How to get Certified
If your organization is interested in receiving W.A.G.E. Certification please email us at info@wageforwork.com.
An organization choosing to be W.A.G.E. Certified must be prepared to work with W.A.G.E. openly and transparently, beginning with filling out the Intake Form below (in development) and submitting current and projected operating and exhibition budgets.
The questions in this form are intended to help W.A.G.E. understand how an organization structures its operating budget, and in particular the relativity between its income and expenses. W.A.G.E. Certification determines the valuation of artist/performance/independent curatorial fees in relation to a number of factors including, but not limited to: total operating budget, number of exhibitions per year, number of artists exhibited annually, and the amount of investment in the production and fabrication of artists' work. We're interested in understanding how an organization compensates artists in ways that are non-monetary, and reciprocally, the ways in which artists offer support to an organization.
Step 1: Intake Form
Please answer these questions with as much detail/specific information as you can provide:
1. The Fee
• Do you pay artist, performance and/or independent curatorial fees?
• If yes, which ones and how do you determine the amount of the fee?
• Are 'Artist Fees' or 'Honoraria' a line item in your budget?
• If no, what line item is it included within?
2. Other forms of compensation
• Do you cover production costs?
• Do you cover travel costs?
• If yes, in what circumstances and how much?
• What other ways do you compensate artists beyond the direct payment of artist fees?
3. Non-monetary compensation
• Do you consider the exposure that your organization provides to cultural producers valuable?
• Could you monetize or quantify its value?
• What formula would you use to do that?
• Do you see your work with artists as being collaborative?
• If yes, how do you see your organization's contribution as being essential to the realization of the work?
4. Other expenses
• What is the director's salary relative to the total organizational budget?
• What is the relativity between these and the fees you pay, if any?
• How do you determine the salaries of your employees?
5. Funding
• When one expense increases, do you cut back on other line items, fundraise, or a combination of both?
• If you cut back, what expenses do you tend to cut back on?
• Does the type of funding available to you determine what kind of projects you do?
6. Support from artists
• If an artist sells their work through your organization, do you take a percentage? If so, what is the percentage?
• Do you ask artists to donate their own work to support your organization?
• How many visual or performing artists are on your Board of Directors?
7. Equity
• Please provide us with your mission statement.
• Describe what "fairness" and "equity" mean within and to your organization.
An organization choosing to be W.A.G.E. Certified must be prepared to work with W.A.G.E. openly and transparently, beginning with filling out the Intake Form below (in development) and submitting current and projected operating and exhibition budgets.
The questions in this form are intended to help W.A.G.E. understand how an organization structures its operating budget, and in particular the relativity between its income and expenses. W.A.G.E. Certification determines the valuation of artist/performance/independent curatorial fees in relation to a number of factors including, but not limited to: total operating budget, number of exhibitions per year, number of artists exhibited annually, and the amount of investment in the production and fabrication of artists' work. We're interested in understanding how an organization compensates artists in ways that are non-monetary, and reciprocally, the ways in which artists offer support to an organization.
Step 1: Intake Form
Please answer these questions with as much detail/specific information as you can provide:
1. The Fee
• Do you pay artist, performance and/or independent curatorial fees?
• If yes, which ones and how do you determine the amount of the fee?
• Are 'Artist Fees' or 'Honoraria' a line item in your budget?
• If no, what line item is it included within?
2. Other forms of compensation
• Do you cover production costs?
• Do you cover travel costs?
• If yes, in what circumstances and how much?
• What other ways do you compensate artists beyond the direct payment of artist fees?
3. Non-monetary compensation
• Do you consider the exposure that your organization provides to cultural producers valuable?
• Could you monetize or quantify its value?
• What formula would you use to do that?
• Do you see your work with artists as being collaborative?
• If yes, how do you see your organization's contribution as being essential to the realization of the work?
4. Other expenses
• What is the director's salary relative to the total organizational budget?
• What is the relativity between these and the fees you pay, if any?
• How do you determine the salaries of your employees?
5. Funding
• When one expense increases, do you cut back on other line items, fundraise, or a combination of both?
• If you cut back, what expenses do you tend to cut back on?
• Does the type of funding available to you determine what kind of projects you do?
6. Support from artists
• If an artist sells their work through your organization, do you take a percentage? If so, what is the percentage?
• Do you ask artists to donate their own work to support your organization?
• How many visual or performing artists are on your Board of Directors?
7. Equity
• Please provide us with your mission statement.
• Describe what "fairness" and "equity" mean within and to your organization.
