ARTSMART FABRICATOR AGREEMENT

Your partners need to be reliable to make your art practice successful. A skilled and dependable fabricator—a manufacturer of items or components using tools and raw materials—is one of an artist’s most important strategic alliances, especially if you want to create ambitious, complex, or technically specific works that require expert knowledge and handling. 

Optical illusion image with black and white radial lines and three colored circles (red, orange, and green) aligned along the center.

You do not want to leave important relationships up to a handshake. 

Some people think agreements imply mistrust, but it’s the opposite. An agreement says, “I respect your work and our relationship enough to take the time to communicate the terms that suit both of our needs.” A robust agreement with a fabricator protects your designs, and the right to use different fabricators in the future.

The ArtSmart Fabricator Agreement is an opportunity to think through potential consequences. As we shall see, if you work with a fabricator who uses special equipment, what happens if you want them to make the same thing for the same price in future? Or what if you want someone else to make the work? These are the types of conversations you should have with your fabricator before the work starts. The ArtSmart Fabricator Agreement is in the toolkit. Here are the terms to include.  If a fabricator sends you an agreement, keep an eye out for these.

ArtSmart Fabricator Agreement

Instructions

  • Step 1: COPY AND PASTE into your own Document

    Step 2: READ the full document so you know what you need to think about and change

    Step 3: HIGHLIGHT the changes that need to be made

    Go line by line and make sure to update all of the items that are relevant to you.

    List of Artwork

    Title, date, medium, retail price, your inventory number and an image of the work. This information identifies the work without a doubt.

    ANY EDITION INFORMATION

    INSTALLATION / MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS

    NAME

    DATE

    SIGNATURE

    Step 4: LETTERHEAD & RELEASE

    Make sure that the Certificate of Authenticity is on your studio letterhead and is of high quality,

    on nice, think paper. As I mentioned in the book, it is wise to have these only issued and

    released from the studio directly once payment has been received in full for the artwork.