considered - not all pieces get chosen for the silent auction. Then you can go to the event and see if your piece is there, and how much it's goes for. Thankfully my work has always made it through every year, and it has sold, but I've never won the competition. Mostly because I'm not sure just what exactly the judges are looking for.

Initially this was fun. I'd submit a few pieces, then buy a couple of tickets for around $30 each, dress up and head down to the Church on Berkley for an entertaining, if not interesting, night out. Not to mention the exposure. Afterwards there'd be a little blurb on the website, mentioning the winners and also a number of pages with all the submitted entries.

Through all the hard work of the organizers, this small event has become extremely popular in the past couple of years. Unfortunately the rise in popularity has come with a cost to us local artists. Last year, due to the number of people attending the event, it was moved to the National Ballet School on Jarvis St. A brand new and larger building. However, this meant that the silent auction pieces were divided into two rooms. Not only that, but the work was displayed on cubicle-type partitions that were set up at alternating angles in an accordion like fashion. When a table was placed in front, you couldn't look at any of the pictures straight on, which made it more difficult to get a good look a them.

The crowd seemed to be made up of mostly people who were there just to be seen, rather than to attend a fund raising event that contributes to a great cause, and also gives some exposure to new artists. It just felt like a lot of the consideration previously given to the lesser folk was lost in the new fabulous event. Also, the only pictures currently on the website are in a crappy slide- show and are mostly comprised of uninteresting pictures of all the fabulous, interesting people at the last party, instead of all the fabulous and interesting artwork that was on display. Very disappointing.

Last, but definitely not least, the cost of contributing to this event has become a factor. Not only do I have to pay for the printing and matting of my work, but as I mentioned before, I also have to pay $10 to submit each one. Then if I want to go to the event and bring someone with me, I have buy two $50 tickets. So the entire thing ends up costing me upwards of $160 or more. It would be even higher if I didn't have the ability to print the photos myself. Given that I'm contributing art and giving them a submission fee, it would be nice if I could get a discount on the tickets as some sort of appreciation for my efforts. It all feels a little too greedy these days, but I guess that's what comes along with success.

Just look at what happened to Fashion Cares.