My primary goal in these interviews is to inspire you with stories of people who make a living helping artists make a living making art and who consider it a real job. The art professionals I interview here have valuable tales to tell you about how to work with them. Scroll down for a list of other interviews and quotes.
Access past interviews:
Gigi Rosenberg, Grants for Artists & Writers
J'Net Smith, All Art Licensing
Kelly Powers, Creative Catalyst Productions
Margaret Danielak, Artist Representative: The Inside Story
John Seed, Art-Explainer and Storyteller
Quotes:
- John. R. Cherry on taking charge of your art career
- Digital Arts Studio on Giclée printmaking
- Pat Fiorello on the myth of the starving artist
- Alexandria Levin on perseverance
- Darryl Mix on exhibiting your art widely
- Benny Shaboy on getting money
- Lee Silber on self-promotion
- Constance Smith on the long view of success
- Synthia Smith on balancing life & work
- Katherine Swift on not being limited by your perceptions about yourself
- Chris Welsh on the many hats artists must wear
John. R. Cherry on taking charge of your art career
"You can be one of the best artists in the world today, but if you do not get serious about the business of fine art then you are not likely to find financial success or recognition. Most artists cannot afford to hire a marketing manager to handle those pesky business details, so success as a professional artist means you have to have a business system. Whether you use a note card file or an online system … you must find a business system that works for you and then work it."
John R. Cherry, III is Founder & Co-Chairman of the Board, The National Fine Arts Title Registry. Please use this link for registering your fine art and help build ACTs of generosity, our scholarship fund. www.FineArtsTitle.com/0374
Digital Arts Studio on Giclée Printmaking
Digital Arts Studio has the technical expertise and marketing savvy to help you profit from fine-art Giclée printmaking. Barry Glustoff, Robin Zelizer and Peter Leafman opened Digital Arts Studio in 2003. They have 80 year’s combined experience in art reproduction, marketing and retail custom picture framing.
Digital Arts Studios achieves superior quality, color accuracy, and consistency on every digital imaging project. Color management is not only about technical expertise. Peter Leafman and Barry Glustoff have artistic backgrounds and keen color sense that make for a winning collaboration with all of their clients, digitally “savvy” or not.
Digital Arts Studios has an outstanding team of technicians, including skilled photographers, professional artists, graphic designers and digital imaging specialists. Using the latest and best possible technology, they can achieve superior quality, color accuracy, and consistency on every project.
Pat Fiorello on the myth of the Starving Artist
“Too many artists buy into the myth of the ‘starving artist’. If you believe opportunities are limited, that’s what you’ll find, but if you see that opportunities are truly abundant, that’s what you’ll experience. If you have a positive attitude and take appropriate and focused actions, you can make a living doing what you love.”
Pat Fiorello brings a unique blend of both the business and art worlds. For 20 years she worked in the corporate world as a marketing and general management executive. She received her M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and has been Vice President, Marketing for Coca-Cola and Nabisco. She left her “first” career to more fully pursue her passion for art and has been doing so successfully for over 6 years. In addition to selling her original paintings, Pat’s artwork has been accepted into over 60 juried shows, featured in over a dozen solo exhibitions, and licensed for greeting cards and home decor products. Pat is recognized as a Signature Member of the Georgia Watercolor Society. She has helped hundreds of artists develop their business skills through her work with arts organizations, workshops and private coaching. Pat has served as Chairman of the Atlanta Artists Center and President of the Georgia Watercolor Society. www.patfiorello.com
Alexandria Levin on perseverance
Image by Jonathan Lane “I was born with a demanding muse and an insatiable curiosity, and was always creating something as a child. I’ve been painting ever since I was 17, over 33 years ago. This is the one constant in my life. Perseverance means that your essential identity is that of being an artist. Nothing changes that; no life circumstances, no economic lows, no outside criticism, nothing. If you have to work a regular job five days a week, then you paint inside your head during those five days. Life changes all the time, pendulums swing. Things are good, then they slow down, the situation becomes disappointing, and then one day something shifts and whole new worlds of opportunity open up. If you are truly an artist you never give up. You don’t listen to those outside voices that say to quit - ever. You only listen to your muse - your inner voice. You create and grow no matter what."
Alexandria Levin has exhibited her oil paintings in galleries, museums and cultural centers across thecountry since 1981, including ten solo shows. Her paintings are in private collections from Boston toJapan, as well as in the state of New Mexico’s Capitol Art Collection in Santa Fe. She has lecturedon her art in the San Francisco Bay Area, Philadelphia and Tokyo, and was awarded major stategrants from the California Arts Council and Massachusetts Arts Lottery Council, plus she has receivedvarious exhibition and purchase awards. Ms. Levin attended Massachusetts College of Art to studypainting for two years and later returned to school at the San Francisco Art Institute where shereceived a BFA with honors in 1989.
Alexandria is currently living and painting in the Philadelphia area, and has recently written two bookson the arts and creativity. She is also working on two collections of poetry and song lyrics. As always,and as the top priority in her life, she is painting whenever possible; continuing to build her two currentbodies of work with well over a hundred and seventy paintings to date and going strong. www.alexalev.com
Darryl Mix on exhibiting your art widely
“You may exhibit in many non-traditional venues, but galleries still have an important place in ambitious artists’ career plans. In this class, you will learn from our guest Darryl Mix, of SA Contemporary Art in San Antonio, Texas about how to prepare for working with galleries. Artists who work with galleries want to exhibit their work to certain kinds of buyers, arts writers, and museum curators. You have to know who is interested in your work and where they go see art.”
Darryl Mix is the Director of Art SA, a commercial art gallery located in San Antonio Texas. Art SA is still in its infancy - after only 10 months in operation. Darryl's focus as Director and Curator is to successful fulfill the gallery's promise to its audience, to "Discover The Art of San Antonio."
Darryl's current role as the Director and Curator for an art gallery is a second career. For more than 17 years, Darryl worked as a fundraiser, marketer and public relationsist for non-profit health and arts organizations in Southern California and San Antonio. Darryl liberally applies the principles of "affinity marketing" and "collaborative outreach" that have proven effective in the non-profit sector to the "art world", a ubiquitous segment of the "for profit world."
Benny Shaboy on getting money
“Unless you get lucky, being financially successful is extremely difficult. But that's actually to your advantage, because 95 percent of the other artists aren't willing to work as hard and as smart as you are. And the smarter you work, the luckier you'll get.”
Benny Shaboy studied sculpture and drawing at The University of the Arts and The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Founding editor/publisher of studioNOTES (1993), he is currently editor/publisher of "Art Opportunities Monthly," author of "The studioNOTES Treasury” and "The Art Opportunities Book: Finding and Winning," as well as numerous articles.
Lee Silber on self-promotion
"Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could just create great art and everything else would simply take care of itself? Unfortunately, we need to sell ourselves, our work and in some cases, our decisions. It’s called 'Self' promotion for a reason. If we don’t do it, nobody else will."
Lee Silber is the award-winning author of eleven books including the popular title Self-Promotion for the Creative Person and his latest book, Organizing from the right Side of the Brain. Silber also is a radio talk-show host, the founder of five companies and an amazing self-promoter with over 750 articles/and media appearances to his credit.
Constance Smith on the long view of success
“Last year, I was invited to an Artist Residency in Japan and had the time of my life. This is a golden opportunity to experience Japanese art and culture. It will consist of art and crafts exhibitions (three locations), demonstrations, and home stays as well as the exchange of ideas, friendship and participation in joint art projects. Selected Berkeley and other East Bay artists will be invited to exhibit their work, participate in demonstrations, and visit Sakai next spring.”
Synthia Smith on balancing life & work
"Synthia Smith is my friend, mentor and business coach. She has been my best source of resilient thoughts, behavior and actions for over ten years now." ~ Aletta de Wal
Synthia helps you find the effective, natural leverage points to balance your life and work. Synthia has been a Professional Coach since 1995, serving hundreds of clients located across the US, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. In addition, she brings over 25 years of Fortune 500 and independent business experience in training, human resources, geoscience, management, project management, and consulting. Synthia suffers from an incurable love of meditation, exploration, great conversation, and learning.
www.themitragroup.com/id4.html
Katherine Swift on not being limited by your perceptions about yourself
“You are only limited by your own perceptions. I am classically trained in the facts of science yet am making a career out of my creativity. Learn to do both. You will be surprised what you can do.”
A.C.T. 101 Graduate Katherine Swift grew up on a dairy farm in Virginia. She graduated from The Ohio State University in 1997 with a degree in veterinary medicine and began her veterinary career that same year. She began her art education a few years later. She now combines her love for both in a line of agricultural themed jewelry. Her experiences of being a veterinary practice owner and a jewelry artist give her a unique perspective on making a living from art. She features this jewelry, along with other artists’ agricultural themed art on her online art gallery, www.cowartandmore.com. Her own line of jewelry and gallery cater to the agriculture industry. Katherine has exhibited at many art shows throughout Florida, including the Walt Disney World Festival of the Masters and has sold artworks worldwide.
Chris Welsh on the many hats artists must wear
“Artists who show and sell their work must wear many hats that are unrelated to making art. If you bring only part of yourself to the business side of art, it can feel like drudgery. Understanding the stages of creativity can help you tap into your whole being and make art marketing a creative and enjoyable activity.”
Chris Welsh is president of Mastery of Learning®, an international education and consulting company he founded more than 20 years ago. Chris began his unique research and development of non-traditional learning techniques in 1969 while training killer whales and dolphins for the U.S. Navy in Hawaii and earning a black belt in aikido. Chris specializes in the application of chaos and complexity concepts to accelerated learning, project management, creativity, and change management. The end result is a simpler, richer life.
There is often additional information on the recording that is not in this written interview. Inspire yourself and listen while you make art.
The Inside Story of Grants for Artists and Writers with Gigi Rosenberg
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| Gigi Rosenberg gigirosenberg.com |
Every artist I talk to says "yes!" when I ask if they could use a little more cash. If you have the time to do the research and submit the forms, grants might be a way for you to get start-up money for your next art project.
Gigi Rosenberg won her first unofficial grant as a fourteen year old when she convinced her parents to fork over the cash to buy five rolls of Super 8 Kodachrome to shoot her first film. Today, she works as a writer, keynote speaker, and presentation coach for artists and entrepreneurs. She wrote The Artist's Guide to Grant Writing to teach artists and writers how to win grants, fundraise creatively, and ensure that every second they spend writing a proposal pushes their art further into the world. She's been published by Seal Press, The Oregonian, Jewish Review, Parenting, and broadcast on Oregon Public Radio.
A.C.T.: What is your company mission? Please tell us about the journey from founding until now.
Gigi: I grew up with parents who were professional artists so I've been making art since day one. It always seemed very normal to me that somebody would choose to be an artist for a career.
Because most members of my family are visual artists, I had to become a writer - to do something different. Over the years, I started applying for and winning grants to support my own writing projects. Then, when I was asked to sit on a panel judging grants, and I was on the other side of the table, I realized how many artists did not know how to present their work to an audience. I love to teach, so my workshops in grant writing were born. When I teach and speak at conferences, my mission is to empower artists so that they can take action, speak up and make a thriving career in the arts.
A.C.T.: What services do you offer? What kinds of "creatives" do you work with and how do these artists benefit from your services?
Gigi: I work with all kinds of artists and business people who want to speak and act with more clarity and ease. I lead workshops for literary, visual and performing artists as well as business people and entrepreneurs on grant writing and how to make a great presentation. I deliver keynote addresses at arts and writing conferences. I also coach artists and entrepreneurs one-on-one if they need a career kick-start or need to wow their next audience with a presentation.
A.C.T.: Does the artist's career stage matter for them to benefit? What kinds of issues do they seem to wrestle with most?
Gigi: Emerging artists seem to wrestle most with believing in themselves - but I've also seen artists at mid and late career who need validation. Mid career artists can also become stalled along the way. As with any kind of growth, there are times when the direction is clear and other times when you need to practice discernment about where to head next.
With grant writing - it's always a challenge to write about an idea that doesn't exist yet. No matter how many times you've done grant proposals, the next project is still unborn and hard to describe. It helps to go back to square one and describe the who, what, where and when of what you want to do. So, I see the challenges as being very similar no matter what the artist's career stage.
With making a presentation - the artists who know that they need to rehearse are way ahead. You can't just get up there and talk off the top of your head, except on rare occasions when that works. It leaves too much to chance.
A.C.T.: What prompted you to write your book?
Gigi: I'd been teaching workshops all over the country - New York City, Chicago, D.C., Seattle and throughout Oregon and I realized that one workshop is never enough. You just can't cover it all. I wanted a thorough, practical and inspiring guide for participants who wanted to continue to thrive - so I wrote the book.
I'd applied for grants, won some and got a thousand rejections, as well as being on both sides of the grant. I felt I really had something to offer.
A.C.T.: What are the most common mistakes artists make in grant writing? What solutions do you propose to these problems?
Gigi: The most common mistake, believe it or not, is not being able to adequately describe your project so that someone who doesn't know you or your work can understand and really see what you're planning to do. Imagine the project done and then describe it.
Sometimes artists think that articulating the project will limit their freedom - which is not true. A fuzzy description only begets more fuzziness.
As I said earlier, it's very challenging to describe something that doesn't yet exist. As artists, we chafe against having to articulate our vision - it feels too limiting. We don't want to commit, fearing that the commitment will inhibit us. Usually, the opposite is true! A framework and a plan can offer immense freedom and inspire creativity within its constraints.
Other top mistakes include not applying for the right opportunity that fits you. I don't recommend that artists try to fit their project into someone else's format. For this reason, first I encourage my clients to hone that vision so it's clear and concise. Then I work with artists to find the language to express what it is they envision. I always say you should apply for a grant for something that is a perfect fit for where your career is already going.
Follow the rules! They are there for a reason and you may be disqualified right away if you don't.
A.C.T.: Which basic creative skills and tools should artists have in place before they look for grants and in which order should they proceed?
Gigi: Some grant opportunities are for emerging artists so you don't have to be fully established to apply for a grant. However, you need to be a professional artist who has been working long enough that you have a body of work to show.
You need some basic organizational skills and to be able to write or at least engage a writer/editor to work with you as you create your grant proposal. In fact, you need a team of people to help with all the different aspects. Sometimes it helps to have an outside view on what you submit. You need to be willing to make mistakes, ask questions, stay organized and practice tenacity!
Give yourself lots of time so that you don't write under pressure.
A.C.T.: What does it take to do what you do? Please describe a typical day, and a typical month so readers can understand how you manage your time, money and energy.
Gigi: I have three parts to my business: I'm a writer, I'm a workshop leader/keynote speaker, and I coach one-on-one. On a perfect day, I write for the first 2 hours before checking email or doing any other business. The rest of the day is divided between marketing - including research, follow-up calls, writing proposals for speeches or workshops, and then actually preparing to deliver the speech or the workshop.
Some days I meet with clients and other days I'm actually leading the workshop or giving the speech. On those days, I might not be able to write in the morning. I try to at least "visit" my creative projects once a day even if it's not for two hours. I find if I neglect a project for too long it becomes a "monster in a box" as Spalding Gray once said.
A.C.T.: What peak moments big and small - have you had through grant writing?
Gigi: My favorite moments with grant writing for my own projects are when I've just submitted the application. I love all that possibility and I always feel like I'm going to win. But the greatest moment, is when I get the letter that I was awarded the grant!
I've done a lot of performance work so I really love teaching and giving keynote speeches. My peak moments are when I'm really connecting with an audience and I sense that they'll leave with renewed energy for the art they're creating. Being an artist is hard work - the rejection can be very tough to take. I strive to be the antidote to that feeling of hardship.
A.C.T.: How do you define success and how do you celebrate it?
Gigi: Success is doing what only you can do, love to do, what you're very good at, what you enjoy giving, getting acknowledgement and earning a living from it.
The celebration is a bit of a challenge - sometimes I feel like I'm bragging.
A.C.T.: What obstacles have you encountered in your business and how have you handled them?
Gigi: The biggest obstacle I faced is that I work alone and I'm an extrovert. I was not well-suited to working at a home office. So, I rented an office space in downtown Portland and now I take the bus to work every morning. I love the structure and the clear definition of work/home space. I'm much happier and more productive.
Not everything is urgent. Push the pause button so you can be prepared and professional.
A.C.T.: What opportunities has a professional approach to your career brought you that you might otherwise not have had?
Gigi: Being professional has brought me all the opportunities that have come my way. I think it all boils down to being a clear communicator, very well organized and knowing how and when to follow-up. Those are the attributes that I label professional.
A.C.T.: Who are your role models and mentors? What was the best advice they gave you?
Gigi: I've had too many to name! The best advice includes: trust your gut, no matter what others might be saying, remember the unique value you bring to the party, and remember, don't take it all personally! (Sadly, it's rarely personal!) Oh, and one more: Don't quit, no matter what.
What I've realized over the years, however, is that sometimes you do need to abandon a project - some are best left on the cocktail napkin. And that's okay too. "Don't quit" doesn't meet pursue every idea you have - that's impossible. It means: be true to your vision and inner integrity- no matter what!
A.C.T.: What is your marketing strategy? What promotional materials and actions do you use most often?
Gigi: I try to do at least one marketing thing a day - but remember - as an extrovert, I enjoy the social aspect of marketing - so it's not drudgery.
My marketing includes regular email mailings, a two-minute video promo, a Facebook fan page, meeting with people for lunch, and having parties and events.
A.C.T.: How do you use social media and how have sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn changed art marketing? What has not changed?
Gigi: What hasn't changed is that it's still about your ability to build a relationship and be a clear communicator - no matter the format. You still have to be an authentic, real person. Send out your messages with care and check that they add value.
What's harder now is that everyone is bombarded. When I check my email, it's with one finger on the "delete" key - all I want to do is clear my inbox. So your email has to say in one second why a reader might be interested. The challenge is: How do you stand out? How do you make your unique offer clear and concise?
A.C.T.: What advice would you pass on to artists who want to succeed in any economy?
Gigi: It's essential to have "multiple income streams" so that you're not relying on one place for your income. It's extremely challenging to be a solo artist on so many levels. Keep a lot of eggs in a lot of different baskets, so that when one source of income is down, another is up. Have some steady gigs going so you are not just trying to get the next sale.
The two most important things are to be financially viable and to have a support network in place so that, throughout the week, your spirits are buoyed by nourishing people, places and experiences.
A.C.T.: How do you feel artists can benefit from the types of programs, services and products we offer at Artist Career Training and The Art Business Library?
Gigi: One of the biggest challenges inherent in being an artist is the isolation and constant rejection. You need a support system that includes both artist friends and non-artist friends and both structured and informal communities. Just as important, you need smart experts who can help you navigate the business side of making a career. Aletta's coaching services are vital to any artist wanting to succeed as a professional.
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