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Welcome to 2011. What better way to start off a new year of Marketing Mondays--the third year of this series--than to talk about the ways we as artists take control of our careers? No less an authority than Chicago's eminence gris, Paul Klein, writes this is a recent art newsletter:
"I want to see artists empowered. I want to see artists take responsibility for their careers, to not have to rely on the existing paradigm . . . Galleries are fabulous, but they’re not the only option. There are many artworlds and many ways to navigate them. Small apartment galleries, invariably operated by young folks, so enthusiastic they open their homes and their hearts to art-loving strangers, could only exist because the internet enables inexpensive and direct communication."
So this post is for anyone who is not gallery represented. How are you taking matters into your own hands to show and sell your work? I'm thinking apartment shows, home salons, other kinds of DIY exhibitions, E-bay, blogs, open studios (feel free to include URLs to your projects).
More than just where you show, what advice would you'd give to others who are thinking of working similarly? And if you're juggling representation or gallery affiliation with your own independent program, tell us how you're faring.
Related post from 2.8.10: Do You Really Need a Gallery?
Over to you.
This just in: Thanks to Katherine Tyrrell, author of the blog Making a Mark, for awarding me her Make Me Think Gong, an acknowledgment of the value of Marketing Mondays to artists and the art community.
"Joanne tackles the really routine issues relating to doing business and marketing your art which affect most artists. Plus she also covers some aspects which are less routine but useful to know about. I find that she almost always manages to bring a fresh perspective on what might be thought of as the "same old topics"and she often manages to add some small nugget of information which I've not heard before. She certainly makes me think." Thanks, Katherine
