Become a Member

Membership Levels: Professional and Associate

VAI offers two individual membership levels: Professional and Associate.

• Professional Membership is intended for artists who meet specific eligibility criteria demonstrating a sustained professional visual arts practice.
• Associate Membership is for those who are emerging, developing, or not yet meeting the criteria for professional status.

When applying, you must select the level appropriate to your current practice and complete the required eligibility section:

• Both Professional and Associate applicants must indicate which eligibility criteria they meet. This includes selecting from a list of qualifying options and later submitting evidence to support those selections.
• Organisational Members and Friends of VAI are not required to complete this section but may do so if they wish.

Important Notes on Eligibility for Professional Membership

All qualifications and claims are independently verified by VAI staff. It is your responsibility to ensure that the information you provide is accurate and verifiable. Unverifiable claims will not be considered.

To qualify for Professional Membership, the following must apply:

• Degree or Diploma from a recognised third-level institution in Fine Art or a Visual Arts Discipline with a studio/gallery-based practice focus.
  The third-level institution must demonstrate that their degree course is grounded in a fine art studio practice with a gallery exhibition component.
• One-person visual arts exhibitions presented in publicly funded gallery spaces (Arts Council, Local Authority, or Government-funded) as part of acknowledged gallery programmes.
  Screenings in libraries, archives, cinemas, festivals, corporate venues, or non-gallery public spaces do not qualify unless the exhibition is part of a formally programmed visual arts gallery season.
• Participation in juried group visual arts exhibitions in publicly funded or professionally programmed gallery spaces, where selection was made by professional artists or recognised curators.
  Exhibitions that serve primarily as graduation assessments, thesis presentations, institutional student showcases, or festival/film screening programmes do not qualify.
• Your visual art work has been acquired by Government, local authority, museum, or corporate client for inclusion in a recognised gallery or museum permanent art collection.
  Archive or other forms that are solely documenting collections or work, library holdings, and broadcasting/commission content purchases do not qualify.
• Your visual art work has been commissioned by Government, local authority, museum, or gallery specifically for exhibition within a recognised gallery or museum programme or collection.
  Commercial commissions, broadcast motion graphics, promotional animations, and corporate AV productions do not qualify.
• Have been awarded a visual arts bursary, residency, materials grant, or other Arts Council/Arts Council of Northern Ireland funding designated for fine art practice.
  Non-visual arts funding will not be considered.
• Have been awarded tax-exempt status by the Revenue Commissioners, or are on schedule D as a self-employed artist in Northern Ireland

Professional Applications must provide a significant and verifiable level of evidence under each of the areas that they have indicated. Applications for Professional Membership will be assessed holistically—as an entirety—to evaluate the full scope and trajectory of the applicant’s visual arts career. All submitted evidence must collectively demonstrate a sustained, verifiable commitment to practice as a professional visual artist within the recognised gallery and exhibition sector.

Associate members may apply to move to Professional Membership at any time during their membership. Applicants must ensure that all details are fully verifiable and meet professional standards. Any evidence provided that is unverifiable will not be considered.

Artists working in an interdisciplinary capacity must demonstrate that visual arts practice constitutes a significant and sustained element of their overall body of work. In such cases, the contexts in which the work is presented and delivered—specifically recognised publicly funded programmes, gallery or museum programmes—will serve as a primary indicator in assessing eligibility.