‘Introduction to Part 3’

Most venues, curators, collectors and educational institutions are looking for some standard documentation from artists. It is very important for artist to be able to clearly describe their work and practice through written and photographic documentation.

Many curators will visit an artists website to get a clearer understanding of their art practice.

‘The Basics’

Basic Artist Promotional Toolbox:

Understand your work

This doesn’t mean that you have to write lengthy descriptions or create in depth verbal explanations. Be able to simply articulate who you are, what you make, why you make it (and you can include where and when if you like!).

Create a mission statement

This should outline what you have to offer as an artist and who your target audience is. It can also contain some future goals for your art practice. This is intended for personal use, to help you understand your professional goals. The document can also be expanded into a full business plan.

Artist Statement/Artist Biography

Your artist statement should tell us ‘the how’ ‘the what’ and ‘the why’ of your art practice. Your artist bio should tell us your story- who you are, how you got to this point and ‘how you view the world’. You need to create a short form and long form for each of these statements. The statements should also be adapted for different venues and specific audiences. You may also want to create additional statements describing a specific exhibitions or series of work.

Art CV/Resume

This form of documentation is still required by many granting agencies, and other public and private organizations. Again you will need several versions targeted to specific venues- for example one for use in commercial galleries, one for public galleries, and one for educational institutions. Standard content for Artist CV; Standard Content for Professional Artist CV

Excellent photographic documentation

Keep a master file in a printable, large file size; and a copy in an on-line digital format. Properly label each of your images (I include my name; title; size; medium; year). Create a backup of all of your images that you keep in a different location. Make sure to transform the files into contemporary formats so that you don’t lose access to the information due too an outdated operating systems. Check with local granting agencies and galleries on their preferred size and format for digital images. Be sure to also document your art installed in spaces, at special events and projects in process. Create additional detail shots of all of your work. There are excellent resources for documenting your work available on-line. Learn the pros & cons of watermarking your images for on-line use to prevent theft of your images.

In Person Promotion

Every single art’s professional interviewed for this project stressed the important of in person contact to promote your art practice.