Raw Artists: Orange County

Masked scam!
I’m a visual artist who almost participated, and my rating is based on my attendance to one of their events along with objectively evaluating how they function as a business. It doesn’t matter how cool this event is, or how easy the people are to work with, or how nice and caring everyone involved seems; the bottom line is that the way RAW functions is inherently unethical.
Essentially RAW is an event company that garners all of its content not only for free but with upfront profit. It creates a homogenous environment where friends and family pay to come to see you in a venue, with none of that money cycling back to you, and any ‘exposure’ or opportunities to sell your art is severely limited.
RAW is a pay-​to-​play business model that ultimately does not care about artists in the way it claims to. Sure, they may create positive, fun events that could be good for networking, but that’s irrelevant. Because look at the bones of this animal: all of their revenue is entirely dependent on artist resources.
RAW asks the artists to sell 20 event tickets (about $ 400 in total), and pay the difference if not all tickets are sold. The artist does not get any percentage of these sales. The benefits they claim you will receive, like website exposure and networking opportunities, are not guaranteed; there is little tangible evidence of this, and more importantly, any artist can receive these same forms of exposure for free through other methods.
Artists already are at a disadvantage when it comes to being compensated for the work we do. My review is not about personal greed. I’m not discounting the supposed benefits that RAW offers. Support comes in all forms. BUT the most effective and most functional form of support in our society is getting paid. That’s it.
We shouldn’t have to spend our efforts promoting/​selling another entity besides ourselves (and here’s the genius of it: RAW makes artists believe that they are only promoting themselves, not RAW).
If RAW truly believed in helping artists, they would not be directly debting us and our supporters for a mere one night event. Please support artists directly, and don’t attend RAW events.

Gypsy Pea Magoo (artist hairdressers Chelsea DeVere and Laura DeRuiter) had our first showcase with RAW OC this past Sunday. One word to describe it was ‘RAWSOME”. Everyone working under the organization were super friendly, well organized and communicated well with us.
The overall showcase was really fun. there were a lot of unique styles of handmade items and paintings, saw some great music and dance performances, and a cool fashion show which also represented hair and make up.
Its great exposure for any artist no matter how established you may be. Us personally may have some future job opportunities to look forward to! we had so much fun. once a RAW artist always a RAW artist. You’ll be seeing us again. In Australia.

I just had my first showcase with RAW, and the whole experience was amazing. The people were friendly and helpful, the talent was through the roof, and the atmosphere was perfect. As a new resident to this area, I was fortunate to be able to show with some established artists. It was a memorable experience that turned into networking opportunities, and connections. I had a blast!

I had my first showcase ever with them, and my experience was excellent.
Raw Artists Orange County directors were very nice and supportive. I really appreciated everyone involved (from the directors to the media crews) was supportive for artists and our art, too. I also liked the event featured a wide variety of artists.
I am really happy that I had my work showcased with them.
thank you very much for all the hard work, and I appreciate
everyone who came there for support.

I had a great time getting together with a community of innovative and talented artists. The RAW staff was very attentive, organized and helpful throughout the process.

This is a great opportunity for uprising, as well as already established, artists. I had my first RAW artist showcase and the networking and exposure alone is well worth it. The directors and staff are amazing and super helpful as well!

Great organization for all artists!

This was my first experience with RAW artists and their shows and I must say that it was a great experience. I was able to get my name out there, show my photography work and network with other artists. My show took place on June 23^rd ’13 in Orange County, Ca. Special thanks to Anabelle, Brittany & Megan.

Being my first time showcasing at RAW I felt very confident due to all the information step by step given to me by the organizers, answering all my questions and still when we were at the venue setting up. During the show I was impressed with the lined up of artists from music, painting, make up, fashion, etc and the support they gave to each other.
During the interview and photography they made me feel confident and encouraging at all times.
I do look forward to another event.
Thank you again Anabelle, Brittany and Jordy.