Letter to the Editor: The burden imposed on Guam artists

By Merc Tenorio

This is to bring attention to the burden local artists bear when exhibiting their work in government-funded agencies, such as CAHA and the Guam Museum. This is a concern that many of us in the art community secretly carry. 

As these agencies receive public funding, their operational costs should not be passed on to artists.  At CAHA, for instance, exhibiting artists are required to pay $100 for gallery use. On top of that, 20 percent is taken from each sale, if an artist could possibly sell at all, given the overhead price.

At the Guam Museum, under its current curation, the commission soars to 40 percent, making exhibitions at these venues less appealing.

Most artists are not financially privileged, and these commission structures place an undue strain on those already struggling to sustain their art practice. If this continues, many will be discouraged from sharing their work publicly at all. 

These are not small cuts. For many of us, these gallery fees and commissions eat into what little we earn, and they don't reflect the time, materials, labor, heart and soul that we put into each piece. 

I understand that agencies have overhead costs, but shouldn't public funding ease those burdens, not shift them onto the very people these agencies are meant to support?

There are those of us who are not in this for profit. We just want our work seen, to be part of Guam's cultural life, and to make ends meet while doing it. But with those policies in place, exhibiting in Guam's two government-funded art spaces has become increasingly difficult and discouraging. 

Which politician, whose office will care enough to take the time to review this policy and advocate for the elimination of exhibit fees and high commissions in these art venues?

Government support for the arts should not come at the artist’s expense.

 Merc Tenorio is a Guam artist and a veteran.

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