Soulmate Gem
Soulmate Gem
Photo: Charles Parker
Being able to support yourself as an artist, and maintain a high-quality life through finances generated from your artwork, can and does happen all the time. But rarely does it happen overnight, and realistically, until your career gets rolling, it is necessary to earn a living through other means.
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Read More »Apprenticeships, studio assistants, and internships Serving as an apprentice or studio assistant to another artist is a viable means of earning a living for a certain period. Working for an experienced artist can be helpful to less-experienced artists. It can provide an opportunity to learn more about the business of art and see firsthand what being an artist is all about. But keep in mind that contrary to the myth that continually floats around, working for a famous artist is not a prerequisite to achieving success in the art world. An apprenticeship experience can be particularly advantageous if the apprenticeship is with an artist who is sure-footed and emotionally secure. Insecure artists might not be generous in sharing career information or contacts. Insecure people also tend to have difficult personalities. Before accepting an apprenticeship position, ask your potential employer for references of their previous apprentices. You have every right to request references and know what you are getting yourself into. In an article about the pros and cons of being an artist’s studio assistant, author Daniel Grant pointed out that “promotions, raises and industry recognition—typical rewards of employment—almost never occur in studio work and so it is something of a job for the young.” On the positive side, the article described a scenario about an artist who worked as a studio assistant. A print publisher visited the studio and struck up a conversation with the assistant that led to an introduction to a well-known artist, who then introduced her to an academic who recommended her to fill a short-term teaching spot at a university, and the academic and the famous artist also chipped in $250 apiece to pay for the artist to attend the Vermont Studio Center as an artist-in-residence. Many not-for-profit organizations, for-profit companies, museums, educational facilities, galleries, and art consultants offer internships to artists. The website My Next Move lists apprenticeship programs on a state-by-state basis. The website Chicago Artists Resource, sponsored by the Chicago Artists Coalition, lists online apprenticeship and internship opportunities in Chicago and throughout Illinois. Hire Culture provides an online list of employment opportunities in Massachusetts including internships in creative fields. Career-related revenue-generating opportunities Revenue-generating opportunities that are related to your career as an artist, such as lectures and lecture/demonstrations, not only add to your income, they can also offer exposure to your artwork and ideas, with the fringe benefit of providing a public relations value. Many types of venues such as civic, cultural, and educational organizations, colleges and universities, and cruise ships and resorts hire artists for “guest appearances.” A presentation can be based solely on your artwork, or it might include the work of other contemporary artists who are working in a similar direction. It could focus on how your work has been influenced by a particular movement in art history. It could be a presentation about your travel adventures and how they have influenced your artwork. Subjects and themes of arts-related presentations are unlimited. The financial rewards of public appearances can be considerable, especially if you repeat your “performance” several times. For example, when I receive an out-of-town invitation to conduct career workshops for artists, I use the opportunity to create more opportunities by contacting other educational or cultural institutions in the same region. What starts out as a one-shot engagement can end up as a lecture tour. Setting up lectures The best way to approach an organization or institution about sponsoring a lecture is to provide a proposal. A proposal for a lecture should describe the purpose and content of your presentation, why it is relevant, topics or subjects covered, the audience (specify if it is for the public, artists, or both), and length of the program. Your proposal should also include an artist fee, a biography, and, when applicable, travel and per diem expenses. If you have a presentation history, list the names of the venues where you have been a guest speaker. The proposal should be accompanied by a short cover letter. Compatible dual careers Chapter 2, “Launching or Relaunching Your Career: Overcoming Career Blocks,” discusses the challenges and pitfalls when artists have dual careers. But there are exceptions when dual careers are very compatible. For example, Maurice Stern is known as an opera singer and for his portrait sculptures. He performed at the New York City Opera in American and world premieres—before becoming a leading dramatic tenor across four continents. Exhibitions of his artwork were sometimes held simultaneously in American and European cities in which his performances took place. In describing his sculptures, he emphasized that he captured the character of his subjects in the same way he molded the characters he played on the operatic stage. Some of my clients have expressed the benefits of having a dual career. A fine art photographer who is also a psychiatrist described how an understanding of the human mind has helped him select and capture his subjects. An abstract sculptor who is also a surgeon credits his studies in anatomy and continuing work with the body as being instrumental in giving him the confidence to personally express the human form. Another sculptor and installation artist told me that her work as a psychotherapist, involving many “talk sessions,” has greatly improved her ability to articulate her own feelings about the purpose and meaning of her artwork. Wearing two hats can also be used to an artist’s advantage if one utilizes and transfers the resources and contacts of a second career into fine art. Such was the opportunity created by artist Molly Heron, who parlayed a series of timely events and a freelance position into a solo exhibition in a prime location on the ground floor of a midtown Manhattan office building. Heron was hired as a freelance book designer at HarperCollins, which, coincidentally, was the publisher of The Writing Life by Annie Dillard, a book that she had read, savored, and reread. Six months after she obtained the freelance position, Heron attended an exhibition at the HarperCollins Gallery, located in an open and attractive bi-level space. Impressed with the physical attributes of the gallery and its location, she made inquiries regarding how the space could be acquired for an exhibition. She learned through the gallery curator that all exhibitions in the space had to be related to a HarperCollins book. Eureka! Before the lightbulb in Heron’s head had a chance to dim, she developed an exhibition proposal. Within four weeks she submitted the proposal and visual support material to the HarperCollins curator, and soon afterward she received an invitation to install a solo exhibition in the gallery later in the year. Heron’s proposal was based on the inspiration she had received from Annie Dillard’s book. It had infused her with a new energy force, and she felt compelled to visually interpret the author’s metaphors and observations. Heron sold five pieces of work while the exhibition was installed. And as soon as the show closed, she handled the ending as a new beginning and wasted no time in taking the next step. With a revised proposal, cover letter, and support material, she began making new contacts. Her initiatives resulted in exhibition invitations from a university museum, a nonprofit gallery, and a commercial gallery. She also received requests to present lectures and workshops. In addition, a curator of a branch of the Whitney Museum of American Art informed Heron that, due to the branch museum’s policy of only sponsoring group shows, she was unable to offer her a solo exhibition, but that she was so impressed with Heron’s work, she had contacted another cultural institution on the artist’s behalf. In part, Molly Heron’s adventures and her success can be attributed to the cosmic phenomenon of being at the right place at the right time. But most of the credit belongs to the artist, who through very earthly pursuits took the initiative to utilize in her fine arts career the resources and contacts of the publishing world.
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