…is a New York City based activist collective (A.L. Steiner, K8 Hardy, and A.K. Burns) that has produced a “WoManifesto” video which I have just watched and will post here for you to consider questions like…have you invited an artist to work or produce something without offering any form of compensation? or as an artist, have you worked  or produced something for free, with the promise of exposure? and here is the W.A.G.E. manifesto:

W.A.G.E. (Working Artists and the Greater Economy) works to draw attention to economic inequalities that exist in the arts, and to resolve them.

W.A.G.E. has been formed because we, as visual + performance artists and independent curators, provide a work force.

W.A.G.E. recognizes the organized irresponsibility of the art market and its supporting institutions, and demands an end of the refusal to pay fees for the work we’re asked to provide:  preparation, installation, presentation, consultation, exhibition and reproduction.

W.A.G.E. refutes the positioning of the artist as a speculator and calls for the remuneration of cultural value in capital value.

W.A.G.E. believes that the promise of exposure is a liability in a system that denies the value of our labor.

As an unpaid labor force within a robust art market from which others profit greatly, W.A.G.E. recognizes an inherent exploitation and demands compensation.

W.A.G.E. calls for an address of the economic inequalities that are prevalent, and proactively preventing the art worker’s ability to survive within the greater economy.

W.A.G.E. advocates for developing an environment of mutual respect between artist and institution.

W.A.G.E. demands payment for making the world more interesting.

(W.A.G.E. website)