Hrafnhildur Sigurðardóttir's run for President of SÍM – The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists

Dear members of SÍM – The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists.

I have decided to run for president of SÍM for the next term from 2010-2012. The annual meeting of SÍM will be held Saturday March 6th at 1pm in Hugmyndahús háskólanna (Saltfélagid).

I am a visual artist living in Reykjavík and as the president of SÍM I would eagerly take on all the work which that job implies, such as meeting and co-operating with associations, boards and committees in Reykjavík as well as monthly SÍM meetings. I think it is of importance to safeguard the rights and privileges that have been accomplished for member of SÍM in the last years. I want SÍM to set a standard of Rules of Ethics for the many boards and committees they appoint to, as to uphold a moral standard, transparent decision making, abide by the law, insure equal opportunity by not discriminating against sex, age or artistic medium and keep an open discussion about these things at all times. I want to work for the rights of SÍM members to get into a Union in order to be guaranteed sick- and pension payments like other citizens of this country. I am willing to work for the artists of this country and any suggestions of subjects and causes that you would like to see come into realization are welcomed.

As many of you know, I have already worked for years for SÍM and its participant organization the Textile Association. I have been on the board and on committees for SÍM and the Textile Association on and off from 1992-2005, including sitting on the board of Form Ísland (Design association) from 1992-1995 and on a committee for Listskreytingasjód (The Public Buildings Art Fund) during 2004-2006. Outside of SÍM I have sat on a number of boards including being secretary for AFS – Intercultural Programs and The Textile Center of Blönduós.

I graduated from the Textile Department of MHÍ – The Icelandic College of Art and Crafts in 1986. I also studied there at the Sculpture Department in 1997-1998, before I went to the US where I got my MFA in Sculpture in the year 2000 from the University of Colorado, Boulder. I began my studies at the Icelandic University in 2002, where I graduated with a Diploma in Public Administration in 2008, and have also finished the study for a BA degree in English and Creative Writing. This spring I will finish the last classes for a full MPA (Master of Public Administration) with emphasis on cultural leadership and managing Non-Profit Organizations.

During the last two year I have been busy putting together and managing Nes Artist Residency in Skagaströnd, Northern Iceland, where we run an Artist in Residence much like SÍM. I got the idea, when I saw two abandoned fishing factories for sale in Skagaströnd, that this would be an ideal setting for a residency for foreign and native artists. Nes Artist Residency was founded in March 2008 and I was hired as a Director to build it up from the ground. Now, two years later, Nes can host 13-15 artists a month and in the year 2009 about 110 artists visited us. My experience and expertise at from running Nes would no doubt come in handy in the future for the SÍM residency.

In the coming elections I hope for the support of SÍM members. If you would like to support me I ask you to recommend me to other members of SÍM. You can also become part of my group of supporters on Facebook. Please also tell your friends about my support group by “sharing” the page with your friends and other members of SÍM.

With best regards


Hrafnhildur Sigurðardóttir

New and fresh information and comments will be posted on the following pages. Although much of it will be in Icelandic, feel free to join the supporters page and become Facebook friend with me, and air your thoughts there:

Hrafnhildur's Facebook page
Hrafnhildur's supporters page on Facebook