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You are here: ASFA »
Overview of ASFA
If you think you know what ASFA is and what we are about, we'll bet you are wrong!
ASFA was organized for artistic, literary, educational and charitable purposes concerning the visual arts of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mythology and related topics. We are dedicated to providing a communications link among our members, as well as providing helpful information and technical assistance.
Part of ASFA's purpose is to stimulate the public's interest in these areas of art. We're also here to encourage and develop amateur artistic talent, educate the public, publishers, patrons of the arts and anyone interested in works of these particularly types of art and craftsmanship in the rights, needs and problems of the people involved in the creation of this material.
How does ASFA go about this?
Each year ASFA gives out the Chesley Awards, named for the great astronomical artist, Chesley Bonestell. The Chesleys were started in 1985 as a means for the SF and Fantasy art community to recognize individual works and achievements during the previous year.
One of the other important ways is through our publications. Members receive the ASFA Quarterly, our regular magazine that features "How To" articles, profiles of Science Fiction and Fantasy artists, interviews with art directors, and has important information on upcoming conventions and shows, as well as reviews of both, It also has other informative articles that will help up and coming artists and those who are well established, and is a forum for correspondence, ideas, has information on Art Show Management, and much, much more!
Our "Upcoming Conventions Listing" column in the Quarterly is based on responses to a set list of questions about how the convention Art Show will be run, providing information that is pertinent to the artists who are trying to decide if they should attend. Our organization is not allowed to pressure or change how cons run their own shows, We can, however, report what they plan to do, and you, the artist, allowing both the artist and the purchaser to make up their own mind.
Each issue also contains at least one informative article geared towards those just beginning to break into the field or geared toward the working professional.
Some of the other projects that we are working on are the establishment of a touring ASFA slide show, to provide conventions with the opportunity to supplement their programming and to assist artists who do not travel to conventions to get their work seen by other people. Hopefully this will also contribute a lot to the Chesley Awards voting process. The slides will be placed into one or more touring carousals, which can be borrowed by conventions (perhaps with a small deposit to be returned when the slides are returned), or by educational groups, high schools, even museums, to consider the original works for shows.
We're planning continuing discussions about the impact of computer generated art, and electronic rights, currently sweeping our field into change, not only in the Quarter!y, but at conventions and other venues. The rights of artists in this electronic age is a very important issue that we will continue to monitor and offer advice in the hope that we can have an influence for the better of all artists.
As you can see, we're here for you. We will help, where we can, if you have problems dealing with a convention or a company. We want you to tell us about it. Others might have similar problems and we can share your information and how the problem was resolved. Think you have an idea that will benefit others? Tell us about it and it could be published it the Quarterly.
Interested in becoming involved?
Membership in ASFA is open to anyone with an interest in the genre, and includes artists from around the world, collectors, art directors, publishers, educators and fans alike. Join ASFA today!
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