Pointers on writing an artist statement
Some good points on writing an understandable artist statement
Another organisation that provides artists with project and career development funding
http://copyright.com.au/cultural-fund
Info from their website:
Copyright Agency’s Board is authorised by Copyright Agency’s Constitution to allocate 1.5% of its income to cultural development.
This is known as the Cultural Fund. The Cultural Fund supports a wide variety of projects which aim to encourage, and provide practical assistance to Copyright Agency’s members and the Australian cultural community.
The Cultural Fund has two areas of focus:
Major cultural projects
This is the main fund for major cultural projects. The priority for this fund is to support innovation in the Australian creative industries and to develop local and foreign markets for Australian works.
Creative Industries Career Fund
$150,000 a year is allocated from the Cultural Fund to form the Creative Industries Career Fund. This fund supports individual Australian creators and those involved in the creative industries who wish to develop their skills and take their careers to the next level. Applicants can apply for grants of up to $5,000 to undertake training and other activities that will enhance their careers.
The Professionals - Brendan McCumstie
In the fourth interview in the Professionals series Brendan McCumstie talks about the business of making art.
Name:
Brendan McCumstie
Photo: Michael Moynihan - 2012
Job/Position title/ or brief description of the kind/range of work you do.
I am a fine artist. My work has predominantly been exhibited in public galleries.
Can you give a brief overview of your average working day?
At present I have just moved to Beijing after having been fortunate enough to be in Paris for the past 12 months, during which time i had all my time available to art.
Although I am able to dictate my own hours, that does not mean sleeping in till midday and then skipping to the local cafe to sip coffee until mid afternoon, looking at the passing models (…it was fashion week just prior to me leaving Paris) only to think “oh well, I will do something tomorrow”.
If you want success in the arts treat whatever you do as a business.
I wake relatively early by Parisian standards (about 8) - and I assure you, I am not a morning person. I ensure I have breakfast (this sounds mundane, but is essential to finish the day out) then I get going on studio work by about 9am and usually do this until late lunch at 2pm. This might include working ideas up on my laptop, collaging and painting and completing any emails/mail I need to do. From 3 until 7, I am usually out making sketches of street scenes, seeing galleries/museums or meeting with people and friends to discuss ideas/collaborations (sometimes this just involves getting motivation from them). If there are any vernissages (ie; exhibition openings) on that evening, I attempt to attend a selected few based on both what I like to look at, and galleries I think show a similar aesthetic to my practice.
“80% of success is just turning up” as Woody Allen said – I may not agree with his use of the Pareto principle, and irrespective of the exact percentages, in practice the idea is sound – art is not about who or what you know, but who knows you. Get out there, attend events, shake hands and always have a business card with you.
I always carry a small notepad and pencil with me. Always.
Beijing has yet to allow me a schedule as I have only been here for less than a week, but already differences are showing – one primary difference is that the day begins earlier.
What are the best aspects of your job/work life?
Corny, but I would definitely have to say the freedom to travel and meet inspiring, generous creative people.
What are the worst?
Obviously money is always an issue, but I won’t dwell on this aspect.
Self doubt
Can I write professional jealousy?? (Kate: yes you totally can – Brendan: I think professional jealousy is actually healthy for the industry in a lot if ways if utilized in a constructive and critical way. It means artists strive to do better, the good and bad are weeded apart and it allows artists to set goals for themselves.)
How did you get this job / choose this line of work?
I chose this line of work.
In terms of my trip overseas, it was based on over two years of planning in order to get it together – this included applying for residencies (of which two have been completed in the past year), developing networks/contacts in the relevant destinations prior to leaving, and saving enough money to enable survival.
What did you study?
I actually came to art from a background in Sport. More specifically Kinesiology and Sports psychology studies.
I have no art training as such, but I find this has assisted me in my practice to do as I please without worrying too much about what I was creating was “right or wrong”.
I would definitely have appreciated the camaraderie and networks that art school affords, but I have been fortunate enough to develop my own groups – it has just taken longer!
Were your studies directly related to the work you do now?
Indirectly, my studies in anatomy have always assisted me to know what is going on under the skin in any of my figure study works.
Sports management is a transferable learnt skill that is an important part of being a success in the long term.
Psychology studies allow me to remain focused on goals and targets.
What advice would you give any young /emerging practitioners interested in your field of work?
Get to know some curators, or better still curate your own shows. That way you will know what is expected in terms of putting on quality shows.
Show your work. Speak to other artists (outside your group of friends). Contact galleries. If you think someone will walk past your studio door, suddenly “discovering you” and offer you a space in a show, you are fooling yourself. You need to go to the mountain – it will not come to you.
Learn the “business” of art. By that I mean get serious business training in how to market your product (ie: the artwork you produce) and, just as importantly how to market yourself.
It may sound harsh, but at the end of the day artists exist within an art “market”, so, by all means produce the work you want, and always produce sincere work from the heart. Not what you think someone will want. Once you have produced your body of works, find where the market for that work is – it will more than likely not be always in your immediate community. Seek it out. Then put in place steps to become a part of where your oeuvre will sit.
Speak to and ask advice from those you admire. Do not limit who it is that you choose to approach either. I have always found most people are extremely generous in terms of advice – even major artists – we all like to have admiration from people, and this does not diminish just because someone has work in a national gallery or exhibits in a major commercial setting.
Try to send a thank-you note or card (not an email!) to anyone who helps you.
The scariest art for you to exhibit personally is usually the work that is best received by others.
Be friendly and be sincere. Even on a global scale the art world is small, and word will pass quickly.
All of the exhibitions I have had in public galleries have been as a result of being networked - and hopefully because of the fact that the art is good too:)
If you have multiple jobs / juggle an art practice with other employment etc – can you briefly discuss how you manage to balance these different areas of your professional life?
I am about to embark on 12 months in Beijing. I have taken a part-time role there as an English teacher to get established. Obviously this will be an asset for financial reasons but will also allow me to interact with the local culture easily.
As it turns out, the day I signed a lease on my apartment in Beijing, I met my new neighbour - she just happens to be the curator for the Beijing White Night festival (beijingbaiye.wix.com/baiye), based on the Nuit Blanche concept from Paris. The world is a small place - if you decide to leave your own backyard that is!
Thanks for your time – if there’s anything you’d like to add feel free!
Put yourself in the action. Don’t expect that it will come to you.
and finally, good luck with your art.
Artist impression of proposed installation, Image courtesy the artist 2013
NAVA reporting on resale royalties in Australia
Resale royalty scheme reaches $1million for artists
Posted on: 09-11-2012
From Copyright Agency
Over $1 million in royalties has been returned to Australian artists thanks to the Australian Government’s resale royalty scheme, administered by Copyright Agency.
The scheme provides artists with a five per cent royalty payment from eligible resales of their artwork and is an important source of additional income for many practising artists.
Copyright Agency CEO Jim Alexander said achieving the important milestone of $1 million in resale royalties, in just over two years since the scheme commenced, demonstrates its significant support for Australian artists.
Since July 2010, the scheme has generated over 5000 resales benefiting over 500 artists. Nearly 90 per cent of royalty payments have been made to living artists.
“The resale royalty scheme is achieving what it set out to do – sharing the rewards of Australia’s art market with the creators who help make it so successful,” Mr Alexander said.
“This milestone could only have been achieved with the cooperation of art market professionals who continue to work with us to ensure Australia’s artists receive the benefits they deserve from the resale of their work.”
The scheme is providing other benefits to the arts and broader community through a growing trend for artists and beneficiaries to use royalty payments to support philanthropic initiatives.
Mrs Lynne Clarke, daughter and beneficiary of Australian artist Russel Drysdale, plans to donate her royalty payments to the Rowan Nicks Russell Drysdale Fellowship which supports people working in Indigenous health and welfare.
Mrs Clarke said she felt the donation was a good way of using royalties from the sale of her father’s paintings to help the Aboriginal communities that inspired so much of his work.
“I like the idea that, if there are royalty payments from the resale of an artwork, it can go towards helping the artist or, as in my case, giving back to the community,” Mrs Clarke said.
Art market professionals and artists can find out more about the scheme at www.resaleroyalty.org.au.
Read the original media release vrom the Copyright Agency here.
Source: https://www.visualarts.net.au/newsdesk/2012/11/resaleroyaltyschemereaches1millionartists
The Professionals - Teffany Thiedeman
In the third interview in the series looking at creative practitioners and the directions they take in their work, Teffany Thiedeman talks about running a creative business and continuing to make and exhibit her own works of art.
Name: Teffany Theideman
Job/Position title/ or brief description of the kind/range of work you do
I am artistic director of a specialised child care centre that runs art programs for children and teenagers. I am a practising artist (ie I make work regularly and exhibit it- occasionally!)
Can you give a brief overview of your average working day?
My usual working day starts around 8.45 in my home workshop. Theoretically I spend Monday to Thursday until 2pm everyday on my artwork except Fridays which is set aside for a collaboration design project I am developing. This working time is often invaded by business peak times like the school holidays (when I work 12 hour days) and workshop opportunities outside my normal business hours (Sculpture Sunday, private functions etc).
My contact hours at the school where I run my business are theoretically 4-6 but realistically I need preparation time and time to communicate with my workers and maintain the myriad of ongoing projects I get involved with (helping the school make whirligigs from recycled bottles for a market day, finishing a mosaic table for the community garden etc)
What are the best aspects of your job/work life?
The best aspects of my work are the mix of making and doing. For me personally if I had all day in the workshop I would start to flounder. Because I have an arts based business that keeps me alive I often have to prioritise that over my studio art. It keeps things real! I get to work with children who are enthusiastic and creative and give me great ideas for art projects; they can also observe my art practice and get interested. I get to work with different people who are often inspiring and motivated.
What are the worst?
The worst aspects of my work are the inverse qualities of everything above…my business intrudes on my art making, the children can be needy and exhausting, their parents even worse. My fellow workers can drive me up the wall and my life partner is also my business partner so there is no escape!
How did you get this job / choose this line of work?
I basically made this job with my partner Mathew Long. I started as a tutor for an after school care program when my daughter was a baby and I was 26 years old. I had already held several exhibitions and won some prizes but realised that was not going to keep me financially afloat (especially with a yoga teaching partner). I ended up poaching all those students and setting up my classes from home where I could control the number of kids in each class and what I was paid for.
Eventually my partner saw the value of my home classes and turned them into a formal, insured, specialised government approved childcare service housed in a primary school. Whew! No more strangers stomping through my house looking for the toilet… sadly also no more dog wrestling, standing on garage roofs to view the sunset and other uninsurable extras. My business has been an organic thing, growing and changing as I have, it continues to evolve and hopefully give me more time in my workshop.
Were your studies directly related to the work you do now?
I try not to look back at my time in the Ceramics department with too rosy a glow. It certainly had a lot more staff when I graduated from there in 1995 and Canberra was a cheaper place to be a student.
My degree gave me practical experience in everything I needed to make ceramic work. It didn’t really tell me what to do with all the stuff I was producing!
What advice would you give any young /emerging practitioners interested in your field of work?
Getting your stuff out there is another world again. You really have to decide on a strategy and make a plan to get exposure and show people what you do. If you have a talent for this or can team up with other people who are good at this you will benefit.
Looking back the best thing about art school was the total immersion. The constant contact with people totally committed to art, fascinated and obsessed with art. It is an incredible space for developing ideas. I am still playing around with some of the ideas I first encountered in that period.
It takes considerably more effort to stay in contact with these like minded art people once you leave the institution and often you are all competing for a limited pool of art funding but many of them will prove to be your strongest allies. Especially when people ask you the classic question…so when are you planning on getting a real job!
I have an exhibition opening on Friday the 10th May. Come check out my artwork at M16. http://m16artspace.com.au/
You can check out my business at www.aeoncademy.com or on http://www.facebook.com/Aeoncademy.
See, I told you to get out there!
At the American Academy in Rome, filmmaker Nicholas Heller follows Visiting Artist Ann Weber on her daily rounds, scavenging cardboard boxes out of dumpsters, collecting ideas from architectural details and Bernini sculptures and creating sculpture in her studio.
Technoccult: Weird Shift Con 2013 Is Coming To Portland!
Klint Finley
On June 14-16, 2013, in Portland, OREGON: WEIRD SHIFT CON. An aggregation of derelict theory-objects, critical aberrations, intentional anomalies, techno-magical interventions, associated archive accesses, and socio-intellectual performances over…
The Professionals - Tricia Hanson
Below is the second interview in the Professionals series looking at the different approaches and choices of people working in the creative industries.
Name: Tricia Hanson
Job/Position title/ or brief description of the kind/range of work you do:
Art Teacher
Cross phase: means yr 1-11 & 12 -13 (A levels if we get the enrollments) in a Thai British International School in Bangkok
Weaving workshop - Ho Chi Minh City 2008 - MRISA Cultural Exchange (Mekong River International School Association)
Can you give a brief overview of your average working day?
I arrive at school at about 7.15am and work on class prep, programming and lesson plans etc. School starts at 8.20am and finishes at 3.25pm; we need to stay until 4.00 although I’m often still there at 6pm.
Mostly I’m based at the secondary campus but two days a week I spend time at the Primary campus teaching Yrs 1-6 art. We teach in English, the British curricular, all senior staff are from the UK and most of the teachers also. The students are mostly Thai or have at least one Thai parent. Most are aiming for tertiary education in Thailand although quite a few want to study abroad, mostly the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand or Singapore.
Batik workshop - Ho Chi Minh City 2008 - MRISA Cultural Exchange (Mekong River International School Association)
I teach at least 5 classes a day and so I have to be well prepared and I have to do all my own setting up and cleaning up. It can be a challenge to involve students in this as generally they have maids to do everything for them at home. At other schools I have had an assistant to help me with some of these things, which really makes life so much easier, but not in my current teaching position.
As a teacher you are always thinking and planning, taking photos of things to inspire students, scouting tools and resources, finding inspiring exhibitions etc, so on duty and off duty tend to overlap in favour of the school.
What are the best aspects of your job/work life?
I love living in South East Asia, previously I taught in American International Schools in Cambodia and Bangkok and an Australian language school in Laos. I’m very interested in the art and culture of this region, both traditional and contemporary. I’m also attracted to how much art is a major part of everyday life here. Also I’m a very keen traveler and take every opportunity to get out and about in the countries in which I live and the neighbouring areas. One of the advantages of teaching is the great holiday periods you get each year. It is hard work and I find I really need to be flexible and willing to adapt to many different challenges on a daily basis, put in the hours, be well prepared but then it pays off when we get such great holidays.
What are the worst aspects of your working life?
Education is a business and the school owners are generally focused on profits first. This has varied from school to school and can sometimes run contrary to my value system and be quite challenging. Ongoing maintenance is a major issue and it can be difficult to get resources for teaching.
How did you get this job / choose this line of work?
I decided I wanted to live and work abroad and so teaching was the obvious option, so I did a Masters of Teaching at Sydney University. In my Masters year I applied for an internship at an international school in Cambodia, that later lead to a 2-year contract. At the end of that time I spent a year traveling and also studied ESL teaching as most of my students are not native English speakers and this is an ongoing issue in the classroom with communication. I wanted the opportunity to take some art courses in traditional art and craft techniques of the region, which I did do whilst traveling, as well as doing a CELTA, and so I have wanted to stay in the region ever since.
My current job was advertised in the Bangkok Post, a fellow teacher saw it and sent me the ad.
Silkscreen printing workshop - Ho Chi Minh City 2008 - MRISA Cultural Exchange (Mekong River International School Association)
What did you study?
I have a BA in Craft from Curtin Uni in WA, and I also studied Fine Art Theory at UWA, then sculpture at UWS and ANU, then an MTeach at Sydney University.
Were your studies directly related to the work you do now?
Yes but I also did some other studies related to working in community services and health education which funded all of the above.
What was the most useful thing you learnt as a student or when you were starting out that applies to the work you do now?
Keep an open mind, be flexible in your practice and thinking, and the friends you make at art school or in your workplace are your best source of inspiration and support. Appreciate them and foster those relationships. Also your students, at some time in the future they are possibly going to be one of your peers.
Cambodia 2008 - Ferry crossing, students and staff traveling to Vietnam for Art Cultural exchange program.
What advice would you give any young /emerging practitioners interested in your field of work?
Go for it, it’s a great life but be prepared to work hard, keep a look out for opportunities as these things often find you.
If you have multiple jobs / juggle an art practice with other employment etc – can you briefly discuss how you manage to balance these different areas of your professional life?
At the moment I’m not making much of my own art, it is difficult when you are teaching as you constantly have deadlines backed up waiting for the current one to be reached so you can move onto the next. I do get a lot of enjoyment though from being a part of my students’ successes and I have had a few very successful students over the years.
I love introducing students to new techniques and processes and enjoying their discoveries. They constantly amaze me and so many of them are so talented.
Any further comments?
I also want to comment on the positive aspects of living and working within a different cultural environment and the opportunities that it presents for gaining knowledge and participating in a diverse and constantly changing work and living space. Especially if you are working in a developing country, progress, (although sometimes it seems at any cost) is always a constant and things are rapidly changing on a daily basis - laws, attitudes, buildings, population, the landscape, and this can be challenging but also exciting and stimulating.
Everyday, when I leave my apartment I encounter something astonishing or fascinating, unbelievable, shocking, entertaining, beautiful or challenging that either changes my perceptions or encourages me to question and see the world in a different way. And living as an outsider (because you can never be local here, unlike Australia where immigrants may choose to take up Australian citizenship) here if you are not of the same race you are always, even if you are born here, still considered a foreigner, and so being part of the international community also presents many opportunities to meet and mix with people from a diverse range of cultures and experiences, not just those of the host country.
International teaching is a wonderful way to make a living.
City of Hobart Art Prize now open for entries - deadline 15 April
http://www.hobartcity.com.au/Community/Arts_and_Culture/2013_City_of_Hobart_Art_Prize
Entries close for the Willoughby on 28 March
http://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/Whats-On/visual-arts—-culture/willoughby-sculpture-prize-2013/
All the stuff that's not the art: copyright, tax, grants and residencies, OH&S. I'm based in Australia so this is mostly relevant to Australian artists - but does have international content.
