10 Mail Art Tips on Hosting an Artist Trading Card Exchange

Hosting a successful Artist Trading Card (ATC) mail art exchange can be easy and stress-free if you follow some basic rules. Artist Trading Cards are traditionally traded by artists through the postal mail.

Both beginners and seasoned artists can all benefit from an Artist Trading Card mail art trade. In the mail art swap, artists make and send in cards to a host, who sorts the cards and mails them back out. While this sounds simple enough, and it is, there are still some basic tips to follow to make the mail art exchange go smoothly.

1. Number of ATCs to Trade

Determine how many Artist Trading Cards will be traded per person in each exchange. The number of is up to you. If you are looking for a large number of participants in the swap, do a trade for one card. A more standard number is three, which can be successfully mailed with a regular first-class postage stamp as long as the ATCs are traditional and flat, without embellishments. Another popular number to exchange is five.

2. ATC Themes

When hosting and Artist Trading Card exchange decide if you want to have a theme or not. The theme could be as general as "five originals" or "three digital art ATCs." Some of the most successful exchanges I hosted had the following themes: Pirates, Alice in Wonderland, Mail Art, and Self-Portraits. Other themes of successful mail art swaps in which I participated were color-based themes, experimental, body parts, random, and Valentine's Day.

3. International ATC Participants

Figure out if want the exchange to include artists from other countries or just your own. The reason you need to determine this before you host your trade is because mail art coming through internationally will take longer to get to you, the host. The Artist Trading Cards will also cost more for you to return. Feel free to request international participants to include their own country's stamps to cover the cost of mailing back the returns.

4. Artist Trading Card Mail Art Swap Deadline

As the Artist Trading Card mail art exchange host, determine a deadline. Standard deadlines for the mail art swaps are about a month. When including international artists in the Artist Trading Card mail art exchange, make the deadline at least six weeks from the time you post the information. The key to a successful Artist Trading Card mail art exchange is to stick to the deadline. The artists do not want to wait an extra two months for returns because of one slacker.

5.Request Full Artist Trading Card Mail Art Contact Information From Participants

Be sure to include your complete snail mail address and an e-mail address when you post your exchange, so that Artist Trading Card exchange participants may contact you. Also request that Artist Trading Card artists include their name and their e-mail address on the back of their cards. While this is standard practice with most Artist Trading Card artists, not all of them include their name.

6. Return Postage?

Requesting return postage from the participtants is completely up to the host. For most artists, having to provide postage for returns will not stop them from participating in the swap. If a participant in the art exchange does provide postage, or even a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope), feel free to use it.

If you will be hosting a number of Artist Trading Card mail art exchange feel free to request a return stamp from participants to defray the cost of the exchange to you.

6. Posting

It is not considered good form by some artists to post their Artist Trading Cards on your web site, or publish them in any form, unless you have received explicit, written permission prior to posting or publication. As the host, your job is to facilitate a successful exchange, not to publish someone else's art without letting them know that is your intention.

7. Quality

Unless you state otherwise, the Artist Trading Cards you receive in an exchange may be digital copies, use commercial images, use commercially-produced stickers, not be standard Artist Trading Card size (2.5 x 3.5), or be made too heavy for a standard mail art exchange. When posting your art exchange information, be sure to state exactly what type of Artist Trading Cards are acceptable in the exchange.

One good way to weed out sticker art and non-art inclusions is to use the phrase "original art only."

8. Art for Art

As host, it is also up to you to send the same quality of ATCs back to the participants that they sent in. For example, if you allowed digital copies, and an artist sent in five identical ATCs, they should also receive back digital copies from other participants. If the participant sent in three high-quality original drawings or paintings, try to send them back a card of equal quality. If there's not one in the pile, step up and make one for that person.

9. Do Not Send Someone Back Their Own Art

While that sounds simple enough, sometimes an artist does not include their name on the back of the ATC. When you open the envelope and notice that there is no name, be sure to mark it with a Post-it, or keep the cards separate. Nothing is more important to an artist trading card collector than to receive one of their own cards back.

10. State the Rules Upfront

Share all of the above with the exchange participants. By hosting a successful exchange, you will also begin to build a solid base of people with whom you can trade potential participants. The more clear you are about the Artist Trading Card exchange, the more successful it will be. A successful Artist Trading Card exchange will result in a better ATC collection for you and the other artists.