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    How to Make Money as an Artist: The 7 Winning Strategies of Successful Fine Artists
    How to Make Money as an Artist: The 7 Winning Strategies of Successful Fine Artists
    How to Make Money as an Artist: The 7 Winning Strategies of Successful Fine Artists
    Ebook217 pages2 hours

    How to Make Money as an Artist: The 7 Winning Strategies of Successful Fine Artists

    By Sean Moore

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    About this ebook

    How to sell one's art isn't taught in art schools, yet it's an essential ingredient in getting work displayed and attracting art commissions. This straightforward guide is written for artists who want to present themselves and their work in the best possible light to the largest possible audience. Topics include creating a winning marketing package, getting a gallery, finding an artist representative, and obtaining free or low-cost advertising. Also included is a thorough resource listing that includes inexpensive sources for slide development, contact information for artist representatives, suggestions for durable mailing packaging, and contact names for foreign news media.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChicago Review Press
    Release dateSep 1, 2000
    ISBN9781569764442
    How to Make Money as an Artist: The 7 Winning Strategies of Successful Fine Artists
    Author

    Sean Moore

    (Do not need an Author biography because this book is publishing under A pen name)

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      Book preview

      How to Make Money as an Artist - Sean Moore

      title

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Moore, Sean.

      How to make money as an artist : the 7 winning strategies of successful fine artists/Sean Moore.

      p.    cm.

      Includes index.

      ISBN 1-55652-413-7

      1. Art—United States—Vocational guidance. 2. Art—United States—Marketing. 3. Art—Economic aspects—United States.

      I. Title.

      N6505.M585 2000

      706’.8’8—dc21

      00-038406

      Cover and interior design: Rattray Design

      The author and the publisher disclaim all liability for use of the information contained in this book.

      © 2000 by Sean Moore

      All rights reserved

      Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated

      814 North Franklin Street

      Chicago, Illinois 60610

      ISBN 978-1-55652-413-4

      Printed in the United States of America

      5 4 3

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      1

      CREATE A WINNING MARKETING PACKAGE

      Your Biography

      Your Resume

      Layout

      Slides and Photographs

      Hiring a Professional or Art Student

      Doing It Yourself

      Format

      After the Slides Are Done

      Business Cards and Stationery

      Business Cards

      Stationery

      News Releases and Press Clippings

      Assembling Your Marketing Package

      Brochure

      Portfolio

      2

      GET A GALLERY

      How to Find Commercial Galleries Where You Live

      How to Create and Narrow Your List of Galleries to Solicit

      Introducing Yourself and Your Work to Selected Galleries

      Attend Openings

      Insider Trading

      How to Know If You’re Ready for a Commercial Gallery

      What to Do When You Get a Gallery

      What to Do When You Don’t Get a Gallery

      Co-Op Galleries

      Vanity Galleries

      Alternative Free Spaces

      Some Less Obvious Venues

      Protect Yourself

      A Closing Note on Style

      3

      JOIN ART CLUBS, ASSOCIATIONS, AND ORGANIZATIONS

      How to Get the Most Out of Your Membership

      Become a Member of Your Museum

      4

      GET INTO JURIED SHOWS

      Who’s Running This Show Anyway?

      How to Improve Your Odds of Getting into a Juried Show

      Where to Find Calls for Entries Magazines

      Art Associations or Clubs

      Art School or College or University Art Departments

      Arts Council Newsletters

      The Internet

      Who’s Making Money in a Juried Art Show?

      How to Present Your Art When You Get into a Show Frames

      Use the Old Familiar Screw-Eyes and Wire to Hang Your Artwork

      Sculpture Presentation

      Lighting

      Nameplates

      5

      ADVERTISE FOR FREE OR VERY CHEAPLY

      Art Online

      How to Get Your Own Free Web Site

      4 Good Ways to Get Your Web Site Absolutely Free

      How to Get in the Media: Advertising and Public Relations

      How to Get Free Advertising Space

      Public Relations

      Mailing Lists

      Sources of Mailing Lists

      How to Streamline Your Mailing Process

      Mailing Pieces

      Bulletin Boards

      Pamphlets and Brochures

      Answering Machine

      How to Double Your Response

      6

      GET AN ART REPRESENTATIVE TO WORK FOR YOU

      Corporate Art Representatives

      How to Find Art Representatives That Service Corporate Accounts

      Art Print Representatives

      Private Client Art Representatives

      Art Association Sales and Rental Programs

      Public Library Rental Program

      7

      MAKING PRINTS AND OTHER WAYS TO LEVERAGE YOUR WORK

      Slide Registries

      Percentage for the Arts Program

      Grants

      Prints: How to Sell Your Art and Keep It at the Same Time

      Do-It-Yourself Printing Options

      Print Publishers

      Conclusion

      Marketing Resources for the Fine Artist

      Index

      INTRODUCTION

      How to Make Money as an Artist is a handy, easy-to-use guidebook for the working fine artist. Its compact size makes it easy to carry with you and refer to when needed.

      Most reference works for artists are dense encyclopedia-size volumes put together by committees and editorial staffs trying to impress users by sheer size. Much of the information in these books is designed to be useful to the commercial artist. Most of the resource listings in them are irrelevant to you, the individual fine artist. To create How to Make Money as an Artist, I read these volumes; sifted through information offered in other media; interviewed authorities in the art world, marketing communications experts, gallery owners, art collectors, directors and members of art organizations, artist representatives, show jurors, museum professionals, public arts administrators, art critics, successful artists, advertising agency executives and creatives, media buyers and sellers, and printers and public relations specialists. This book is the distillation of that research combined with 30 years of experience as a working artist, teacher, and marketing communications professional. The result is this simple and straightforward resource guide, from one artist to another.

      How Do Artists Make Money?

      What are the professional secrets of successful artists? How do they get in shows? How do they sell? How does their work get reproduced and sold as prints? How do they get on the Internet? How do they get publicity in the media? Their work isn’t always better than yours. Talent doesn’t have everything to do with it. Knowing just what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and then doing it are the keys.

      Too many artists have been influenced by the cultural myth that artists trade security and amenities for freedom and aren’t supposed to be successful in any material sense. This is the myth of the bohemian. It is a myth perpetuated by those who envy the mysterious talent that demands so much freedom and who take comfort in their more practical lifestyle.

      The popular romantic notion of the artist as a lonely, offbeat character in a garret or out in the middle of nowhere is a cultural cliché that started in the late 19th century because of such figures as Van Gogh and Gauguin. It wasn’t always like that. You can bet Michelangelo, Titian, Tintoretto, and Raphael didn’t pick up a chisel or a paintbrush unless the florins were on the table. They sought out clients who were willing to pay, and clients pursued them with commissions. Today, Andrew Wyeth, who rarely leaves his farmhouse in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, fits that romantic notion. Yet he’s one of the most highly paid artists in the world.

      Success in art isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition as the popular culture leads us to believe. Just because most people know only the amateur next door and the superstars in the media, they think there is no in-between. The myth is that success in art is a roll of the dice or you get discovered after you’re dead. (You cannot be discovered after you are dead. Your artwork can be, but that would be of no benefit to you.) The sensible thing to do right now is to move yourself up into the broad middle ground where most professional artists live, work, and make money. Once there, you have positioned yourself to move higher. Following the strategies in this book will help you advance your career.

      Think of these strategies as a single art project you’re creating simultaneously with your other artwork. By thinking of it this way, you’ll be free to continue other art projects and succeed during busy periods when you exhibit in a show, win an award, get a commission, or make a sale to a collector. By following the strategies detailed here, you’ll expand your career. This is the art they didn’t teach you in school. Now let’s begin.

      STRATEGY 1

      Create a Winning Marketing Package

      AN IMPRESSIVE MARKETING package is the most powerful weapon in your promotional arsenal. If you follow these step-by-step directions, you’ll end up creating a ready-made, off-the-shelf missile to fire at galleries, collectors, art representatives, advertising and public relations outlets, and the media. It will be perfect for grant proposals and scholarship/fellowship applications, too.

      A winning marketing package contains a number of items. These include

      A biography

      A resume

      Slides and photographs

      Business cards and stationery

      News releases and press clippings

      A portfolio

      Additional items include a slide list to go with the slides, and two smaller versions of the portfolio—one for sending out and a pocket-sized version to carry with you at all times.

      Your Biography

      Your biography should be no longer than one page and 200-300 words total. A short biography will contain much of the same information as your resume, yet it will appeal to those who like to acquire information in prose form. The biography that you add to your marketing package should not be a compressed history of your life. It should include only the information that relates to your evolution as an artist. If you don’t have a biography, here are some simple steps to building one.

      1.  Make notes. Start by jotting down notes quickly and spontaneously. These are words and phrases you come up with by using free association. These notes should include everything you can think of that has anything to do with your experience as an artist and might include lessons, schools, teachers, shows, sales, and prizes. Don’t hold back or edit this information at this stage.

      2.  Outline. Arrange these in some logical order and make a simple list of all these notes. Then edit out the ones that don’t seem worthwhile.

      3.  Write prose. Flesh out each note to form a complete sentence, then organize these sentences into short paragraphs. This should read like a mini-story with a beginning and a middle, and should culminate in your present level of development.

      The biography should include relevant education, workshops, courses, and jobs in art. It may include prominent exhibitions, collections, art organizations, and academic institutions from your past or your present. It might include known, distinguished teachers who may have influenced your work. For example, Jackson Pollock studied with Thomas Hart Benton. While it’s hard to see much of Benton’s influence in Pollock’s painting, Pollock was able to trade on Benton’s reputation before he established his own. Your biography needs to include any awards you’ve received, including scholarships, grants, and show prizes. Here’s an illustration from a fictional artist who has pretty good credits.

      My new series of blue and green abstract acrylics are inspired by views of the Connecticut coast and sailing on Long Island Sound. I was born in Woodstock, Connecticut, and attended Yale University School of Art and Architecture on an athletic scholarship. While at Yale, I studied design under Josef Albers and won first prize in the Greenwich Arts Festival.

      4.  Write an artist’s statement. Your biography must include a statement of purpose called an artist’s statement.

      An artist’s statement is a brief description of your aesthetic; that is, why you do your art, why you do it in a certain manner, and what it means. An artist’s statement is often needed if you want to make money as an artist. For example, it is regularly used by gallery staff to tell customers something about the why of your work.

      An artist’s statement can be difficult for many artists who don’t consciously think about purpose. I just like to draw doesn’t pass for an artist’s statement. You need to put clear thinking into this. Your purpose doesn’t have to be some grand altruistic humanitarian aspiration, nor does it have to be a deep tortuous psychological excavation. If you think only about formal and technical matters when you work, then say so. They

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