IVoteForArt.com is a small online art gallery that combines community voting and art buying in one place. The artwork is "fun, quirky and affordable"—in many ways, I Vote for Art is very different from other art galleries online.
Who can join, and how much does it cost?
Although based in Australia, IVoteForArt.com is a global gallery with artists from all around the world. Anyone can submit their artwork, but few will be accepted.
Currently there are just over 50 artists, which shows how selective they are.
In addition, most of the artwork on I Vote for Art fits a specific style. . . whimsical, retro, print, and collage artwork make up the majority, and all of the pieces are priced well under $100.
If your art fits that description, you’ll have a better chance of getting accepted.
IVoteForArt.com takes a 30% commission on all artwork sold through their website. If you also choose to have your artwork printed by them, then the commission rate becomes 40%.
Design and layout
I Vote for Art uses a warm color palette, with neutral creams, tans, and the occasional orange and red. This works fairly well with the style of artwork presented.
Occasionally the layout gets a little cluttered, however.
There are four main navigational links at the top (with descriptions), artwork thumbnails and details below, and a sidebar of extra information on the right. Then when you browse for art, six more tabs appear, along with a long search bar above them.
Overall, I guess I’d just prefer a little more order in how the elements are displayed. Finding your way around is easy enough though.
Buying and voting on art
As the name suggests, a big part of IVoteForArt.com’s appeal is that it’s not just about buying art. It’s also about voting for art you like. The more votes a piece gets, the higher it rises in the I Vote for Art gallery.
There are other ways to search, however, like by browsing through recently added artwork, by tags, or by the artist’s name.
Final words
I’m a big fan of the idea behind IVoteForArt.com, and I like that it’s a juried site, too. Sure, voting for your favorite artwork isn’t anything ground-breaking, but it’s a fun hook that will hopefully get people involved with the site.
My only true reservation with I Vote for Art is that its traffic numbers aren’t that impressive (Compete.com has them at less than 1000 visitors per month).
On the flip side, since it IS a juried site, there aren’t very many artists fighting for those eyeballs. . . and, as an Australian site, Compete’s numbers may not be very accurate.
Ultimately I’d say check them out for yourself and see if your artwork would be a good fit with the other pieces on the site. If it is, I’d definitely encourage you to apply.