PAA Artist Summit – Day 2

Day 2 is in the books! It was all about “Demystifying the traditional art world.”

There were four speakers who, again, had very diverse backgrounds; all of them had provided great insight into the managerial and curatorial aspect of the art market, how they used those capacities to their advantage, and how artists can break into those worlds. Here are my takeaways:

Tim Goossens:

• There are common misconceptions that artists make a lot of money (they don’t!);
• Artists should be pulling on the same rope instead of competing with one another;
• Gallery and commercial art are intertwined; artists should not shy away from one or the other. They should embrace doing both if the opportunity arises;
• There are right and wrong ways present/exhibit in a gallery:
• A few right ways are to be consistent in your body of work and always have something to show. Keep working! Make sure to show them you will continue creating and that you will not stop;
• A wrong way is that you are creating based on “trends” as opposed to what “you” are, as well as having a lack of inspiration (thus, a higher probability of stopping) – the gallery is making an investment in you and your art;
• In terms of social media, let collectors/curators/galleries discover you. Don’t reach out to them. Relationships should be built naturally and genuinely within your communities (i.e. going to galleries/shows/exhibitions).

Miles Regis

• Your creativity and work shouldn’t be determined by what sells or what will sell;
• Networking is important to cultivate the artist/manager relationship. [As Tim Goossens mentioned] go to galleries, support the art scene, befriend gallery owners and workers. It’s mostly being in the right room at the right time;
• Utilize social media and always have content. Someone may see your content and discover you for the first time;
• Prioritize and time block – set time aside to create;
• You will have highs and lows/good days and bad days as an artist – learn lessons from the bad days, but celebrate the good days. Give yourself grace and keep going. If it was easy, everyone would do it;
• One constant in the art industry is change. Education (on the market and trends) is important.

Juan Garaizabal

• Analyze and understand how and why you are uniquely in love with the thing you have chosen to do;
• Declare a unique mission and how you will change things. Your mission should be difficult, but feasible to accomplish.