Not such good news.
I had two bad experiences in 2003. Last summer I was contacted by a Bar Association in the area, and they interviewed me for a prospective portrait of a retiring judge. They told me that I was one of 5 artists being considered and they would get back to me. Well, when they got back to me I was told that I was not awarded the commission. They decided to save money and use an out of town photographer who was capable of making a photograph "look like a real oil painting". I didn't mind loosing the commission if it was to another artist, but losing it to a photographer bothered me. I tried to nicely explain why a painting would be more appropriate but they had their minds made up. Since I didn't want it to sound like sour grapes, I didn't say anything else. This portrait was for a large courthouse located about 50 min. outside of D.C. It is filled with oil portraits of judges all the way back to the 1800's. It was truly a disservice to the retiring judge.
Then about a month later I received another phone call from a different bar association. They were looking for portrait artists for a retiring judge and received my name along with other artists from another bar association. You can guess what happened. Myself and the other artists lost the commission to an out of town photographer who was capable of making a photograph "look like a real oil painting". I then knew who gave them the list of names to contact, and also knew that the photographer was included in the list. They probably also told them the decision they had made. This second courthouse is also large, and in a very populated area which is located about 10 min. from D.C. Money should not have been an issue for them.
The real concern for both of these Bar Associations is that a new precedent has been set for future portraits, and the way the first one influenced the other, who knows how many other Bar Associations they could influence.
I do agree that there are plenty of people who still want portraits, but I think it important that we not take anything for granted. The suggestion that we consider banding together to aggressively market portraiture as an art form is an excellent idea. The Bar Associations could certainly benefit from a little education.
As a side note, the "out of town photographer" was from about 2 hours from the D.C. area. That tells me he is marketing his "just like real oil paintings" to a wide area.
To end on an encouraging note, right now I am happy to report that I am working on some commissions with some more coming in - just not any judges at this time.
Mary
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