Advice from Artists & Dealers
I was preparing a syllabus for a Professional Practices course and curious if there was anything I’d left out. I posted on Facebook asking my artist friends “What’s one thing you know now that you wish you’d learned sooner?” Several people posted thoughtful, sincere responses, each from their own experience and perspective. The thread was really interesting to read. So when it came time to write this book, I thought it would be helpful and interesting to include some additional perspective. I reached out to over 50 friends, colleagues and acquaintances and asked them what one piece of advice, in 250 words or less, they would give to any emerging artist. I was surprised and pleased by how many people agreed to participate, which is proof that artists and arts professionals are generally generous, helpful and community-minded.
Some contributors addressed issues of creativity and inspiration that I, since I’m not a visual artist, could never offer you. Some reinforce the opinions I’ve expressed in this book. A few disagree with what I’ve said completely. But that's the art business. With so few hard rules, you'll often be put in a position of simply having to use your best judgment. I hope you’ll take all of the advice in this section to heart as every contributor put thought and time into sharing something they believed you might find helpful. What follows is that advice, in all shapes and sizes, from working artists and experienced art dealers.
Kirsten Anderson, Art Dealer
Seattle, WA
Founder/Owner, Roq la Rue
My advice is when you decide it’s time to approach a gallery, check to see what their submission policy is. It’s a good idea to honor it if the gallery says they do not accept submissions. If you submit anyway you are essentially demanding a gallery pay attention to you when they are in no position to offer help, which is rude. You also set yourself up for totally unnecessary rejection, which is no fun for anyone. If they do take submissions, be polite, be brief, include a link to your website with current work. Don’t say, “My art is perfect for your gallery” – I’ve heard that literally hundreds of times and they have never been correct. Don’t take rejection personally, even though that is hard and takes practice. Your art may be great, just not for that gallery’s audience! I also think it’s important to distinguish between art making and the “art world”. They are linked, but two completely different things.
Noah Antieau, Art Dealer
New Orleans, LA and San Francisco, CA
Consultant and Founder/Co-Owner, Red Truck Gallery
It’s not going to be a straight line from where you are now to where you want to be. But along the way to your first $50,000 canvas, consider yourself lucky when the rent gets paid from doing anything creative. Don’t be one of those cliché art school kids who considers himself above the idea of art as commodity. Take the commercial work. Take the design work. Do the band’s poster design for $20 and a six-pack. Do your best friend’s sister’s wedding invitation. Do whatever it takes to be able to call yourself a working artist. It’s a noble title, regardless of the particulars.
Rick Araluce, Artist
Seattle, WA
I used to be one of those people who thought he’d never get a grant. I had tried once and hadn’t got one. So, therefore, I would NEVER get one. That was my mental state: Loser. Several years later, I tried again. This time I spent time with the thing, worked on it for weeks and weeks, polished it to a gleaming diamond. Every period and comma, I went over and over again. And, lo and behold, I was funded! I had become one of those people. The ones who received grants.
Just recently, I was named a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fund. That’s right, I’m a Guggenheim Fellow. I had applied four times before. I did not quit. The fifth time was the charm. Every time I make out a grant or project funding application, I swing for the fences. You should too. Don’t be lazy. Don’t feel entitled. Be compelling. Be concise. Convince them why they should give you money. It’s WORK. Treat it like work.
Now, get busy.
Carrie Ann Baade, Artist
Tallahassee, FL
Associate Professor, Dept. of Art, College of Fine Arts, Florida State University
Monet at age 28 attempted suicide by jumping into the Seine. When he didn’t die, he swam back to shore regained his clothes and painting pack and carried on. Let’s be honest, it is easier not to paint. But if this is who you are, then paint you must and you will need to be more savvy than Prometheus to make the work and make a living. There will be ups and downs. I was once reading about the great printmaker M.C. Escher. The only year he achieved financial success was 1929. I looked into other artists’ records, and the boom before the crash gave many artists their luck. When the market was gone, they suffered like everyone. In reading the biography of Peggy Guggenheim, I learned that artists who are now worth millions were given maybe a thousand odd dollars for their works while they were alive… all the real money is on the secondary market. For me this is an endurance race – a long distance run, it is about the whole life of making art. I have worked doing commissions, teaching, curating, in order to paint another day. Everything goes back into the luxury to paint and live this extraordinary existence of an artist. Delacroix said in his journals, “If you are not skillful enough to sketch a man jumping out of a window in the time it takes him to fall from the fourth story to the ground, you will never be able to produce great works.” This urgency to create must be in your blood. This is what no school and no one person can teach you.
William Baczek, Art Dealer
Northampton, MA
Owner/Director, William Baczek Fine Arts
I have a theory that the best art ever made is in a shy person’s basement.
There’s a reason why some artists are successful and others aren’t. When I’m talking with younger artists I stress that making, exhibiting and selling art in a commercial gallery is just like any other job one hopes to be successful at. It means working hard, honoring deadlines and trusting your co-workers to do their jobs well too.
A gallery might not be actively seeking new artists, but they will rarely ignore someone who makes excellent art and approaches them in a friendly and professional way. An email with a link to a well-designed and easily navigated web page is helpful. Know that gallery’s program and mention why you would fit in well. Creating the art is only a part of it (albeit a very important part). Have it photographed and framed professionally and post it online promptly. A relationship with an art gallery is just like any other relationship. Whether it is personal or professional, it involves trust. When an artist asks me “how much commission do you take?” I won’t work with that artist. It immediately shows a hint of distrust and misunderstanding of the work that a gallery should do. We don’t “take” or “give” a commission – we share it. The artist does their work (making the art, photographing it, etc.) and the gallery does their work (displaying it, contacting clients, press, art fairs, etc.). And like all relationships, sometimes they end. Two very nice people can get divorced and they are still very nice people, they just no longer belong together. But when it works well, there’s nothing more amazing than two people doing their jobs to the best of their ability and trusting their other half to do the same.
Ali Banisadr, Artist
Brooklyn, NY
I have been making art as long as I can remember. When I was a child living in Iran through the chaos of war, I would create art to try to make sense of the world around me. The worlds I would create were a safe place for me to organize my thoughts and to express my vision.
Even though later on in life I went to art school and was taught about art as a career I have never forgotten that the most important part of being an artist is to stay true to your own vision and never let anything change it.
Rebekah Bogard, Artist
Reno, NV
Associate Professor, University of Nevada, Reno
Create a mailing list. Begin with people who have purchased your work or express interest in it. As you build your list, pay attention to gallery advertisements in magazines that resonate with you and include them. Do not forget to include museums you aspire to exhibit in. Also include editors of books and magazines, curators, art critics, gallery directors, and others who inspire you. When you have a show, make postcards with an image of your work, exhibition and website information. Send them to your mailing list. Yes, mail them out, with stamps! Postcards make a far greater impression these days than Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook as they are physical, don’t disappear and aren’t forgotten in a matter of moments. Make sure to order plenty so that you have leftovers. I always take my leftovers to art conferences (such as NCECA or CAA) and leave them on tables. You never know who will pick them up and post them in their studio or classroom. I have received major gallery exhibitions from this practice, as well as visiting artist gigs. If you want to be proactive, you can mail out leftover postcards to Universities with a sticker on it saying that you are interested in exhibiting in their gallery or being a visiting artist.
Benjamin Britton, Artist
Athens, GA
Assistant Professor, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia
I got a great lesson from teachers who were serious artists as well as kind and generous people. No matter what you achieve, try your best to be compassionate to other people and their struggles. As artists, we are making, looking, and showing; we take positions and give and take criticism. This is profoundly exciting but also stressful. Being compassionate with people and having a sense of humor even when you want something really bad makes things less awkward. Also, it takes a little perspective to realize how remarkable the position you’ve taken to be an artist is. I wish I’d appreciated how crazy special the scene really was where I found my footing as a young artist. The lesson that you and your friends are making culture from the very beginning, and making it the very best kind of scene by supporting and challenging each other, is super important. Maintain contact with your allies. Some of the things you get into first are the things that hold unfiltered fascination, even after time and distance reveal the context and philosophical reasons for why those things are engaging.
Making art is a way of moving through life with a different perspective, and is inherently charged with a position of resistance to the mainstream. It’s going to be an adventure, so you’ll need help. You’ll need to be resourceful, thrifty, and brave, but looking back on your life you probably won’t regret also being kind and having a sense of humor.
Mia Brownell, Artist
New Rochelle, New York
Professor of Art, Southern Connecticut State University
Keep pace with the evolution of your imagination! The most rewarding aspect of being an artist has been bridging the gap between the unseen idea in the mind and its manifestation into an actual object. I am always trying to find new ways to remind myself that a world of limitless solutions exists, and at the same time, discover my limitations – both conceptual and physical. Through the discovery of limits and boundaries I can begin to understand the universal concept of freedom, chance and experience. Experimentation has been the way to discovering personal solutions and dialogue has been a crucial part of my process. This dialogue is a bridge to your imagination, and can start between you, your practice, other people, places, things, and just about any idea or event past or present that excites you.
Charles Clary, Artist
Conway, SC
Foundations Coordinator, Coastal Carolina University
Understand, while it's difficult to fail, it is far more difficult to succeed and be prepared for that success. It takes perseverance, sacrifice, hard work, and patience to succeed in life no matter your discipline, and the art world is no different. While it's true that luck can be a factor in your success, you create that luck through working your ass off and always pushing forward no matter how challenging the road gets. So why be a victim of your circumstances when you can be a purveyor of your future?! One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from my grad school mentor. He said: "Always have enough work for two solo shows and always keep evolving. That way you’re prepared for anything that the art world throws at you!"
Peter Drake, Artist
New York, NY
Dean of Academic Affairs, New York Academy of Art
At the beginning of my career as an artist I wish that someone had told me not to take things for granted. This may sound obvious, but it’s really easy to assume, when there are a lot of good things happening for you, that they will continue forever. You forget how unusual it is to have a gallery or galleries, to get reviews, to be in great group shows and public collections. One of the things that you have to maintain at these moments is a certain humility in the face of good fortune. This allows you to enjoy the unique moment you are in but it also prepares you to maximize each of these remarkable events. If a great collector who is on the board of a major museum asks you to do a portrait of them, you should find a way to maintain that relationship. When you get a review in The New York Times, you should make an effort to develop a creative conversation with that critic. If a gallery is really developing your career and getting you into great group shows, you shouldn’t assume that all galleries will, or even can, do this. I have seen so many artists leave great galleries in a huff for something inconsequential because they assumed that the good fortune that got them into the gallery in the first place, would follow them forever. Were they surprised.
Cara Enteles, Artist
New York, NY
1. Your best connections are your peers. Stay in contact with them. Be curious. Visit other artist’s studios and add like-minded people to your mailing list. Galleries often trust their artists to recommend their friends. Let connections happen organically. Most of the galleries I work with saw my work at another venue and contacted me.
2. Find a way to make ends meet as a back up source of income until you get to the point where you can earn a living off your art. As much as possible, I would recommend a job that lets you use your artistic talent in some way. For many years after art school, I worked as a clothing designer. I gradually made this into a permanent freelance position, which allowed me more time to focus on art. Then changed my role into a “creative director” before leaving to pursue an art career full time in 2008.
3. Above all, follow your instincts and take risks.
Zach Feuer, Art Dealer
Hudson, NY
Co-Owner, Feuer/Mesler Gallery and Retrospective Gallery
• Keep your overhead low.
• Put as much money into an IRA or retirement account as you can (Start your first year out of school if you can).
• Don’t move to a city where you will have to spend all your waking hours just paying the rent.
• Make friends with lots of artists IRL and online.
• If no one will show you or your friends, show yourselves.
• Don’t pay to be in juried shows or vanity galleries, and if you have in the past, take them off your resume.
• You don’t need business cards.
• You do need a website.
• Remember – if you make it – what comes up, must go down, so be really nice to everyone (Not just fancy art world people, but also your shippers, framers, assistants, etc).
• Don’t burn bridges. Stay humble.
Roni Feldman, Artist
Los Angeles, CA
In 2010, Max Presneill and I established a collective of artists, writers, and curators called Durden & Ray. Many of us were already represented by galleries, but wanted to have more agency and exhibition opportunities, particularly between solo shows. D&R partners with galleries and non-profits in the L.A. area to host exchange shows with like-minded groups in other cities and countries. For example, we send some of our artists to another country to curate a show along with artists there, then they send some of their artists to curate a show with some of us at one of our partner spaces in L.A. We also collaborate on art projects together, create catalogs, and serve as a network of support and information. Everyone brings something to the table and it’s completely democratic. Each member has an equal vote in our activities. We have had exhibitions in Tokyo, Japan, Berlin, New York, plus many other places. We also just opened a brick and mortar project space in L.A.’s burgeoning industrial arts district. It takes heaps of work, but D&R provides most members with six to twelve exhibitions per year. And anyone can do this. It just requires a very motivated group of people.
Lori Field, Artist
New York, NY
My advice is to really hone in on your passion, and your own authentic voice in your art making practice. The way you, as an individual, have of seeing, and realizing what you see in physical form is valid and important to honor. There will be a lot of influence out there to make work that looks like other people's work that is “successful” or on trend, or selling at the moment. Stick to your own vision. Be influenced by and inspired by others but don't replicate what they do. Take it as a kernel of where to begin and expand on it. Make it your own. Remain obsessive and work very hard on what makes your work unique and stand out. Aim to have people recognize your work in a crowded room... to know immediately that it's undeniably yours.
Eric Finzi, Artist
Kensington, MD and New York, NY
There are many different ways to get to Rome. Of course there is the main highway, getting your MFA at a few select schools, and settling in Brooklyn.
But what is one to do if, for whatever reason, you can’t follow the traditional path of the artist who is trying to solidify their status as a rule breaker? Follow your muse – work on whatever pulls you, whatever motivates you, whatever is so difficult or ridiculous that no one else wants to go there. If there is a fork in the road of your art, choose the more difficult path, the road less traveled. There you will engender an art that truly is unique, something that may last beyond you, if you care about such things. If you work on something truly different, don’t expect quick acceptance. Expect rejection, over, and over, and over. The more original your work, the longer you should expect to get rejected. We are, of course, herd animals, and one human’s so called rebellion may actually be fitting so well into expected constructs of avant-garde that it is nothing of the sort.
Befriend everyone, and anyone, and be yourself. Befriend artists whose work resonates with you. Exchange work and ideas. Cultivate the social side of yourself, and be generous to others – you never know where it might lead.
Camille Rose Garcia, Artist
Los Angeles, CA
If you want to make a business out of your art, learn the art of business. Getting into a gallery will never solve all of your problems, so quit making that the only goal. Don’t try to “get into the Art World”, make your own art world and invite people in. You can’t wait around for people to discover how brilliant you are. If you want to make time for your art, you have to pencil it in or it will never get done. You have to be selfish. You have to disappoint others. You can’t go to every birthday party or wedding people want you to go to. Turn off the phone and put it in another room and work 2 straight hours on your art with no interruptions. Don’t worry about “likes”. Worry about getting better at your craft, and being able to support it financially. Don’t take on a lot of debt. Art School is a scam. Critical Theory is useless in the real world. Learn how to grow things from seeds.
Bert Green, Art Dealer
Chicago, IL
Owner, Bert Green Fine Art
My gallery works with artists at every career phase, early, mid-career, and mature. I tend to not take on artists straight out of school, because I want to see if they have what it takes and stick with art making for at least 5 years after graduation without giving up. Once I take someone on, the most important thing I look for in my relationships with artists is professionalism, consistency in studio practice, and reliable communication.
A gallery can provide an enormous amount of support to an artist by handling the tasks that artists generally disdain, such as marketing and PR, pricing, sales tax collection, collection management and placement, etc. In exchange, galleries will expect artists to competently handle the most important thing of all, art making.
The relationship is based on mutual trust and develops over time; most of the artists I work with have been with me for many years. I do not micromanage. But I do expect my artists to respond timely to requests, be available for studio visits when appropriate, and show up to gallery events so as to be available to the community of people that engage with the gallery and are interested in our programming.
In short, the most important things are: be available, be on time, make great work, and communicate clearly. I will handle the rest.
Ken Harman, Art Dealer
San Francisco, CA
Owner, Hashimoto Contemporary / Spoke Art
As people begin to rely more and more on social media, not just to keep in touch with friends but also to get news, sell art and self promote, it’s important to keep in mind that these channels may not be the best way to connect with your favorite gallery.
In the past few years I’ve seen an uptick in the number of submissions we receive in Instagram comments and on our Facebook page. While this is undoubtedly one of the easiest ways to get in touch with a gallery, it can also make you look unprofessional and get you started off on the wrong foot.
When submitting to a gallery, do a little bit of research. See if you can find out the gallery director or owner’s name, and address your cover letter or email to them directly. Be sure to include a CV (curriculum vitae), a bio, examples of your work and links to your website or portfolio.
Most importantly, be sure that the galleries you’re submitting to are a good fit! Try to target galleries that exhibit works of a similar aesthetic to your own, and see if your price points are in the ballpark of the works they’re selling.
If the gallery is local, try to attend as many events at that gallery as possible so you can get a good sense of the space and a familiarity with their staff. However, don’t submit in person, that’s always awkward (for everyone involved!).
Julie Heffernan, Artist
Brooklyn, NY
Professor of Fine Art and Director of Painting and Drawing, Montclair State University
Above all, grow your mind. Court your imagination as a lover would; work that mental muscle like an Olympian. This is one way:
Bring a couch into your studio. Lie in it, directly across from your unfinished artwork (not to the side) and gaze at it; let it enter you with no obstacles between you and it (no chairs or even rags on the floor). As you’re gazing at the piece notice where your eye stops (that’s most likely a problem area) and allow yourself then to drift and imagine other possibilities there. At a point you will move from a conceptual relationship to the work (logical, linear), to a more supple, non-linear relationship, one related to Theta wave states in the brain, where spontaneous images arise. Your mind in that state will manifest particularized imagery related to your work; you aren’t forcing ideas out but allowing subconscious connections to well up that will relate on a deeper level to your piece than mere rational conceptualizing can achieve. Seeing pictures in your mind’s eye, filling yourself up with myriad possibilities, is the mental workout with your subconscious that will hone your brain into a picture making and problem-solving organ. Don’t settle on any one visual solution right away. At a point you might fall asleep, and when you wake up you will very likely know which version of the many imagined possibilities is the right one. This is a glimpse into the larger workings of your creative mind.
Seonna Hong, Artist
Los Angeles, CA
There are many things I've learned and continue to learn as a professional artist. In addition to the work itself and finding the right work flow and environment to create it, there are 2 basic tenets that I try to carry with me to every job, every gallery experience, every person I work with, and those are: to be nice and to be on time. There are so many talented artists out there that sometimes the thing it can come down to is if you're a pleasant person to be around and if you can be counted upon.
Oh! And a couple of random things I've learned the hard way: there's a reason why you should use archival materials, and make sure the room is clear of cat hair before you varnish!
Andrew Hosner, Art Dealer
Los Angeles, CA
Co-Owner/Curator, Thinkspace Gallery
My advice for young artists stems from an article in Juxtapoz Magazine written by artist Michael Sieben. The most important thing you can do is to build your own voice. There are far too many artists out there currently that seem like carbon copies of bigger, more established artists. Sieben spoke about young artists these days sharing their work publicly via social networks much too early and, in turn, getting feedback that may mislead them.
There is nothing wrong with emulating a favorite artist as you build your skill set and hone your chops, but to post it online too early could be a bad thing down the line. Develop your own style and let it shine. Once you’re confident something is starting to become your own, then put it out there for feedback and commentary. But the platforms of Instagram and Facebook are no place to get real, worthwhile feedback that can guide your career (or in many cases, misguide if you listen to the minions that don’t know a copy when they see one). It’s hard to do so, I will be the first to admit this, given how many submissions we see. But when one comes in that checks off the boxes mentioned above, it’s a beautiful thing and hard to dismiss.
David Humphrey, Artist
New York, NY
Instructor, Columbia University, MFA
Instructor, University of Pennsylvania, MFA
It’s good to remember (not when you are making new work as it might be better to forget) that there are armies of manically mono-focused people (I almost said monsters) out there who want something close to what you want. They are your tribe not your enemy.
David Kramer, Artist
New York, NY
Alone but never lonely…
I remember being a student back in Brooklyn in the 1980’s. I was broke and living in a shitty neighborhood. I was going to Pratt Institute where they gave me a studio in the sculpture department and I had a key to the building and could come and go as I wished. I loved waking up at the crack of dawn and getting to the studio to work while no one was there. This was my very first studio and I was making sculptures using all kinds of found building materials from steel to brick to wooden beams torn out from crumbling brownstones in Bed-Stuy. But what I remember most was walking home from the studio late at night (sometimes on Friday and Saturday nights), too poor and often too exhausted to go to a bar to have a drink and meet up with friends. I remember looking up at the dark streets ahead of me as I walked home and telling myself, “…this is it! The exciting life of a New York City Artist!” Just like I pictured it!
I would go home and make some food and pass out, and then get up at the crack of dawn and start the whole process all over again.
Which gets me to my real advice for artists… You better enjoy being alone.
Looking back now as I write, it is clear to me that not much has changed. Sure I have had a ton of shows and at times made some actual money off of my work. But in the end I always come back to finding myself alone in my studio or alone on my way to my studio or alone on my way home. Being an artist is a lonely business. But I don’t mind. I love what I am doing. And most of the time I don’t even realize that I am alone.
Martin Kruck, Artist
New Rochelle, NY
Professor of Art, NJCU
The advice I tend to give most often to my students involves how to think objectively, distance themselves as it were, from their artwork. The focal point for this is the artist statement but quickly expands to how to reference and reflect upon their art making or design practices as well. Young artists tend to only consider how they made their artwork or how well they followed the guidelines or the words of those who may have guided them. While useful to acknowledge, this does not fully contribute to validating an artistic practice or its products. Gaining perspective by observing your practice amongst a field of others, and the culture and time in which it is done, is a career goal that follows a wide arc. It is a very useful skill when applying for grants or project funding, employment in the field, or self-promotion when engaging sales or working with professional clients, galleries, or patrons. It is not the sole responsibility of your art dealer, for example, to place your work in cultural context, nor should you allow this without your input. In the same way as stepping back from your artwork helps to review and adjust the composition or proportions, understanding the cultural context of your work is one thing that will assist in sustaining an artistic practice, or allow it to evolve.
Secondary advice: When starting out, use your money to buy the tools you need to do the job, then use the job money to buy better tools to get a better paying project. Continue in this way until you are established; you will know what to do then.
Allegra LaViola, Art Dealer
New York, NY
Owner/Director, Sargent's Daughters
My advice to artists is to be honest and upfront with your dealer. If you want something (sales, shows, press, etc.) you need to tell them. You are a team pulling together for the same common goal: to have the best possible exhibitions and career for the artist. A relationship is a two-way street and nobody is a mind reader. If you feel like you want something and are not getting it – just ask. Remember that your dealer is working hard for you and wants the best outcome for your career – demanding and asking are different things! Be open about your needs and thoughts and your dealer will do her best to make sure these are a top priority.
Travis Louie, Artist
New York, NY
Instructor, School of Visual Arts
Obviously always read through any contract that anyone sends you to sign. There are grifters out there who use them as tools to trick people into accepting terms that are unreasonable and or just plain criminal. That, of course, is an extreme that is usually not the norm. Things about contracts that artists always seem to forget:
1. They are generally negotiable.
2. You also have to consider that usually it favors the party that draws up the contract in the first place. So it's expected for you to read it over.
3. You never actually have to sign any contract from anyone. Not only is it not a deal breaker, but often, if the gallery wants to work with you, they'll bypass it.
I think of contracts as part of a conversation between the artist and the gallery. Don't ever be afraid to ask others for a second opinion or to tell them you need to think about it before signing anything. In this day and age with near constant social media and artists being only a mouse click away from everybody in the community, it would be foolish for either party to pull a fast one. Reputations can be ruined in a blink (not that you can't bounce back, but why put yourself in that situation in the first place). An email or letter is good enough for there to be a record of correspondence detailing the specs for an exhibition, timetables, what is expected from either party, or standard procedure. I have read through some ridiculous contracts with things written in them like exclusivity clauses, low percentage rates on print runs (some gallery wanted to pay me 10%), rights that no one should ever give away. It never ceases to amaze me what people will try to get away with in a contract. Always ask yourself, who is this contract serving? Who does it protect? And from what?
Jayme McLellan, Art Dealer
Washington, DC
Director/Founder, Civilian Art Projects
Pricing your art is tricky. There is no perfect formula. You figure out the number – just how much do you need for that piece? Next, figure out what your market will bear – not the market, your market. If another artist sells a painting for $5,000 this does not mean you will too. Sure, your painting is bigger and better, but your last one of the same size sold for $2,500. Don’t raise your prices too fast because once they are up you should not lower them.
And perhaps that artist knows how to woo people and perhaps you sit in your studio and lament that you can’t sell while he’s out there at art events meeting people, inviting them to his studio, trading paintings with fellow artists to make them like him, and talking loudly about how he’s informed by the Moderns, hates AbEX, but really loves material, process and Ellsworth Kelly. What are you doing?
You might not need to do the exact same thing as someone else. Success is a unique personal formula that you must find over time. Figure out what works for you. Most collectors who buy the work of emerging artists do so because they want to become a part of the artist’s success. They like to hear about your ideas. If they are creepy, you don’t have to be best friends. But most folks are nice and they care. So be nice back and take as much interest in them as they have taken in you. It will pay off. This is one of the foundations for a successful art career.
Marion Peck, Artist
Los Angeles, CA
One bit of advice I would give would be to keep a reference file of images that inspire you. This can be so important. You need to find images that spark something in you, and gather them together. Gathering reference materials is so easy and instantaneous now, not like the old days when we had to schlep to the library... unbelievable how time consuming and fruitless it was sometimes! Now there are endless images at your fingertips, but you need to find the ones that awaken your creativity and keep them near to you. Sometimes it can be something blurry and vague... I have this one little scrap of paper with a very low-rez image of a kitten's face on it, and something about it makes me come back to it again and again, trying to capture something elusive about it. When you find an image like that, hold onto it like it was gold.
Martha Rich, Artist
Philadelphia, PA
Since I became an artist later in my life after working in corporate America for 15 years, I want you to know you can do this! BUT you have to really want to do this to succeed. I was super motivated because I vowed never to work in a cubicle again. It took me a while to succeed, but it was the best thing I have EVER done. EVER I say! Here's my advice:
• Hang out with other motivated artists who are doing what you want to do and learn from them.
• Have a support system of people who will encourage you when you want to quit.
• Don't use credit cards. They are the devil. The less debt you have the more freedom you have.
• Make art every day or close to every day. The more you make the better you get.
• Give yourself projects/challenges to do like: "I will draw 200 bras in one day" or "I will make something only using happy meal toys for a week"
• Be generous, but not in a wimpy way.
• Get a studio with other artists you respect, even if you think you can't afford it.
• Don't fear failure. You are gonna fail. Everyone does, but it really is no big deal unless you quit.
• Make art that is authentic to you. If you try to make art that will "sell,” it probably won't.
• Don't be a snob about fine art vs. commercial art. The lines are super blurred these days. Making money from art is a good thing whether it's selling a painting or designing a bag.
• You may have to work at a real job while you are making this happen. DO NOT get a creative job. Get a job you won't get comfortable in. Save all your creative juices for your own art practice!
• Don't quit.
Jen Rogers and Kerri Stephens, Art Dealers
San Francisco, CA
Co-Owners, Varnish Fine Art
All art careers share common challenges, relying on thick skins, dedication to the work and great advice for success. Just as there are many stages and media formats for an actor to stretch his or her wings, artists enjoy numerous ways to make a life in art. It can be a tough gig, but applying yourself creatively leads to rewards. Many artists must supplement their income beyond the sales of artwork in its purest, most uncompromising form, so choose side jobs that allow you to sharpen your skills and hone your craft. Just like musicians, artists need savvy business managers to connect them with the right audience. The connective tissue between artists and collectors is broader than ever and includes innovative art dealers working in new ways. We've found that artists of every level seek help from art dealers throughout their careers. When you and your artwork are ready, partner with a professional who shares your core values and navigates creatively through the ever-changing art world. As art dealers and curators, we know that understanding art, artists, collectors, and business requires imagination and ingenuity. This is our art form. Remember that your best relationships in the art community are mutually supportive, and we're all in it together. In the end it's all about integrity and love.
Jean-Pierre Roy, Artist
Brooklyn, NY
Half-Time Instructor, New York Academy of Art
One of the most important things for artists to make peace with in their early careers is that there is no inherent relationship between talent and price. The dream is not to be making minimum wage per piece for the rest of your career, but to build a sustainable career that is constantly accelerating over the course of your practice. This can only happen if you begin to get things out the studio door and build relationships by letting go of your work for what can seem, in the beginning anyway, like way too little money.
The accompanying problem is of course that in the beginning you don’t really have the money for quality materials, even though it is absolutely necessary to set a level of quality in your early career. Crappy stretcher bars warp. Homemade panels are often inferior to professional grade or custom made surfaces. Student Grade paint is glaringly different than Artist Grade. Making your own surfaces to save money almost always comes at the cost of “time not spent painting” and often leads to a lesser quality product, unless you REALLY do your research about the materials you use.
Creativity and capitalism is weird. You might be emotionally, spiritually, genetically and neurologically driven to make the work, but treat yourself as a small business. Know that you won’t be pulling a paycheck out of it for a while and reinvest all your revenue back into the business by buying better quality materials and doing your homework.
Judith Schaechter, Artist
Philadelphia, PA
Adjunct Professor, University of the Arts, PA
Visiting Instructor, PA Academy of the Arts and NY Academy of Art
In the end, the only thing that really matters as an artist is loving what you do. I don’t mean something like googly-eyed puppy love. I mean the kind of love that endures everything; from invasive input from multiple sources with conflicting agendas to critique so accurate that it threatens to undermine your very raison d’être. I am talking about the kind of love that runs the emotional spectrum from blind obsession and adoration to hatred, to awe. The kind of love that is sustainable in a foxhole, in those deep nights of crushing doubt and when the sirens of distraction lure you away with temptations like love, family, money, popularity, etc. Because in the end, success and attention will not matter if it isn’t based on love and if your dreams of success never do come to pass, then at least you will have done what you really, really wanted to do and that is success.
Billy Shire, Art Dealer
Los Angeles, CA
Owner/Founder, La Luz de Jesus Gallery
If you go into a career as in artist with the idea of being a hot shit monkey viper grand poobah – don't. The stock market is waiting for you. Art and being an artist is more than a vocation, career, lifestyle. It is a commitment to ideals and creativity, but also to immersing yourself in the muck and grime of the art business. Here are a few thoughts:
Take advantage of school and teachers, learn the basics, above all learn to draw. Learn techniques, tools and materials. Synthesize your abilities and influences and create your own style. Expand and experiment, push your boundaries. It is important to grow and evolve. Be honest to yourself, do not work to the dictates of money and fashion. Create your own trends and style. Don't be a follower, be a pioneer. Of course, if you want to be successful... disregard all my advice.
Tony Shore, Artist
Baltimore, Maryland
Faculty, Maryland Institute College of Art
You need to experience life to have meaningful things to make art about. Get out of the studio. Get excited. Get inspired. Have opinions. There are people who are interested in the same things and are waiting to relate to what you have to say.
Don’t take yourself too seriously and let your ego keep you from missing out on opportunities to show your work, while waiting to be discovered by your ideal gallery or museum. Take advantage of many group exhibitions and chances to show and get your work seen. You never know who will walk into a space where your work is on the wall. The opportunity to show your work will enable you to meet and share ideas with like-minded people and often lead to lifelong relationships, and a support system for both you and your work. And there is nothing worse than getting stuck with old work stacked in your mother’s basement.
Aaron Smith, Artist
Los Angeles, CA
Associate Chair, Illustration Dept., Art Center College of Design
Anyone notice how isolating being an artist can be? Teaching at an art college has allowed me to engage with new artists and to give and get ideas about survival in the ever-evolving art and design fields. Here are some thoughts…
Be authentic and your tribe will find you. This is the most pluralistic time in the Art World. There are more artists than ever before, working in more divergent places, producing a bigger variety of kinds of work. Is this a problem? Nope. Wave your crazy-flag high and proud online and everywhere, and your tribe will find you.
Take play very seriously. It is unrealistic to assume that everything you produce will see the light of a gallery wall. Forgive yourself for that spectacular failure. The studio is NOT a factory. It is a laboratory.
Rather than waiting for permission to enter the Art Scene, create one. Who says the Art World has to grant you entry into its embrace before you can participate? Curate yourself and others in any space available. Gather friends and fans from online and throw a party. Document the fantastic event online and repeat. Eventually collectors will begin to nibble, word will spread and galleries may take notice. In the meantime, this practice will allow you to produce new work, gain confidence and eventually demonstrate the value you bring to the Art Establishment.
Finally… Live by the Golden Rule. Be as professional, communicative, and supportive to your gallery, clients and fellow artists as you would like them to be to you.
Mindy Solomon, Art Dealer
Miami, FL
Owner/Director, Mindy Solomon Gallery
While many artists receive excellent training in the fundamentals of art – drawing, painting and sculpture as an example – they seem to lack a strategy for how to function creatively and professionally outside of school. One of the greatest liabilities I have seen in the university arts education system is helping students to think of ways to move forward upon graduation. I think it is important for students to be “visible,” to construct well designed websites highlighting the strongest examples of their work. They need to be proactive in trying to be seen and exhibited. This could be as simple as creating an Etsy profile online, as well as trying to hang work in alternative spaces – coffee shops, community centers, and restaurants. The goal is to be noticed. Creating artistic cooperatives that can stage pop-ups can be effective as well. Young artists need to be open to selling work for a reasonable price – when you are just starting out your work should be priced modestly – you can always raise it, lowering is much more difficult. Don’t throw out the work in your studio – try to sell it – maybe for as little as $10.00, but start thinking about being a business artist. Being out in the visual world is the best way to be “discovered.” Network with other creatives, visit design studios, and be accessible.
Sarah Trigg, Artist
Brooklyn, NY
Instructor, School of Visual Arts, MFA Fine Art
Author, STUDIO LIFE: Rituals, Collections, Tools, and Observations on the Artistic Process
I would pursue being an artist only if it’s an identity you absolutely can’t shake—that if you don’t do it, you get anxious, you get depressed, you’re intolerable, etc. That it’s something you need to do, that you have to do—despite parental pressure not to, despite economic concerns, etc. The lives of artists—even of the monetarily successful—are filled with a constant testing of one’s insecurities and a lot of rejection. The buoy that will carry you through is your relationship to your work and your true love of making it. Being an artist is not a lifestyle choice.
So, if you know you’re one of the wonderfully afflicted, then you must take care of your art making like it’s a living being that needs constant nurturing. Otherwise, you will go mad or fall into disease. So, you have to figure it out. And you make the rules. What type of artist do you want to be? What is your position?
Figure out what it is you truly love to do—not what you fantasize yourself being good at, or what your favorite artist would do, but what you are specifically obsessed by. What that turns out to be may surprise you if you are truly honest with yourself. Give yourself the permission to go there even if it goes against conventional “art career” wisdom, and go deep. Because that is where you will find your unique voice in order to contribute to the conversation. Derivative art means work that is parroting something that has already been said. Offer something. Find the thing that only you know like no one else knows because only you are the expert on this very particular obsession.
Hanna von Goeler, Artist
Montclair, NJ
It’s hard sometimes when things aren’t going as planned, but I try to think of every occasion as a learning experience. Preparation is everything. As an installation artist, I spend months in the studio getting ready and anticipating problems, but during installation, it is not unusual for hurdles to arise. I’ve learned to keep my cool and trust, that in one way or another, it will all work out if I stay focused and persistent, and that this process is making me a better artist. Also, I take every show and project seriously, whether it is a solo show at an established venue, an international show with star artists, or a local show of emerging artists. Since you never know when a killer piece is in the making, there’s no point in being an art snob. Resume and networking are only as powerful as the art is. In the end, it’s all about making great work and giving people an experience to go home with.
Linda Warren, Art Dealer
Chicago, IL
Founder/Owner, Linda Warren Projects
Galleries work with critical and sometimes ever-changing deadlines. From marketing purposes like advertising and creating an invitation or email blast, to requests from clients, curators, collectors or art consultants for information on pricing or imagery, to the making of sales to the delivery and installation of the art – a vibrant gallery is in constant flux and needs artists to be responsive and timely with the gallery's requests of them. Having to call an artist several times for a single piece of information or have an artist be late delivering or shipping an artwork for exhibition, installation or sale is a setback to the gallery's time management abilities, is very frustrating, and of course unprofessional. The gallery is working hard on behalf of several artists simultaneously, and needs to operate like a well-oiled machine. An artist who can't meet deadlines becomes a snag or stall in the process. It eventually becomes not worth all of the effort if both sides aren't working symbiotically to move the ball forward. Success comes with team effort and drive.
Didier William, Artist
Brooklyn, NY
There are 3 things that I think are absolutely critical:
• Consistency – keep your brain engaged and your hand active as much as possible. Whether it's small sketches, maquettes, or studies, do your best to continue to make and think about things.
• Balance – feed your output with as much input (books, lectures, films, leisure, rest) as you can handle and in some cases more than you can manage.
• Support – locate the audience who supports your ideas and your trajectory and stick to them like glue.
Mark Wolfe, Art Dealer
San Francisco, CA
Owner/Director, Mark Wolfe Contemporary Art
Stay deeply connected and alert to what's going on in your own art world. Under no circumstances isolate yourself in the studio with a solitary practice, thinking you're some kind of lone wolf or Van Gogh. Participate openly and absorb what's going on in the art scene around you without judgment. Give and receive input/support/advice/feedback from other artists freely, generously, and often. If possible, find an artist with more experience than you to serve as a mentor. If asked to mentor someone with less experience than you, say yes. Remember that the history of art has been, is, and will remain one giant, inclusive conversation among dedicated individuals. Finally, develop and maintain a serious, professional work ethic. The old adage is as true for artists as it is for any other creative enterprise: talent without hard work will always lose out to hard work without talent.
Marcia Wood, Art Dealer
Atlanta, GA
Owner/Director, Marcia Wood Gallery
If you are working with a gallery and know of other artists who you think would be an excellent fit, by all means make the introduction. It is an important way artists can help each other and the gallerist will appreciate your thinking on their behalf.
Brad Woodfin, Artist
Montréal, Québec
Work with people you would want to go out for drinks with. If you have a choice, and maybe at the beginning this is harder, choose people who you relate to, as it is easier to get advice, ask questions, and will make you want to do good work for and with them. One of the great things about being an artist is that you have freedoms that other people don't have, and if one of those freedoms allows you to not work with dicks or people who don't understand you, make the most of that.