search  current discussion  categories  philosophy 

advise to new artists

updated sat 30 nov 96

 

Doug Gray on mon 25 nov 96

I am currently putting a course together for the spring semester that
will attempt to prepare students for life after a B.F.A. The course
will include, resume writing, portfolio building, slide taking, tips on
shipping art work, contract writing, pricing, approaching
museums/galleries for exhibition, artist in residency programs,
appreticeships, Graduate education, Research problems, etc. I feel that
I have more to cover tahn possible in one class, but I know there are
plenty of things I am leaving out.

The request I have for those of you on the list is this. Can you
provide additional bits of advice for the class? Could you share
stories of how you began life/career after school? Anything would be
helpful.

I'm also looking for text or magazine articles that would relate.

Thank you for your help.

Doug Gray
Alpine TX

Lisa on tue 26 nov 96

Doug Gray wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I am currently putting a course together for the spring semester that
> will attempt to prepare students for life after a B.F.A. The course
> will include, resume writing, portfolio building, slide taking, tips on
> shipping art work, contract writing, pricing, approaching
> museums/galleries for exhibition, artist in residency programs,
> appreticeships, Graduate education, Research problems, etc.


Doug,
I sure wish they had a class like this at my University! Just last week
I got information on entering an exhibition, but they want a resume and I
have no clue what to write on it. Surely they don't want to know about
where I've worked for the last 10 years.....

Do you mind sharing a bit of this online? Thanks.

Anne Bracker on tue 26 nov 96

I would strongly recommend including some basic business information
that pertains in particular to artists. Dealing with sales on
commission (through galleries), obtaining a sales tax number, and
budgeting are things that a many new artists have to learn by trial.
Discussing those things in a classroom setting, even on the most basic
of levels, would be a great benefit once they get "into the real world"
and start trying to make a living through ceramics. It would be the
perfect opportunity for guest speakers, especially artists in your
community that are making a living with their art, to relate their
experiences to your students. Otherwise, I applaud you for wanting to
offer this class! It will be a great asset for your students.

Anne M. Bracker

Bill Amsterlaw on wed 27 nov 96

To Doug Gray and other educators:

Imagine publishing your course in the form of a website. The information
would then become available not just to your own students, but to students and
educators everywhere. The course could become an evolving, creative project
with a life of its own - a learning institution with no walls. The use of the
electronic medium would make it possible to maintain a dialog with your
readers, open a channel to tap their knowledge, and continuously revise and
update the information presented in the website.

I think you could create the website yourself without having to hire a
professional website programmer. I know there are a lot of fancy websites out
there with all sorts of graphics, bells, and whistles - which no doubt take a
lot of time and effort and knowhow to create. But to convey ideas about
advice to new artists, you really just need a well-organized text. Using
hypertext can actually assist you in logical organization.

Right now, for only $8 you can obtain a CD-ROM containing the beta version of
Microsoft's FrontPage 97, which I have read is the best website authoring tool
in existence. I am by no means an expert on any of this and have no
connection with Microsoft except as user of their software and internet
services - but I am genuinely tickled that I have lived to see such a powerful
communication tool be made available to the public for free. I have played
with it for about a week. It is intuitive and fun and you can use it without
knowing a thing about HTML code. I think that with a little practice using
this software, anyone can easily become a website author - and I expect this
to have profound effects on education and the people communicate.

You can find out about it at
http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/


- Bill Amsterlaw (wamster@msn.com)
Plattsburgh, NY


On Mon, 25 Nov 1996 08:41:12 EST Doug Gray wrote:
>>
I am currently putting a course together for the spring semester that
will attempt to prepare students for life after a B.F.A. The course
will include, resume writing, portfolio building, slide taking, tips on
shipping art work, contract writing, pricing, approaching
museums/galleries for exhibition, artist in residency programs,
appreticeships, Graduate education, Research problems, etc. I feel that I
have more to cover than possible in one class, but I know there are plenty of
things I am leaving out.
<<

Carl Ross on thu 28 nov 96

I read in an article that the easiest way to get your own website is to
download one similar to the format you like and tailor it to your needs.
Also, in one of the magazines there was a rating of all the editors and the
cheapest one was the free one on AOL. surprisingly, it ranked pretty high
(1st or 2nd in the top ten). I think it was in the latest PC World. When I
come across it I'll pass on some more precise information on it.

Gotta go,

Carl in Phillips