Creative & Professional Practice Interview

In January, I'll be trading the Maine snow in for the Texas sun, to teach a weekend workshop at Bonny Leibowitz's studio. Here's a recent Q&A we did.

What kinds of artists take your Creative and Professional Practice workshop?  Most workshop participants have been out of art school (if they ever went) for years and have developed a strong body of work that they're ready to get out into the world, but simply do not know how, or have tried and found it frustrating. Most have a full or part-time jobs they would like to scale back on, in order to make more of a life and living out of their creative practice.

Where do you even begin in teaching artist the skills they need?  I have developed a list of topics, skills and resources that artists absolutely must know. In the workshop we focus the nuts and bolts of what an artist needs to do to get their work out there. Emerging artist don't necessarily know the protocol of approaching a gallery director, curator or an exhibiting venue. We talk about all of that, and much more, at length.

What are the specific skills artists need beyond making art?  How to photograph, document and keep an inventory (both physical and digital) of their work, build a website, develop a mailing list, promote themselves, develop a network and a creative community. Artists need to know how to get exposure for their work, price appropriately, market and cultivate a following. I also work with students on how to speak and write about their work, articulate their ideas, write a statement, bio, resume, write grants and find residencies.

This sounds link a lot of intense material to cover in two 8 hour days. How do you approach the pace of the workshop?  In January, I'll be leaving the snow in Maine to teach in sunny Texas at Bonny Before we even begin the workshop, I have participants email me images and their web link if they have one. So, when we meet, I'm already familiar with everyones work. In class, I toggle between presentation, group discussion, Q&A, short writing exercises, interactive brainstorming exercises, stretching and breaks.

Why isn't this taught in art school?!  I have three possible answers for that...
1.  Full-time art professors have a steady income. They don't need to go out and hustle their work like full-time artists do. They may not even know what it takes.
2.  Art instructors aren't eager to share the professional skills they've learned, through the school of hard knocks, to the young students who will soon go out there and potentially become their competition.
3.  When I was in art school these topics were taboo. It was almost as if it were beneath my professors to discuss approaching a gallery, marketing and money.

What makes you particularly equipped to teach this workshop?  I have a BFA degree from Parsons and an MFA degree from MassArt. I have 32 years experience as a working artist and 32 years experience teaching art. I have been married twice, divorced once and parented two sons who are now 27 and 29. I have never relied on my partner to support me, nor do I have a trust fund. I have learned by doing, reading, research, taking workshops and talking to more established artists. Everything I've learned, I've learned by doing it wrong at least once. I've been very fortunate, but I've learned by doing the hard work. Why shouldn't others benefit from my efforts? There’s a Hopi Saying I try to live by “Everything I've ever learned, has been given to me as a gift, and its not my right to keep it.”

What do you hope that your workshop participants leave with?  I always hope that participants leave feeling inspired and empowered with their new knowledge. There are so many options, avenues, approaches. I impress upon my students that there’s not one way, but many, many ways to live and make money as a working artist. I work with my students to develop an Action Plan that prioritizes what tasks they will tackle and in what order. I encourage them to complete it when they get home and send it to me so there's some sense of accountability. I follow my former workshop participants with genuine interest. Some of them, I continue to mentor. It’s incredibly rewarding to see these artists careers develop.

More about the Creative & Professional Development workshop and others here.