Another Rejection By Alberta Foundation For The Arts

Got the latest in a long line of rejections form the grant and art and acquisition people. This one is a province based rejection. Did not even make it to the second round again.

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Thank you for your application to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Art Acquisition by Application Program.
An expert panel, comprised of members from the Alberta arts community, has assessed your submission. We regret to inform you that the work you submitted for this deadline was not selected for acquisition. 

There were 598 artworks submitted to this deadline and 72 works were selected for in-person viewing.
We appreciate your interest in the programs offered by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and encourage you to apply at the next available deadline, which is April 1, 2021.

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I feel very disappointed, these lives, these stories will yet again be forgotten. I let my subjects down as I have done many times in the past. I guess the EXPERTS feel the lives, the stories, of Woo-Wee-Kai and Nui-Ooh are not worth remembering.

The money from the sales of the prints, would have gone back to the subjects. That will not happen now. Let them down again. I wish I was a better photographer, and could tell their stories with more heart, feeling, power. I do the best I can, guess it is not enough.

http://gerryyaum.blogspot.com/2020/03/art-by-acquisition-submission-to.html

Here is a link to other rejections by the Alberta art experts.

http://gerryyaum.blogspot.com/search?q=Acquisition

Child waiting for mother to finish work, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot garbage dump, Mae Sot, Thailand 2015

Family in their dump home, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot garbage dump, Mae Sot Thailand 2016

Dump shack homes and dogs, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot garbage dump, Mae Sot, Thailand 2016

Nui-ooh walking the garbage, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand 2016

Woo-wee-kai with her father in their home, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot garbage dump, Mae Sot, Thailand 2019

Art Acquisition Rejection 2018

Got a another rejection email from the Art Foundation of Alberta today. This reject was for the 5 new colour images form the 2018 trip to the dump in Thailand. I guess they did not like the story of the lives of "Families of the Dump"
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Thank you for your application to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Art Acquisition by Application Program. There were a total of 670 works submitted for consideration, received from 165 artists across the province.

Your submission has been assessed by an expert panel, comprised of members from the Alberta art community. I regret to inform you that the work you submitted for this deadline was not selected for acquisition. It is disappointing to be rejected yet again, I could have raised awareness of the lives of the families and made a bit of money (greatly needed) as well. Here is the rejection email.

Update* I might try the Japan subway "KODOKU" (solitude) pictures next year.
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We appreciate your interest in the programs offered by the AFA and encourage you to apply at the next available deadline, which is April 1st, 2019.

You can find the most recent Expert Panel feedback in the guidelines of the Art Acquisition by Application funding opportunity, under the drop down section "Helpful resources". Alternatively, you can find this information for all project opportunities on our Expert Panel feedback archive page.

https://www.affta.ab.ca/expert-panel-feedback-archive

If you have any questions regarding your application, please contact Elizabeth Capak at 780.638.2850. If required, a toll-free connection is available by first dialing 310.0000.

Yours sincerely,

E--- M------

Manager, Art Collections

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Here is a link to the rejected photographs. The best I can do, the best I have ever done, of the most important worthwhile subject I have ever photographed and it is still not good enough for the AFA jury.

http://gerryyaum.blogspot.com/2018/04/alberta-foundation-for-arts-art-by.html

Another Rejection Notice From The Art Foundation Of Alberta

The families of tthe dump work was rejected by the art by acquisition jury (expert panel)  in my province of Alberta. I will not be able to donate that money to the families. The donation to the people total stays stuck at $1370 CAD.

Here is the  most recent rejection letter, a generic (my name is not mentioned) letter they sent out to the masses.

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Thank you for your application to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Art Acquisition by Application Program. There were a total of 700 works submitted for consideration, received from 172 artists across the province.

Your submission has been assessed by an expert panel, comprised of members from the Alberta art community. I regret to inform you that the work you submitted for this deadline was not selected for acquisition. We appreciate your interest in the programs offered by the AFA and encourage you to apply at the next available deadline, which is April 1st, 2018.

Yours sincerely,

Erin M..............
Manager, Art Collections

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Here is ome of the rejected imagery and people they did not want to add to the collection. I let the people in the dump down again, did not get their stories seen and told. I failed them again. They will continue to be the forgotton people of South East Asia.

Working the garbage, Mae Sot Thailand 2013

Young boy in his dump shack, Mae Sot Thailand 2013

Dump family in their home,  Mae Sot Thailand 2016

More Grant, Acquisition Submissions

I think I might try to do another Alberta Foundation for the Arts grant submission, I will ask for $5000 to do the 5x7 "Families of the Dump" group portrait project. I probably will not get it, I have already failed at getting funding for variations on this project 2 times, but I got to try. On a guards salary I have such limited money $5000 would help so much with the production of these new images. The deadline for this grant submission is February 1. I will repeat the grant request with the Edmonton Arts Council, I will probably have a better chance with these folks , 3 years ago I got a travel grant from the EAC.
 
I am also going to do a submission to the Alberta Foundation for the arts Art by Acquisition program, am thinking of doing 3 submissions to them. One will be my normal 5 individual print package and the other two will be portfolio series type submissions. Last year I was told that you can do group submissions as well, so I want to give that a try. With the group submissions its a home run swing type thing because if the jury does not like one print in the series the whole thing collapses, they have to choose the everything or nothing. I believe I am allowed more than 1 submission to the Acquisition people so plan on the 5 individual prints and then a series on the dump and something on Nepal (probably migrant farm workers). I will be asking for $500 for 16x20 individual prints and $2500 for the group series sets of 5-16x20 prints. Gosh if I got the $2500 series that would pay for almost 2 air flights  ($1420+ each) to Asia to continue work on my various projects.

Alberta Foundation for the Arts "Art by Acquisition" POSSIBLES

Am thinking of which photos I will submit to my yearly Alberta Foundation for the Arts "Art by Acquisition" submission. I got one print into this Alberta Art collection years ago but ever since then I have received only rejections.

Here are the possible images (all from November/December trip 2015) I plan on submitting. Three of the five are dump photo, one is from Mae La refugee camp and one from the migrant worker series.

Hopefully something will be accepted this year, I could certainly use the money to help pay for film for the next trip, along with airfare etc. More importantly if a photo or photos is chosen the photos story will be told. People in Alberta will learn about the lives of those in the dump in Mae Sot or the migrant baby and mother in Bangkok.

Note* The deadline is April 1 for those of you thinking of submitting work.
AFA Art by Acquisition GUIDELINES

Dump child, Mae Sot 2015

Father working the dump with dump dogs, Mae Sot 2015

Two children in dump, Mae Sot 2015

Karen refugee camp baby, dump Mae Sot 2015

Migrant baby with mother Bangkok,2015

Art By Acquisition 2014

http://www.affta.ab.ca/Resources/Grant-Help-And-Resources/Individual/Art-Acquisition/Guidelines

The annual "Alberta Foundation For The Arts", art by acquisition deadline is April 1. A few years back I managed to get 1 print into the province of Alberta art collection but since then no luck. Here are this years submitted photographs along with my artist statement. For those Albertans interested in making a submission I also included a link.

Artist Statement

My photography deals with telling the stories of forgotten people. I work to give my subjects a voice that they would otherwise not have.

This submission is made up of 3 different photographic series I made in November of 2013, the work is ongoing. Please visit my website www.gerryyaum.blogspot.com for the back stories of these photographs (the blog covers 7 years).  I wrote daily as I made the pictures and later on as I processed and printed the work in my traditional wet darkroom. There are hundreds of other scans of images from these series and others on the blog. All photographs were made on film using traditional methods.

“Families of the Dump” Series

The “Families of the Dump” series is something I have been working on for 2 years, it deals with refugee Burmese families who have come across the border from Burma into Thailand. In Thai they live and work at the Mae Sot Garbage dump where they can scavenge for recyclable goods. The families have built small wooden shack homes or sleep in the open under terrible conditions. The 2 works chosen from these series are a photograph of a young mother bathing her baby girl and  a photograph of a young girl playing in the garbage next to her family’s home (they did not have a house only a small lean too type structure made of scavenged wood and cloth).

Mother bathing her baby girl, Mae Sot Thailand 2013

Young girl playing in garbage, Mae Sot Thailand, 2013

 “Migrant Farmer” series

The “Migrant Famers” series was made in rural Nepal, the families who worked the land traveled from all over Nepal and lived in terrible conditions. The photograph chosen is of a tin tent type family home, the father was out working while the mother cooked for the family with her  young daughter nearby.

Mother cooking for family, Nepal 2013

 “Leprosy” Series

I photographed the” Leprosy” series in a colony of homes next to a hospital in the middle of Nepal. These patients were older non contagious survivors of the disease who had lost fingers, toes and had problems with their eyesight.  The photograph chosen is of older leprosy victim with a damaged eye, as he sat on the concrete floor of his small room.

 

Man in leprosy colony, Nepal 2013

“Street Kids” Series

The “Street Kid” series was made on the streets of Kathmandu Nepal. The kids in the series slept on the street next to an open fire, and would beg each day from Western tourists to survive. The group was made up of about 15 young boys along with 2 girls, drug use was common amongst the members. The photograph chosen is of a group of young men as they slept on the ground under a filthy blanket, it was around 6am, the daily traffic of Kathmandu was starting to hum around them.

Young boys sleeping on street, Nepal 2013

Art Acquisition by Application

This last week off work I did up my first ever Art Acquisition by Application for the Alberta Foundation of the Arts. Every year in Alberta the Alberta Foundation of the Arts buys artwork from people in the province. I submitted 5 portraits from this years trip to Klong Toey slum. I plan on making this submission now on a yearly basis, hopefully over time a body of work will be collected.

http://www.affta.ab.ca/art-collection.aspx0

I also did up a email submission to the 2011 Alberta Open Photo Competition, it was easy and fast so thought why not give it another try. Submitted 3 portraits, 2 landscapes (farmscape and slumscape).

http://visualartsalberta.com/blog/?p=17427

Art By Acquisition Rejection Letter

I got my Art By Acquisition rejection letter today, they rejected the 5-35mm images I submitted. There were 846 works from 203 artists submitted, my photographs did not make it to the second level as decided by the expert panel.

I guess the expert panel is made up members from the Alberta art community ( I wonder how you are judged an art expert?). That's 2 rejection letters in 2 days, will try again next year with some 4x5 work, maybe submit some folios (multiple images with a common theme).

Here are the 5 photographs that were rejected:

http://gerryyaum.blogspot.ca/2013/03/submitting-5-photos-to-alberta-arts.html 

Link: Art Acquisition Re-Submission

I had to redo my Art Acquisition by Application submission to the Alberta government. They no longer accept the hard copy versions, everything is now done online and digitally. With the help of some cheat sheets from the nice folks at the Alberta Foundation For the Arts, I was able to re submit everything tonight in digital form.

Going forward now that I understand how to do it via the internet, these things should be faster and easier to do.

Thanks Barbara at the AFA for your help. The deadline is April 1, submit while you can!

http://affta.ab.ca/Art-Collection/Acquisitions-and-Programming

Art Acquisition By Application 2015 Submission

Finished my Art Acquisition 2015 submission, I will send it out tomorrow. The deadline is April 1 for those of you out there interested in making a submission. This year I decided to only submit work that is from previous shows. I have the work already printed and ready to go. If any photographs are purchased I will need to get it to the Alberta Foundation For The Arts folks on short notice. I figured it things would go a lot smoother if I already had the work printed and ready to go.

Next year I plan on submitting more of the "My Fathers Last Days" photographs. I will need to print more of that work first, which I plan on doing for the Rosebud exhibition scheduled for September.

Not sure if the strong documentary nature of my photographs fit the AFA mandate, but it is important to keep trying. No matter how many times you get kicked in the teeth, you got to keep trying. I am asking $700 for 16x20 versions of these prints. I believe that the AFA in general is not that interested in photography, but who knows one might sell and pay for about 1/2 my next plane ticket to Thai.

Here are this years submission photographs:

 Photograph from the "Families of the Dump" exhibition.

Young boy in garbage dump home, Mae Sot Thailand 2013

 Photograph from the "My Fathers Last Days" exhibition.

My father with pancreatic cancer, Edmonton Canada 2014

 Photographs from the "The Train Is Coming" exhibition.

Joon smoking Klong Toey slum, Bangkok Thailand 2011 

Old man drinking Klong Toey slum, Bangkok Thailand 2011

Boy on tracks Klong Toey slum, Bangkok Thailand 2011

Art Acquisition by Application Submission, 2023

 Made my annual Alberta Foundation of the Arts, "Art Acquisition by Application" submission tonight. Lots of paperwork, hope I can sell some ambrotypes from the AMBROTOS KANATA project. Last year I sold 2 plates for $2000 CAD. That money was used to buy more silver nitrate. Anything I can sell this year will go to the same cause. More silver nitrate means more ambrotypes for AMBROTOS KANATA!

Here are this year's submissions, all 8x10 inch clear glass ambrotypes.

Cottonwoods #3, AMBRROTOS KANATA, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, 8x10 Clear Glass Ambrotype, 2023

Crucifix #1, AMBROTOS KANATA, Mundare, Alberta, Canada, 8x10 Clear Glass Ambrotype, 2022

Grave Monument #1, AMBROTOS KANATA, Mundare, Alberta, Canada, 8x10 Clear Glass Ambrotype, 2022

Lundbreck Waterfall #2, AMBROTOS KANATA, Lundbreck, Alberta, Canada, 8x10 Clear Glass Ambrotype,  2023

Memorial Union Graveyard, AMBROTOS KANATA, Calgary, Alberta, 8x10 Clear Glass Ambrotype, 2022

2 Ambrotype Works Offered for Sale

Applied for this sale of work awhile back. Should know by May if they will buy anything .

Two works submitted. Any sale money earned would be used to buy Silver Nitrate for the AMBROTOS KANATA project. Here’s hoping the work is bought for the Strathcona Public Collection.

Petrochemical Plant 14x14 inch Ambrotype, $1000 CAD

Petrochemical Plant Boiler Stack 11x14 inch Ambrotype, $800 CAD

Making of Ambrotype imagery

From the Strathcona Curator of Public Art

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Dear Gerry,

Thank you for submitting your work to the 2026 Art Acquisition Program. We sincerely appreciate the time, care, and generosity involved in sharing your artwork with us. The quality and diversity of submissions make this year’s program especially engaging to review.

Artists selected for acquisition will be notified in May 2026, with final purchases subject to Strathcona County Council approval in June 2026.

We are grateful for your interest in the program and for contributing to the richness of contemporary artistic practice in our community. Whether or not your work is selected this year, we encourage you to continue applying to future opportunities with Strathcona County.

Thank you again for your submission and for sharing your work with us.

Warm regards,

K…. ……
Curator, Public Art
Strathcona County

"Art Acquisition by Application 2025"

I have submitted my "Art Acquisition by Application" buy-grant for 2025 to the AFA (Alberta Foundation for the Arts).  Hopefully they accept some work again this year, which would make it 3 years running.

In 2022, they bought 2-8x10 inch Ambrotypes ($2000), in 2023, they bought 1-8x10 inch Ambrotype ($1000). I hope they will buy some of the larger, higher priced 11x14 and 14x14 inch Ambrotypes submitted this year. 

I use all the buy money to purchase Silver Nitrate for the AMBROTOS KANATA project.

Art By Acquisition Submission To The Alberta Foundation For The Arts 2020

Here is my latest submission to the art acquisition program at the Alberta Foundation of the Arts. I got one rather docile photograph into this years ago, and since then NADA! Asking $600 a 16x20 print. If I sell anything to the province the money will go back to the families in the dump. Not holding my breath thou after the last 5 or so rejections.

Woo-wee-kai with her father in their home, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot garbage dump, Mae Sot, Thailand 2019

Family in their dump home, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot garbage dump, Mae Sot Thailand 2016

Child waiting for mother to finish work, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot garbage dump, Mae Sot, Thailand 2015

Nui-ooh walking the garbage, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand 2016

Dump shack homes and dogs, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot garbage dump, Mae Sot, Thailand 2016