Why?

You want to start getting more opportunities for your art. What do you do? One option is to invite people to see your work at exhibitions, your studio, and other pertinent locations. You’ll want to set reasonable expectations for these visits and think about how you frame these appoitnments. You don’t want to invite a curator to your studio without explaining the purpose of the visit, or how it will operate. That puts the onus of the visit on your visitor, which makes you a poor host. This chapter discusses group visits, individual visits, curatorial visits, open studios, portfolio reviews, and introduces art sales, which will be covered in more depth in later chapters.

Required

Response Questions

Select one question below to which you will respond. Remember to cite specific instances from the text to support your views.

• If you see yourself as a post-studio artist, or don’t have a traditional studio space, how might you still facilitate some of these “studio visit” opportunities without a studio? What are analogous situations you can foster?
• What were the most surprising elements of this reading set? Why were they surprising to you?
• How does this chapter shape the way you think about our semesterly open studios for BFA and BA students? How might you approach those differently?

Supplementary Readings

These are optional readings to help enrich your understanding of the themes of this reading set.

Studio Visit Etiquette

How to Nail the Studio Visit: Expert Advice on What Artists Should Do (and Not Do) to Make an Impression, Artspace

By Loney Abrams

September 23, 2016

Words: 2,136

~14 minutes

“So what should you, as an artist, do to prepare for a studio visit? We’ve asked dealers, curators, advisors, collectors, and seasoned artists to provide some insider insight on what to do (and what not to do) during your next studio visit. Here’s what the experts had to say.”

How to Nail the Studio Visit, Pt. 2: Easy Rules for Not Making the Artist Think You’re a Crazy Person, Arspace

By Loney Abrams

November 9, 2016

Words: 1,830

~12 minutes

“Here, we’ve asked artists (and some curators and advisors) about the annoying things that visitors do during studio visits, and what advice they’d give to people preparing for their next meeting with an artist. If you’re a curator, collector, advisor, or dealer, do yourself a favor and read this guide—your artist-hosts will thank you for it.”

Why?

Promotion takes many forms—websites, postcards, business cards, demo reels, social media, and more. It can be a necessary means to garner exhibitions, grants, jobs, and sales. So, we better talk about it. Self-promotion can be something that artists hate, which is why they are happy to have galleries take up that job for them. Some artists are very good at it. You need to determine the level of promotion you are able and willing to do, and figure out how much you need or want others to do for you. Either way, you’ll need to be savvy to know how to do it yourself, or direct/oversee others doing it for you.

Required

Response Questions

Select one question below to which you will respond. Remember to cite specific instances from the text to support your views.

• Identify the means of promotion mentioned in the reading that you think you should pursue. List which ones you currently have the skills to execute, which ones you can get the skills to do, and which ones you will need someone else to do for you. Then identify ways to gain the skills you need, and realistic ways to get others to do the jobs you can’t cover.
• What might be other useful means of promotion that weren’t mentioned in the reading? Why do you think they weren’t mentioned? How might they be useful to you?
• Which promotion methods do you think have become unnecessary or unfruitful? Which are the next to become obsolete? What might take their place and why?