Be Aware of Email Scam posing as an International College wanting guest speakers
I received an email today through my portfolio site. At first I passed it off as scam, then when I read it again, it seemed legit and like an amazing opportunity. I wanted it to be real. However, after I clicked some links and analyzed it. It was a scam.
I am calling it out to this group specifically because they mentioned this website is how they found me. The generic @gmail.com email address is not what an event coordinator at an International College would be using. The seminar link is an AI generated template from Lovable.
Did anyone else get this? I literally just became a member last week.
Best,
Renee Rising
Replies (2)
- Sep 29, 2026, 1:43 PM
Hi Renee,
Thanks very much posting this and bringing this to our attention. I have not seen this or heard about it yet. Can you let me know what they were soliciting for? Was it money or a some sort of guest speaker fee?
Also, please note that we take member privacy very seriously and do not share or display the email address of any member artists on our website, only the information artists choose to share, such as their personal website or social media accounts. It could be they clicked through one of those channels to find your contact information. I know how this can be very frustrating.
Thanks again for sharing and for being a premier member of our community. If you have any additional information you want to share or have questions for us, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Thanks!
Joe
- Sep 29, 2026, 2:26 PM (edited)
They submitted the email message from my website that I shared. That's on me.
They were not asking for money at all. At least not yet. I will paste the entirety of the email below:
Submission summary:
First name:
Mari
Last name:
Lovvik. SPC
Email:
visualartseminar@gmail.com
Write a message:
Dear Renee Rising,
Greetings from King’s College London.
My name is Mari Lovvik, SPC, and I am writing on behalf of King’s College London. It is our great honour to invite you to serve as a Guest Speaker at our forthcoming Annual Seminar, to be held at our Northbank Campus in London, United Kingdom.
We recently came across your professional profile through the Seattle Artists ARTISTS NETWORK and were greatly impressed by your distinguished contribution to contemporary art, sculpture, craftsmanship, and material-led creative practice. Your artistic approach and experience strongly align with the educational focus of this year’s seminar, which seeks to explore the profound role of visual art in shaping human perception, communication, creativity, and understanding.
For this year’s programme, we are particularly interested in examining the ability of visual art to communicate ideas and emotions beyond the limitations of spoken and written language. Your experience as a visual artist would provide our audience with a valuable perspective on how images, forms, colours, materials, symbols, and artistic expression can influence the way people see and interpret the world around them.
Event Details
Venue:
King’s College London – Northbank Campus
42 Temple Gardens
London WC2R 3AB
United Kingdom
Date: 17 February 2027
Theme: “Art as a Language Without Words”
Proposed Topic: “The Power of Visual Art: How Images Shape the Way We See, Think, and Understand the World”
Expected Audience: Approximately 150 attendees
Speaking Duration: 1 Hour
Website: https://kings-art-seminar.lovable.app/#seminar
This one-day seminar will bring together students, academics, artists, designers, architects, makers, researchers, collectors, educators, creative professionals and members of the wider artistic community to explore the influence and importance of visual art in contemporary society.
The seminar will examine how visual art can communicate complex ideas, emotions, experiences, histories, and cultural identities without relying exclusively on words. Through painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, installation, digital art, mixed media, design, and other visual practices, artists create forms of communication that can cross cultural, linguistic, and social boundaries.
We would be especially honoured for you to explore the proposed topic:
“The Power of Visual Art: How Images Shape the Way We See, Think, and Understand the World.”
Your presentation could examine how visual images influence human perception and how artistic choices such as colour, composition, scale, texture, form, symbolism, contrast, movement, and material can affect the way an audience experiences and interprets an artwork.
The discussion could also explore the theme:
“Art as a Language Without Words.”
We would welcome your reflections on how artists communicate stories and ideas without necessarily speaking or writing. How can a sculpture express emotion? How can colour communicate mood? How can an image preserve memory? How can a single visual symbol communicate an idea that might require hundreds of words to explain?
We are particularly interested in exploring the relationship between visual art, human experience, culture, identity, memory, and imagination. The seminar will consider how artists can challenge established ways of seeing and encourage audiences to question, reflect, interpret, and engage with the world from new perspectives.
Your contribution could also address the evolving relationship between traditional visual practices and contemporary creative technologies. As digital media, photography, artificial intelligence, virtual environments, and new forms of visual communication continue to develop, the ways in which people create, encounter, and interpret images are changing rapidly.
We believe your perspective would provide an inspiring opportunity for students and emerging artists to understand that visual art is not simply about creating something aesthetically pleasing. It can also serve as a powerful means of communication, documentation, cultural expression, education, reflection, storytelling, and social dialogue.
The seminar will encourage participants to consider an important question:
If art can communicate without words, what can an image tell us that words sometimes cannot?
Your experience and artistic perspective would make an important contribution to this conversation and would provide our audience with an opportunity to gain deeper insight into the creative process and the power of visual expression.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the short notice. Unfortunately, our originally scheduled speaker is no longer able to participate due to unforeseen circumstances. We would therefore be sincerely grateful if you would consider accepting this invitation to join us as one of our distinguished
Guest Speakers.
King’s College London will be pleased to cover all approved international travel, accommodation, and local transportation expenses. In addition, you will receive an agreed speaking honorarium in recognition of your valued contribution to the seminar.
Should you be available to participate, we will promptly forward the Formal Letter of Invitation, Speaker Agreement, detailed programme schedule, and travel arrangements to ensure that your visit is comfortable and well organised.
Should you require any additional information or wish to share promotional materials, please feel free to contact me directly.
Telephone: +44 (0) 793 3152362
Email: visualartseminar@gmail.com
We sincerely hope you will be able to join us for what promises to be an engaging, thought-provoking, and inspiring occasion. It would be a privilege to welcome you and to benefit from your expertise, creativity, and experience in visual art, sculpture, craftsmanship, material exploration, and contemporary creative practice.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Mari Lovvik. SPC
Event Coordinator
King’s College London
visualartseminar@gmail.com
42 Temple Gardens, London WC2R 3AB, United Kingdom
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