In fandom conventions the Artist Alley has always been a place where independent artists of all skill levels may buy a table and sell their wares. The prices for a space are generally cheap and accessible to a wide demographic. I got my start in the Artist’s Alley back when I was a young’un. The positive experiences I had, the new friends I made, and the supportive atmosphere is in my opinion one of the best things to ever happen to me.

Now, this is all changing. I’m afraid that this avenue may not be available to artists in the same way anymore if the trend toward egotistical bullying continues.

What ever happened to just being polite? A quick look through the Katsucon AA Forum reveals that apparently snarkiness and disrespect is the way it happens there according to their esteemed Artist’s Alley Department Head. I can’t look around there anymore. It makes my head hurt. Click through that cockup at your own risk.

Katsucon released some really long-winded rules here that redefined how they intend to implement their Artist’s Alley.

These over-long rules are a real head-scratcher to me. They are clearly not written by anyone who has ever been behind an artist table. Katsucon changed the format from a single “Artist’s Alley” to “Artist Areas”. This is what it means:

Artist’s Alley: Amateur 2D artwork.
Webcomics: Online comics.
Industry Guests and Conventions: Guests who work in the print comics industry, non-comics guest tables, and tables promoting other conventions.
Katsu Crafters Corner: For fiber arts and crafts.

This makes absolutely no sense. In addition to creating more work for their staff that could barely get their shit together in the first place, it is just a simple fact that most artists work in mixed media. My friend over at Dear Pirate make sculptures which he photographs in sequence to make his webcomic. Amu’s World makes handmade dolls which they photograph in sequence to make their webcomic. Most comics sell t-shirts, handmade items like buttons and so forth. This has led to confusion because art doesn’t fucking work this way.

Apparently they just decided to allow keychains to be sold. OH MY GOD KEYCHAINS. SERIOUS BUSINESS GUYS. SERIOUS.

This is inane.

I’m not sure what the justification was for this level of bureaucracy. Judging from the nasty tone they take with the artists over there, it seems like it just seemed like it would be a fun thing for them to do this year so that they would have the opportunity to snark and yell at the confused artists worse than they did last year.

In addition to all of this, they are also limiting the Artist’s Alley to “amateur artists” only. The Artist’s Alley has always been a place where you can go to see the big guys and the up and coming artists. However, if you have a serious bone in your body, Katsucon seems to want you to spend several hundreds of dollars to buy a Vendor’s Table next to large DVD and Toy sellers in the Vendor’s Room.

As a customer, if you are looking for an artist, where would you go? The answer is NOT to the Dealer’s Room. I have worked both places and I always got lost in the vendor’s room under the mountain of DVDs and toys. No one could find my tiny table.

Also, most successful artists are still one-man operations and cannot physically carry with them enough product to pay off a vendor’s booth that companies the size of Toys R Us are buying.

Not only has Katsucon released a bunch of rules that don’t apply to the field of art very well, they also have created a blind spot in their convention for the serious artists who have supported them every year. Clearly, they are not custumer-service oriented, and not interested in a positive artist community.

I’m sorry, this is a pile of horse shit. I believe that people deserve respect and that the things they find important should be treated as such. Questions should not be replied to with snarkiness. One should never accuse a concerned artist of being whiny just because they raised a question that was important to them.

Artist’s should not be treated like children, thieves, or criminals. When this kind of egotistical bullying is what art programs at conventions have come to, it’s no wonder the scene is dying while more and more customers choose to not participate.

EDIT: New information – Katsucon had sold and charged people for Arts/crafts tables in the dealer’s room, but switched the layout. After they had paid, the crafters found that they were not getting their large table in the dealer’s room they had paid for, but a smaller table in the hallway. You CANNOT sell tables and then change your mind after payment has been made.

They seem to be trying to say that crafters wanted this, but I’m not buying that anyone would want a smaller table in the hallway over a table in the front of the secured Dealer’s Room. Industry Guests and Other Conventions are now located in the front of the Dealer’s Room. Can anyone affected by this switch comment to share their feelings about it?

EDIT 2: New information again! Randomsome1 has written about their bad experience with this here.