THE POETS FOUNDATION Trade Terms

Painted Poems by E. Laurence Bake  ·  Designers, Architects, Galleries & Hospitality

Effective 5 September 2026  ·  Issued by Poets Foundation Inc. (United States)

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Applies to all trade quotations, holds, commissions, and deliveries unless a signed project agreement states otherwise.

 

1.Purpose and standing

These Trade Terms govern professional access to Painted Poems and related editions offered by The Poets Foundation to qualified trade partners. The program is not a consumer sale, not a public discount club, and not a donation. A purchase is a commercial acquisition of an art object. Title to the object does not transfer copyright in the image, the poem, the title, or the Painted Poem mark. Pricing is confidential and is released only after written Trade Access approval.

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The Foundation may issue works as Public Editions and, for approved trade partners, as Museum Canvas and Artist’s Proofs at statement scale. Edition type, size, numbering, and substrate are as stated on the approved quote and Certificate of Authenticity (COA).

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2.Who may hold a Trade Account

Accounts are granted only to licensed or credentialed professional firms that specify or resell fine art for clients:

• Interior design and decoration studios;

• Architecture and interior-architecture practices;

• Hospitality, club, and residential-development specifiers;

• Art consultants and advisory firms;

• Galleries and authorized dealers.

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A current business license or professional credential is required. A valid resale or tax-exemption certificate is required if the partner resells or claims exemption. Personal collectors, home-based reseller programs, and consumer purchasers use the public collection pages and are not eligible for trade pricing.

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The Foundation approves or declines applications in its sole discretion, may request additional documentation at any time, and may limit an account to specification-only (no resale) or to a defined territory or project type. Approval is of the named firm, not a transferable personal membership. Sharing login credentials or quoting trade net to unauthorized parties is grounds for immediate closure.

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3.How a project runs

Brief. Room, scale, palette, quantity, install window, and whether the work is specified for a client or purchased for gallery inventory.

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Specify. Shortlist and spec packs: dimensions, medium, edition, weight, hanging hardware, lead time, and crate class.

Approve. Written quote, hold window, and deposit if the work is commissioned or reserved.

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Deliver. Crating, insurance, parcel, freight, or white-glove as contracted. Installation is included only when quoted.

Document. COA, care notes, and photo-credit terms travel with the work.

 

4.Confidential pricing

List or public reference prices, where shown, are not the trade price. Net trade pricing appears only on an approved written quote or inside the logged-in trade desk. Quotes are valid for the period stated on the face of the quote (default: fourteen (14) calendar days) and may be withdrawn if the edition sells, production calendars change, or materials become unavailable.

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Unless a dealer schedule is separately signed, trade net is structured as follows. Figures below are the Foundation’s standard opening schedule and may be improved in writing for volume, hospitality packages, or repeat partners:

Account type

Standard net

Notes

Specifier / designer to client

20% off list

Project-by-project; no MOQ

Specifier, annual volume $25,000+

25% off list

Confirmed on trailing twelve months

Hospitality / multi-unit package

Quoted

Statement-scale Museum Canvas; staged delivery

Authorized gallery / dealer

Separate schedule

Inventory, MAP, and territory in a dealer letter

Commissioned work

Quoted

50% deposit to commence; balance before crate leaves studio.

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Trade net cannot be combined with public promotions, patronage gifts, or donation acknowledgments. Shipping, crating, white-glove, installation, customs, and insurance are extra unless the quote states otherwise. Samples, spec boards, and gift acknowledgments are not discounted.

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Partners may mark up to their client in the ordinary way. The Foundation does not publish a required client-side markup. Authorized dealers shall not advertise below the Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) stated in their dealer letter. Invoice net between Foundation and partner is never to be posted, screenshot, or disclosed on public sites, social media, or third-party marketplaces.

 

5.Holds and reservations

A written hold may be placed on an identified work or edition number after Trade Access approval. Holds default to ten (10) business days unless the quote states a longer project window. A hold is a courtesy reservation, not a sale. If the deposit or signed acceptance is not received before the hold expires, the work returns to available inventory without notice.

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The Foundation may refuse a hold on the last remaining number of a closed edition, on an Artist’s Proof reserved for the archive, or when two projects compete for the same work. Competing holds are resolved in the order written holds were accepted.

 

6.Commissions and custom scale

Commissioned Painted Poems, site-specific scale, and hospitality packages begin only after (a) an approved brief and quote and (b) a deposit of fifty percent (50%) of the quoted object price. The balance is due before the crate leaves the studio, unless a credit-approved Net term is stated on the quote. Deposits on commissioned and made-to-order work are not refundable once production has been scheduled, except where the Foundation is unable to deliver the specified work.

Artist’s Proofs and archive proofs are released only by written invitation. They are not automatically available to every trade account.

 

7.Orders, acceptance, and cancellation

A quote becomes an order when the partner returns written acceptance (email from the approved account address is sufficient) and any required deposit clears. The Foundation may decline or cancel an order that rests on incomplete credentials, a lapsed resale certificate, suspected diversion to consumer channels, or an edition that has closed.

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Stock editions, once crated, are not cancellable. Commissioned work is not cancellable after the production date confirmed in the quote. If the partner cancels before production is scheduled, the Foundation may retain a twenty percent (20%) administrative fee and refund the remainder of any deposit.

 

8.Payment

New accounts pay by card, ACH, or wire on a pro-forma basis: deposit as required, balance before ship. After two completed and timely-paid projects, the Foundation may, in writing, extend Net 15 or Net 30 on object price only (not freight). Credit terms may be withdrawn without cause. Late amounts accrue one and one-half percent (1.5%) per month, or the maximum allowed by law, whichever is less. The partner is responsible for bank charges on incoming wires.

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Invoices are issued in United States dollars unless the quote states otherwise. The partner pays all sales, use, GST/HST, VAT, and similar taxes unless a valid exemption or resale certificate is on file for the delivery jurisdiction before invoice date. Tax-exempt treatment is never automatic across states or provinces.

 

9.Title, risk, packing, and delivery

Title to the physical object passes when the Foundation has received cleared funds in full and the work has been tendered to the carrier or to the partner’s white-glove agent. Risk of loss passes on tender to the first carrier unless the quote includes Foundation-arranged all-risk transit insurance to the stated destination. Partners who arrange their own freight assume risk on studio handoff.

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Works ship crated or in museum-grade cartons appropriate to the edition. Lead times on the spec pack are estimates, not guarantees. White-glove, inside delivery, uncrating, placement, and hanging are extra and only when contracted.

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International deliveries are DAP or DDP only if the quote so states; otherwise the partner is importer of record and bears duties, brokerage, and clearance delay.

 

10.Inspection and claims

The partner (or the receiving warehouse or white-glove agent) must inspect the crate and the work within forty-eight (48) hours of delivery and report visible transit damage with photographs before the carrier leaves, or within that window if delivery is unattended. Concealed damage must be reported in writing within five (5) business days of delivery. Failure to notify within these windows is acceptance of condition.

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If a work is defective in materials or studio workmanship, the Foundation’s sole obligation is, at its election, to repair, replace from the same edition, or refund the object price paid. Color on screens is not a specification. Slight variation in canvas tooth, varnish sheen, and hand-finished edges is inherent to the work and is not a defect.

 

11.Returns

Fine art is made or allocated to the partner’s project. Completed sales of editions, Artist’s Proofs, and commissioned work are final. Returns are accepted only when the Foundation has shipped the wrong edition number or a work that does not match the quote in title, size, or substrate, and only if the work is returned in original crate, uninstalled, within fourteen (14) days of delivery, freight prepaid, with prior written return authorization.

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There is no restocking of opened Museum Canvas or works that have been hung, framed by a third party, or photographed for a client presentation as if owned. Change-of-mind, client rejection after specification, and project cancellation by the end client are not grounds for return.

 

12.Intellectual property — object versus rights

Purchase of a Painted Poem transfers title only to that physical object (and its COA). It does not transfer copyright, trademark, moral rights, or any license in the image, the poem, the handwritten or typeset text, the composition, or the registered mark PAINTED POEM (Canada / United States). The partner and the end client may display the purchased object in the specified interior and may photograph the installed object for portfolio and press under Section 13. They may not:

• reproduce the poem in full, in print or online;

• scan, print, mint, or edition the image;

• sublicense the work for merchandise, books, NFTs, or fabric;

• register or use PAINTED POEM, The Poets Foundation, or the artist’s name as a collection or product line;

• crop the poem out of the image for decorative reuse.

Any broader license (publication, hospitality brand guidelines, book, or film) requires a separate written grant from the Foundation.

 

13.Photography, credit, and press

Installed-work photography is permitted for the partner’s portfolio, awards submissions, and editorial press, provided credit appears in a durable form approximately as follows: “Painted Poem by E. Laurence Bake, The Poets Foundation.” Full-poem reprints, downloadable wallpapers, and unsanctioned detail crops used as brand assets are not permitted. The Foundation may request takedown of any use that omits credit or reproduces the poem as standalone text.

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The Foundation does not publish a public trade roster. After two completed projects it may, by written invitation only, include the firm name on a private specifier list. That listing is not an endorsement and is not exclusive.

 

14.Certificate of Authenticity and edition control

Each trade work ships with a COA stating artist, title, year, medium, dimensions, edition type and number (where applicable), and the Foundation as issuer. The COA is part of the object. Lost COAs may be replaced once, in the Foundation’s records, upon proof of identity and title; a replacement is marked as such. Edition size will not be increased after the edition is declared closed. Artist’s Proofs are outside the numbered edition and are recorded separately.

 

15.Mission, patronage, and the nature of the purchase

A substantial share of proceeds supports the mission projects of The Poets Foundation, including Save a Child Artist. That fact does not convert a trade purchase into a charitable contribution. Partners shall not describe the invoice to a client as a donation, shall not issue or request a donation receipt for a trade invoice, and shall not net trade discounts against pledged gifts. Patronage and benefactor arrangements are documented on separate pages and are not these Trade Terms.

 

16.Professional use and prohibited diversion

Trade net is for client projects, specified interiors, authorized gallery inventory, and bona fide hospitality packages. It is not for the partner’s personal residence except where the residence is a documented showhouse or a contracted project invoiced at trade. Resale on consumer marketplaces, auction sites, or unsanctioned “designer dump” channels is prohibited and is immediate cause for account closure and refusal of future holds.

 

17.Confidentiality

Quotes, nets, dealer schedules, hold lists, unpublished editions, and the private specifier list are confidential. The partner may share a redacted quote (list price and specification only, net removed) with its end client. The Foundation will not disclose the partner’s client list.

 

18.Term, suspension, and closure

Either party may close the Trade Account on written notice. Open quotes expire on their face. Open holds expire on their stated window. The Foundation may suspend an account for unpaid invoices, lapsed credentials, MAP or confidentiality breach, or conduct that misrepresents the work or the mission. Closure does not cancel amounts then due.

 

19.Warranties and limitation

The Foundation warrants that it has the right to sell the physical object, that the work corresponds to the COA, and that the object is free of undisclosed liens at the time title passes. Except for that warranty and the repair-or-replace remedy in Section 10, works are sold as unique or limited artistic objects without further warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular decorative scheme. In no event shall the Foundation’s liability on a work exceed the object price paid for that work. Neither party is liable to the other for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, including lost design fees or delayed install dates.

 

20.Governing law

These Trade Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, United States of America, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Exclusive venue for disputes that are not resolved by good-faith negotiation within thirty (30) days is the state or federal courts sitting in Florida. A signed project agreement or dealer letter may name a different venue for that engagement only. If any clause is held unenforceable, the remainder stays in force.

 

21.Order of documents

For a given project the controlling documents are, in this order: (1) a signed project agreement or dealer letter, (2) the accepted quote, (3) these Trade Terms, (4) the website Terms of Use. Site marketing copy does not amend these Terms. The Foundation may revise these Terms prospectively by posting a new effective date; existing accepted quotes keep the Terms in force on their acceptance date.

 

22.Notices

Trade notices are effective when sent to the email on the approved account and to the Trade Desk at support@poetsfoundation.com. Formal legal notices may also be sent to Poets Foundation Inc. at the address then published on poetsfoundation.com.

 

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Acceptance. Submitting a Trade Access application, requesting a quote, placing a hold, or paying a deposit constitutes acceptance of these Trade Terms.

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These Terms are a commercial document for approved partners. They are not legal advice to the partner and should be reviewed by the Foundation’s counsel before publication, particularly as to governing law, tax language, and the U.S. / Canadian nonprofit structure.