Standing Rules
of
THE INTERNATIONAL GUILD OF WIRE JEWELRY ARTISTS, INC.

The following interprets and supplements the By-Laws

Last Revised
Sep 2, 2005

MEMBERSHIP
$35 general membership
$50 business membership

Membership is open on an international basis, with the understanding that some benefits may be limited for those outside of the US or those outside of the US/Canada.

1) What Happens to my Business Membership if I don’t become Juried?
1a)  If I don’t become Juried, Can I Re-Submit?
1b)  How do I change Membership Levels?

Members may upgrade from the general level to the business level at any time, simply by paying the difference in membership fees. The difference will not be prorated. Members may only downgrade from the business level to the general level at their renewal date.

If a member pays business dues, submits to be juried, but is denied, they remain a business member. When their membership period expires, they may renew as a general member or continue at the business level. Juried members must maintain a business membership, or they will forfeit their juried status.

If an applicant is not successful in their jury attempt, they may resubmit to jury. Check the current jury procedures for resubmission guidelines. Re-submission procedures may change over time. The minimum recommendation that the directors will accept regarding re-submissions will be that a new business member whose jury application has failed may re-submit once more prior to the expiration of their existing first year business membership. (ie - in the first 12 months as a business member, a person will be allowed to have at least 2 tries at becoming juried - although there may be qualifications as to how those tries are spaced apart, etc.)

2) "Multiple Artists"

"Multiple Artists" are defined as couples, families, businesses, partnerships, joint ventures, studios, etc. that share a common address and/or common business name but that each work individually to create the wire work portions of any given piece of wire jewelry. This includes couples where both parties create jewelry and couples where one person creates the centerpiece (lapidary, dichoric, etc) and the other creates the wire work.

EACH MEMBER THAT WISHES TO BE JURIED MUST SUBMIT THEIR WORK AS AN INDIVIDUAL.

The pricing for "Multiple Artists" will be subject to change as benefits for the various membership levels are defined and created. For now, a family, partnership, or business sharing a common address may share the benefits of a general membership. A business membership may also be shared, as long as no more than one of the artists seek juried status. If additional artists in the group seek to be juried, they must each apply for their own individual business memberships. These additional artists will be assessed $25 for each additional business membership required. 

ie:
o $50 membership fee allows one person in the group to jury
o $25 additional membership fee ($75 total) allows 2 people in the group to jury
o $25 additional membership fee ($100 total) allows 3 people in the group to jury
etc

When you are ready to sign up, each member should complete an application. In the comments box, note "I am joining as "multiple artists" with xxx" and list the other name(s). After completing the applications, send payment for the total of the membership fees. It can come from one person, equal shares from all, or however you want to apportion it. There will not be a PayPal button set up for your amount - but you can send PayPal by going to the "send money" tab on your PayPal account. Please send to payments@wirejewelryartists.org.

3) “Joint Artists”

"Joint Artists" are defined as artists that routinely and on an on-going basis collaborate and combine their efforts on the wire work for each piece of jewelry they create. There is no individual style, no individual show-casing of work. All work is displayed under the entity's name.

This is an extremely rare situation for wire jewelry. Requests for membership as "joint artists" under an "entity's" name rather than the individual artists names will be few and far between. Each request will be evaluated by the directors. Some may be approved, some may not. All decisions are subject to review, should the claims of the joint artists regarding their collaborative work style be called into question by other members or by the public.

All joint artists being juried as an entity must be named in the business membership application. Any change in the artists named in the collaborative effort will require re-jurying for the entity. The entity may not hire sub-contractors, cottage labor, etc.

When approved, the entity will be the business member and regular business dues will apply. If we list juried members on the web site, it is the entity that will be listed (rather than the individual artists).

Joint artists that are approved to jury as an entity and are later shown not to follow a collaborative process more than 50% of the time will forfeit their juried status. The business membership will revert to one of their individual names. The individuals must wait 1 year before they may jury again as individuals.

4) Charter Membership Duration

Charter members (who can be either general or business level) will be considered charter members for as many years as they maintain continuous membership. (ie - if allow their membership to lapse, they are no longer charter members).

5) Membership Resignations

A member may resign their membership in writing - either by posting on an appropriate board or by email to the membership committee. Dues that have been paid are forfeited. Access to the members areas will be removed and the member will be removed from email lists. If the member was juried, the juried status is revoked. The member will quit using any and all guild materials in their marketing materials (logos, etc) upon their resignation.

6) Non-Transferable

Guild membership is not transferable.

7) Juried Member Responsiblities

All juried members are responsible for voting on jury applications. It is the juried members responsiblity to verify that the guild has a valid email address to notify them when jury applications have been posted for voting. Juried members may also check the members areas to view current jury applications to see if there are any they have not voted on.

IF the juried member is going to be gone more than 30 days and could potentially miss a vote completely, they may notify the guild at Votes@WireJewelryArtists.org and they will be excused from voting for any applications that fall completely within that time period. They are still responsible for voting on applications available before they leave and after they return.

Failure to vote more than twice per year may lead to the juried member forfeiting their juried status. Cases will be reviewed by the Directors prior to the juried status being pulled.

Members that lose their juried status must pull the juried logo from all of the marketing, etc. They may not re-apply for juried status for a period of one year.

8) Sustaining Members (referred to as Corporate Sponsors)

Corporate Sponsors are normally companies (as opposed to individual artists) who are engaged in businesses which relate to wire art jewelry, such as jewelry supplies, jewelry sales and marketing, education of jewelry artists, and the like. Corporate Sponsors have the right to vote in annual elections. Annual dues for Corporate Sponsors are variable, ranging from $50 to $1000. Corporate Sponsors are entitled to submit an image for inclusion on the Classifieds Pages at no charge. The size of the no-charge image is based on the annual membership fees paid:

• $50 membership - 350x175 tall image
• $75 membership - 250x350 tall image
• $100 membership - 350x350 image
• $150 membership - 500x350 tall image
• $250 membership - 500x700 tall image

9) Honorary Members

Any guild member may nominate someone for honorary member status. The member should include a concise write up explaining that person's contributions to wire art jewelry and the reasons that person should be considered as an honorary member and how that person could enhance the reputation and professional standing of the guild.

Nominations will be considered on a case-by-case basis and voted on by the directors.

Honorary Members are not liable for dues and may not vote in elections.