You decide for yourself…I’ve already made my decision!
This is a series of emails between me and a fellow named Michael Joseph (Artist Heaven.)
I’d love to hear what you think!
Michael Joseph-first email to me:
Dear Fellow Photographer:
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself; my name is Michael Joseph http://www.michaeljoseph.com , I am a photographer and owner of the Artists’ Haven Gallery http://www.artistshavengallery.com . I am contacting you in regards to sharing this information with you, as I would hope that you find it to be of important interest.I have discovered you online through the photographers.com index. I recognize you to have an exceptional talent and encourage you to enter this competition.
Please feel welcome to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have regarding this opportunity. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to receiving your entry.ARTISTS’ HAVEN GALLERY Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2009 INTENATIONAL JURIED PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION Entry Deadline: June 30, 2009
Cash & Prize Awards valued over $15,000
Download Complete Guidelines & Entry Form at http://www.artistshavengallery.com
Contest is open to all US and International photographers working in digital or film media. There are multiple categories and no entry limit. Entry fee: $25/1 piece, $10 each additional. Group Exhibition Sept 01 – 31, 2009. Awards Presentation Sept 19, 2009. Winners do not need to be present.
The competition will be juried by Barbara O’Keefe, Executive Director, the Coral Springs Museum of Art. http://www.csmart.org
Artists Haven Gallery 2757 East Oakland Park Blvd, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33306
Phone: 954-817-8870
Email: 2009ipc@artistshavengallery.comMy first email in response after checking out the links:
Hello Michael,You say you found me at photographers.com index, I have never signed up there and did a search there and couldn’t find my name…
Such an untruth doesn’t bode well for the legitimacy of your contest or your name!
I will report this as a scam to as many people as I can!
D L Ennis
Michael Joseph-follow-up to me:
Sorry, you must have recieved the email…perhaps we found you doing a google search.
Legitame or scam…have you even visited the websites we provide links to? Why would we do that if it were a scam?
The fact you were not on a list we mention in an email letter to try to inform people…is minor detail…perhaps you are just bitter or not even a photographer?
No need to reply back…have a nice day sir.
My response:
Michael, You seem a little bitter yourself…and defensive!
If you know the internet at all you know that you can never be to careful…scammers build websites all the time to try and convince people. If you are legit it seems you would understand my caution and want to show me that you are on the up and up. Instead you get nasty…that’s an attitude of a guilty conscience!
Lighten up my friend!
Have a wonderful day,
D L Ennis
Michael Joseph-response:
I guess you could’nt help yourself and had to reply anyway….
Go away now. Thank you.
I would love to hear from you guys!
Very interesting and clearly you have already gotten to the answer. Do you have any recommendations for LIGIT. contests?
Laura
Hi Dennis,
I am getting these kinds of emails every day! and regularly just delete them. Most of the time they are not really scams but vanity galleries which are looking for customers i.e. artists who are ready to pay for being exhibited. These galleries live exclusively from entry fees and are normally not interested in really promoting an artist/photographer. So there are better ways to spend your money.
Greetings Petra
Doesn’t sound right. And even if it were legitimate, I wouldn’t want to deal with someone of Michael Joseph’s “demeanor”.
Ugh! Way to go Dennis calling him out on this. Funny that he responded to you at all, and he tried to make you look like the bad guy. I ignore any such emails myself. That is a great reply by Petra. I’m glad you posted this too in helping with raising awareness to such scams.
My email is constantly inundated with contest invitations to submit my poetry and/or shorts for a chance to win their contest and become a “real published writer!” Ijust laugh and hit the spam button; because if they were legit and bothered to check out me or my work, they’d know that I already am “a real published writer!”
I did, however, get a kick out of your tête-à-tête…nicely done…hehehe
Good for you for calling him out. I’m surprised he responded at all – but not surprised that he went immediately on the defensive. “Go away now” hahahaha Priceless.
Well done!
I received an email from Elaine Joseph offering to “represent” me in her gallery. Same people. I did the same thing you did – told her she should be ashamed and that I’d be shouting about it from the rooftops here: http://artstudiosecrets.com/2009/05/14/alert-artists-haven-gallery-ft-lauderdale-scam/
Good for you giving him the business. We have to stick together!
best wishes
Lisa Gloria
1. Why would they list the name of a real museum and use the director’s name as a judge? If you call them they tell you it’s a real contest and they have known him for 12 years and he has had several exhibitions there. If you go to his website you can see that. He is one of the most celebrated contemporary photographers of our time. His publishing, licensing, and credits include HBO, Rolling Stones, Symantec, and GE, just to name a few.
2. Why would they list Photographers.com as a sponsor? Again, if it were not real they would not be involved. The owner himself sent out an email to over 15,000 fellow photographers telling you that they are giving away prizes for this contest and proud to be involved. All you have to do is go to their website and ask.
3. Does the gallery really exist? Are you kidding me with this? Google map the address and you can see that the “brick and mortar” real estate the business is located at is very prestigious and the most expensive in the area. And what’s that a $10,000 custom fake lighted sign on the front.
4. Asking artists for money? If an artist can’t invest into their own career, why would anyone else. It seems to me for what they do for so modest a fee, I would never be able to do for myself. It would take years to make those contacts.
5. In these economic times, you are going to see more galleries closing, along side of all kinds of other places. Art is not a necessity, it is a luxury. To have a place trying to stay open so we have a place to exhibit is a good thing for everyone.
6. Legit you say? Art Business News – June 2009 just did a full half page feature about this gallery and the photography competition. My guess, that’s as real as it gets.
7. Bitter, Defensive, Demeanor? Seems with people like you being haters and living in fear he waste no precious energy or time with you. And oh ya, when I googled your names I couldn’t find much of anything, that any of you are doing worth commenting on.
8. Yelling it from the rooftops? Let me remind you that there is no bad press. In the 1980’s on a new and unheard of network called FOX, a TV showed aired and it offended one woman so much she couldn’t turn it off and had to watch it, she tried desperately to block it from existing. Eventually all her campaigning brought more attention to the show and made it a number one hit….the show…”Married with Children”. Last I looked the AHG sits at Number 1.
Okay sicko, so you are another jerk that don’t understand artist…and I have never claimed to be an artist.
There are plenty of places that donot require a fee to show your work…why give it to greedy people like this guy who has no talent at all…yes I have seen his work.
Now, the next time you want to come to my blog and run your mouth about something you know nothing about please be brave enough to leave your full name and contact info so everyone else can check up on you and let you know what we think of you! Simp Hampton!!!
Here is Simp Hampton’s email address…if it is real. Feel free to contact him and let him know what you think! shinndiggity@yahoo.com
lol, thanks for posting this site. I just got a email from them asking to be in their contest. I googled them and found this. I just sent a kind reply back to them with a link to this site, and all it said was
“Go away now. Thank you.”
Im sure they wont find it as funny as I did. lol.
the ARISTS HAVEN GALLERY is real and mike and his wife elaine work very hard at promoting the gallery and the artists that they represent. my work has been in his gallery for over two years ,he was the 1st fellow artist to believe in myself and help me along the way!!! they are very good people!!!
Then why do they feel the need to lie, spam, and when questioned, reply offensively?
Sorry you had to pay someone to believe in you and stroke your ego!
I’m a photographer and patron of the Coral Springs Museum of Art in Coral Springs, Florida. The judge for the contest discussed was Barbara O’keefe – the curator of the for-mentioned Museum and close personal friend. I have known of Michael Joseph through his affiliations with the museum and knew of his gallery in Ft. Lauderdale. I’d also seen the entry advertising for the contest several months ago but never acted upon it until receiving several emails from the museum suggesting I give it a shot. Prior to entering I paid a visit to the Artists Haven Gallery a couple times eventually having the chance to speak with Michael Joseph directly. For starters – although the gallery may be located in a high cost real estate area – my guess is it doesn’t receive a great deal of traffic off the street. In fact the door was closed the first time I arrived which was a weekday prior to 5:00 pm. My first contact was with an employee who claimed her primary job is online and phone sales of the artwork. She was coy enough not to release any information concerning the amount of sales they’ve done previous although the gallery has been open for several years now. A few days later I attended an opening to meet the artists although none of the artists were there and for the 30 minutes I was there the attending crowd numbered less than a dozen people. Michael did say he was looking into opening a second gallery in California with the assistance of a friend there who “liked his business plan”.
Ultimately I decided to give the contest a shot thinking a Best of Show would reward a year with the gallery with waved fees. I must admit part of my decision came about from an impression I’d received that they were having trouble getting entries – thus my thinking their hardship might work to my advantage. Yesterday I received my reject letter stating I’d lost to a field of 300 applicants and over 2500 photos. If one was to believe these numbers – one could assume that the gallery just took in nearly $30k in entry fees. Although the prizes are advertised to amount to over $15K – to the gallery the cost is much less considering most of that is accounted for by waived fees.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not trying to run the Artists Haven Gallery out of business here – what I am pointing out is that here – I think – is an example of a gallery (one of many) that supports itself on the income collected from the artist rather than the sales of the artists work. Unfortunately I fear this may very well become a trend as more and more people strive to make a living from their artwork.
Michael Joseph is an honest , well liked photographer and gallery owner. Think of it this way, if you are not showing anywhere, isn’t it better to have your work up and have a chance at getting something sold??
This is not a scam. All galleries have to make money, or they wouldn’t be in business. There is no secret that they ask for money up front. At least some people will have the only chance of their lives to have work on someone else’s wall besides their mother’s.
Look, any fool who wants to pay to have their work in a vanity gallery…that’s up to them…I really don’t care. I am very widely published and my work hangs in many public and private galleries. I never have and never will support a vanity gallery!
Also, if this cat is such a good guy why did he get so nasty when I asked him a question…check out our email exchanges above…they are word for word!
So, anyone who supports this villain and his cheesy practices please just go away!!! If you are so pathetic that you have to pay him or anyone else to show your work then go for it!
This is a few months old, but I thought I’d add my $0.02 as I have experience with this gallery. I am choosing to remain anonymous as I don’t wish to stain my own name on the internet with this gallery. Michael Joseph and his “Artists Haven Gallery” are a total scam. I was enticed and foolish enough to show there… and pay him money to do so. In one year of having my work he sold not one piece of my work. Part of the money I payed him was used for “marketing purposes.” He printed a bunch of flyers and mailed them to me to send out. The opening was a sham. Everything about this guy is dirty.
Be warned: STAY AWAY. Michael Joseph takes other artist’s money so he can pay the rent on his nice gallery space in Ft Lauderdale and pretend like he’s a famous artist.
They say to never trust a man with two first names.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtR5GB00zw8&w=560&h=315%5D
He is alive and well. Just google his name, this guide is all over the place. Claiming he has won award status with Sony and more. One never knows
I showed there and it costed me a bunch. I didn’t know about vanity galleries until I read all of thie scam alerts online about a month before my “show” at AHG, and it turned out to be everything I expected- nothing. There was zero traffic, a handfull of old folks who probably come every weekend for the free wine and snacks (that I and the other hapless artists paid for) and of course no sales. Right now they have about 150 artists in their “stable” and if you times that by 2-3 grand you will see why the gallery has no incentive whatsoever to sell art. I went next door and got drunk with a bunch of locals. Best part of the experience!