Lately I have been thinking about Ethics for artists, as an engineer I had an ethics class in college, these gave me a sense of pride to be an engineer, something that we stood for, respect for each other.  I started to wonder is there any ethical standards for the art world.  I sure didn’t see them when I was doing photography and starting to see the same patterns now that I am painting.   I decided to do a search on the internet to see what was out there.  I came upon a really good article from Karen Atkinson in the Huffington Post she is the founder GYST

GYST Ink is an artist-run company providing information, technology and solutions created by artists for artists. Our mission is to support artists and arts organizations with an integrated mix of software, services and information in order to keep artists working. GYST is dedicated to empowering and educating artists so they can develop sustainable and successful careers on their own terms.

Karen  defines 30 areas that we in the art world  should consider when working with our fellow artist, collectors, galleries, etc:  I guess my number one pet peeve is number 7. This is an excerpt from Karen’s article.

Don’t Steal Other People’s Ideas

Here is an exemplary anecdote. A visiting artist came to an art school and did a lecture and studio visits. He met with a young artist whose work was very specific and distinct. A few months later, the visiting artist opened a show in New York that was a direct copy of the student’s work. Since the visitor was a fairly well known artist, and few people knew the work of the student, the established artist got great attention. That is, until the students and faculty at the school made sure that the art world knew what had taken place. Needless to say, the established artist’s reputation has suffered.

1.  Treating Colleagues With Respect

2.  Don’t Be Selfish

3.  Don’t Tread on Other Artists’ Spaces

4.  Leaving a Gallery

5.  Galleries That Tell You What To Make

6.  Using Other People’s Images

7.  Don’t Steal Other People’s Ideas

8.  Giving Back

9.  Do What You Say You Are Going To Do

10 Desperation

11  Bitterness

12. Do Not Talk Shit

13. Be Professional

14. Criticism and Rejection

15. Deception

16. Artwork on Private Property

17. Don’t Take Advantage of Others

18. Eco Art

19. Privacy

20. Safety of Your Audience

21. Documentation That Includes the Audience

22. Graphic Images

23. Graduate Work

24. Thank Those Who Support You

25. Asking For Things

26. How To Treat Established Artists

27. Art Agents

28. Editions

29. Blind Submissions and Approaching Galleries

30. Shady Collectors

To read the rest of Karen’s article Ethics for Artists.

Thanks Karen for letting me using the excerpt.

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