Art & Framing Council celebrates milestone; through PR efforts and industry support, the AFC has helped bolster art and framing for 15 years

Art Business News, Jan, 2003 by Amy Leibrock

This year, the Art & Framing Council (AFC) celebrates 15 years of raising consumer awareness of art and framing. The council is planning to celebrate its successes and increase industry support for its efforts throughout 2003.

This year, the AFC is actively recruiting new sponsors and supplier members in order to increase funding needed to provide more services to the industry, according to Executive Director Kim Ahern. At Artexpo and DECOR expo in New York next month, the AFC will have information booths and is hosting a reception from 5 to 6 p.m. on Feb. 26 for distributors, suppliers and publishers who would like to learn more about the council and its efforts.

To mark its 15-year milestone, the AFC is planning to hold a party during DECOR expo--Atlanta in September to thank its sponsors and members for their support over the years.

The AFC is a non-profit, industry funded organization dedicated to promoting art and custom framing to consumers. It does so primarily by producing a national consumer public relations campaign, which sends slides and press releases with innovative art and framing story ideas to more than 1,100 newspaper and magazine editors. The publications often write articles based on the press releases which help drive customers into art and frame shops. Since its founding in 1988, these PR efforts have reached more than 150 million consumers.

The council also supplies retailers with free marketing and PR support and sponsors October's National Art & Framing Month programs. In 2002, the AFC initiated a partnership with the prestigious Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a national youth art competition, which will allow framers to get involved at a local level. To help promote this program, the AFC has enlisted actress/artist Jane Seymour, who is appearing in a consumer ad campaign and donated the use of one of her paintings for a recent promotional poster.

The AFC has a history of using star power to promote art and framing. Past spokespersons have included Daisy Fuentes and Shari Belafonte, and past charitable affiliations include the Starlight Children's Foundation and the American Diabetes Association. The council also worked to get art and framing featured on several episodes of Joy Philbin's "Haven" television show.

The organization is primarily funded by retailers who voluntarily contribute half of one percent of their invoice total on invoices they receive from participating AFC distributors. The AFC also gets "in-kind" donations from industry companies. For example, Art in Motion and Wild Apple Graphics recently produced and printed the 2002 National Art & Framing Month poster, making it free for all participants.

For details, call (925) 516-0313 or visit www.artandframingcouncil.org.

15 Years of Support

The following companies were on the original Art & Framing Council board and were instrumental in setting it up and identifying its mission. "Much credit is due to these companies, for without their support, the AFC program would not have happened," said Kim Ahem, executive director.

Bruce McGaw Graphics
Framerica (formerly Framica)
Haddad's Fine Arts
Ivy Industries
Larson-Juhl
Nielsen Bainbridge
TI Industries
The Williamson Co.