The Mandate of VANL-CARFAC is to raise the socio-economic status of the artist by:
- Advocating on behalf of the visual arts sector
- Providing information to artists and non-artists on the moral rights of artists on issues of copyright, exhibition and reproduction
- Promoting the development of a cohesive provincial visual arts sector by developing communication tools and liaising between regional visual arts associations
- Advancing awareness of the visual arts in the province
- Acting as a liaison between the visual arts sector, government, cultural organizations, art galleries and the public
- Acting as a spokesperson on issues specific to visual artists
- Serving as a communication link between VANL members and CARFAC, the national visual arts service organization
VANL-CARFAC is run by an active board of directors which includes representation from across the province. The organization also receives direction from several different artist-run committees: Advocacy, Fundraising, Communications, Finance and Planning, Human Resources, the Colin MacNee Emergency Fund and the Excellence in Visual Arts Awards (EVAs).
VANL-CARFAC employs two staff persons as Executive Director and Program Coordinator for the organization. These positions are supplemented by contractual staff in order to carry out special projects, fundraising, awareness campaigns and research initiatives.