About Us

We are a cooperative of artists local to the Dolgellau area. Our shop and gallery is on the ground floor of Neuadd Idris (Ty Siamas) in Eldon Square, Dolgellau. There is space for 16 permanent members who share the rent and take turns to steward in the shop. Each member has their own display and is responsible for their own stock. We pay rent but no commission is taken. We run the cooperative by consensus with monthly meetings. There are no junior members, each of us has equal say and all decisions are made collectively.

All permanent members take their turn stewarding in the shop (usually about 1½ – 2 days per month) and are expected to contribute to the management of the group by taking on a role such as shop rota, treasurer, marketing, taking meeting minutes etc.

We also have guest spaces to enable other artists to join us on a temporary basis. We like any new permanent members of the group to have been with us as a guest first if possible.

Anyone joining us, either as a guest or a permanent member, must be approved by our members at one of our monthly meetings (usually held in the 2nd week of the month).

The information we ask for to help us make a decision:

  • A list of the items you would want to have for sale
  • The items you offer for sale must not overlap with anything offered by one of our members – this is something we will discuss at our meeting and it may be that we accept you but specifically rule out a particular product line.
  • Photographs of your work submitted electronically and/or links to a site where the work can be viewed. Please do not leave any products or artwork in the shop.
  • It must be your own work and of a good standard.

What you need to know (applies to guests and permanent members alike):

We use “Zettle”, an electronic point of sale system. This means your sale items must to be entered onto our system at least a week before the start of your time with us. To do this you need to email a list of your products, with codes and prices to treasurer@celfaranarts.co.uk 

The easiest way to do this is to use Excel. We can send you a template on request. 

The information can be sent via any soft copy format (preferably Excel) or if unavoidable, a paper copy.

Please ensure you provide the information in good time for us to upload it, we are unable to sell items that are not loaded onto the system.

The information required is: 
Unique Description (this appears on the customer receipt and on the end of month sales list that we send you)
Code (see below)
Price (please don’t format the numbers at all e.g. £7.50 should be 7.5)

Each item on display in Celf Aran Arts must be individually labelled with a price and a unique code that will enable us to search for it on the system when it is brought to the till. 
The code must start with a 3 letter maker code unique to you, followed by a space and then your product code which you can tailor to fit your own needs. The product code can be letters or numbers and any length and is not case sensitive, but please keep it short so it is easy to enter on our terminal when searching.

If you have any questions or queries, we are very happy to help, please email treasurer@celfaranarts.co.uk and Pauline, Jacky or Annabel will respond.

  1. You must individually label all items for sale with a price and its code.
  2. You are responsible for your own stock and any insurance necessary. We cannot be held responsible for any losses through theft. We have a policy for charging in full for any breakages but cannot be held responsible for a breakage that is not noticed by the member stewarding at the time or where the person responsible for the breakage has refused to pay.
  3. The items in your display must be (as stipulated in our constitution) handmade by you and of a suitable quality. We will remove any items that have not been agreed by the group.
  4. Your display must be tidy and professional and not detract from the quality image we wish to convey. We will re-arrange your display if it is not up to standard.
  5. Fees need to be paid in advance by BACS. Permanent members pay 3 monthly in advance. Guests must pay in advance to secure the booking.
  6. We will need your bank details to be able to pay you for any sales.

Join Us As A Guest

Guest artists do not steward in the gallery. For this reason it is possible for artists from further afield to join us as a guest although we will always tend to favour more local artists.

Guest artists pay a fee to exhibit but there is no commission on sales. As a guest you will receive the full value of your sales less any card transaction fees in the first half of the following month.

You will be sent a full list of your sales taken from our sales ledger a few days after the end of the month.

You may set up your display no earlier than the first day that we are open that month. You must take down your display no later than the last day that we are open that month.

As well as making sales you may use your space to promote your business and encourage commissions by leaving business cards and information about yourself and your work on the display.

We have two types of guest space available:

  1. Monthly Guest

Full size display (approx. 2m width) in an enviable position at the front of our shop. This space is rented on a monthly basis and the fee varies depending on the month. You are responsible for setting up and maintaining your own display. We have a table available should you wish to use it and there is a hanging system in place. When the shop is closed a white grill gate is pulled across to shut it off from any events taking place in Ty Siamas. Please be aware that small items left too close to this grill could be vulnerable to theft. You are welcome to come in and examine the space available.

  • 2. Three Monthly Cabinet Guests

We have 2 cabinet displays (4 shelves in a glass cabinet, approx. 4 x 30cm cube) available, rented on a 3 monthly basis. Optional locking glass door or door can be removed for easy customer access. You are responsible for setting up and maintaining your own display.

Join Us As A Permanent Member

We are all equal members of the co-operative with equal voting rights. We have no junior members. From the day you join we value your opinion and any input you can give to help the smooth running of our co-operative. You will also be expected to take on one of the roles we all share in order to ensure the smooth running of the cooperative and to steward in the shop for about 1½-2 days per month.

We are therefore a little picky when choosing new members and we much prefer it if you have been a guest artist with us previously.

The number of permanent members is limited by the space available in the gallery. Vacancies for new members therefore only come up when someone leaves the co-operative. Our constitution requires us to give 3 months’ notice of leaving however if we have a new member approved and ready to step in before the 3 months is up, we sometimes replace them earlier, so long as all the members are in agreement.

If you think you would be interested in becoming a permanent member of our group when a vacancy becomes available, please ask for a copy of our Constitution and Guidelines. If, having read these, you are still interested, please let us know and ask to be put in touch with the member currently charged with Permanent Member Liaison. When a permanent member space becomes available we will look at any applications we have received.

We will be looking to maintain a good balance of work within the gallery so whether you are accepted or not may have more to do with the sort of artist who has left us rather than the quality of your work per se. It is not a case of ‘first come, first served’. Please don’t be offended if you are not successful. In most cases we would like to keep your application on hold in case another vacancy arises.

If we consider your application and decide that we would be unlikely to accept you in the future (eg you are not local, we feel your work is not up to standard or the type of work we want to see in the gallery) we will tell you. Please don’t be offended.

Getting Paid

All sales are recorded in our sales ledger. Each sale has a ‘maker code’ attributed to it so that the money from that sale goes to the right maker. It is therefore very important that there is a label on EACH AND EVERY item for sale with a price and a code. There is only one of us on duty in the shop at a time so it is not possible to leave the till to check for a price or to find out whose display it came from.

If you want to be paid label each item individually with a code and a price!

The ledger will be sent to you electronically at the end of each month with details of all items sold. Permanent members can also access it during the month as and when the electronic version is updated.

Our treasurer will need your bank details in order to pay you, so please send these by email to treasurer@celfaranarts.co.uk

Ready to join us? Or just want to know a bit more…. Get in touch. We are waiting to hear from you.