Business of Art

It is rare that an artist ever asks her about the gallery's insurance policy -- does she have one, what does it cover, what are the exclusions -- and she cannot recall any artists refusing to consign work to her because of a lack of insurance.

What was considered so important for artists to know back then now seems vaguely irrelevant. These days, the focus of artist-as-businessperson workshops and classes is not how to apply for money but how to earn it -- how to be entrepreneurial.

No artist is free from dry periods or mental blocks, when the old ideas seem to lead nowhere and new ones are hard to find. Different artists have approached the problem in various ways.

What do fine artists do when they graduate art school? The process of working at a job often takes artists away from their art, sometimes permanently.

Thefts are an occasional, sometimes regular, nuisance for artists and craftspeople who sell their work at fairs and festivals, despite the sincere efforts of the event sponsors and the artists themselves to stop them.

Fundraising can be a daunting task. Coming up with other strategies to raise capital is essential for contemporary artists. The more diverse your funding sources, the more stable your practice will be.

Whether you are asking for a show, a pot of money, an in-kind donation, a fellowship or a residency, a few thoughtful considerations will go a long way towards less rejection.

There are approximately 100 designated arts and cultural districts throughout the United States, but Rhode Island is only the second state to legislate tax-free zones for artists in them; Maryland is the other.

The original image may be a painting by the artist that is PhotoShopped in some way that makes it different than the painting, but it is not stated how much "manipulation" is required to keep the final product from being a reproduction.

Artists aren't being hauled into court every time they include a recognizable face in their work, but the growing sense that one's likeness is a "property" that can be commercially exploited has led many artists to feel less secure in pursuing realistic figurative images.

Golf art is certainly a profitable niche, but it isn't a hole in which artists necessarily find themselves stuck.

Deciding what price to put on artwork is one of the most difficult problems for lesser-known or "emerging" artists, since there is no obvious point of reference.

The 1980s generated the idea of the fine artist as rock star, coming on fast and furious at a young age, entering the international art circuit, cashing in quickly because no one lasts more than a decade. It can happen, it has happened, but it doesn't happen very often.

Let's lay out all our ideas about who and what fine artists are: They are largely unemployed and their professional training prepares them to be unemployable. For some things we don't need proof, we just know.

Support groups for artists differ from "crit" groups in that the individuals are not looking for critiques of their artwork from other members. Support focuses on the emotional aspect of being an artist.

A high percentage of artists and craftspeople have no health or studio insurance, creating a small margin for any type of sickness or accident that may occur.

The arts are more and more described as a business, yet so many artists and dealers refer to their relationship as a marriage. Similar to romantic lin...

Setting up a limited liability corporation offers artists clear benefits - "No more of this hat in hand, starving artist routine," Coffin said, "we're going in as a business" - and some risks.

If you were to create a job description for an artist, the list of responsibilities might be very long. There's making art, but then comes the part of letting others know it exists and is worth buying. (This is where the list lengthens.)

Finding out who is a reputable dealer or gallery is no easy task. Perhaps, a collector's only source of information about a gallery is the association to which it may belong.

In today's economy, some full-time artists may find that they need to get a part-time job, while others will put renewed effort into strengthening ties with current collectors.

When he was just starting out as a painter in the early 1970s, Carl Plansky's main criterion for buying paints was "whatever was on sale. I was very p...

Artists are people who create their own credentials, but a movement may be afoot to create doctoral programs in studio arts.

In response to the question "How do you know when you're finished?" Jackson Pollock once made the reply, "How do you know when you're finished making love?"