Fractured Atlas recently compiled a list of practical tips to help budding artists take meaningful immediate steps toward developing their artistic careers — one where you spend less time worrying about the hurdles that stand in your way and have more time to create your art. Check them out below!
(1) Practice your networking.
Find opportunities to meet new people, expand your professional network, and get recognized by influential players. This includes supporting other people’s art, joining professional associations, organizing a panel discussion, or volunteering at a local arts organization or project. If an Emerging Leader or arts-related Meetup group doesn’t exist in your town around a particular interest, start one. Find a theme and own it. Love bourbon and arts technology projects? Schedule informal gatherings at your favorite bourbon haunt and call the evenings Bourbon for Arts Infrastructure Geeks. Try hard to include people who primarily work outside of the cultural sector. The variety of viewpoints and opinions will make it a more dynamic and interesting group.
Marc Allante. A Portrait of Hong Kong. 125cm x 85cm. Ink on 300gsm Cold Press Paper.
Hong Kong-born artist Marc Allante has demonstrated a passion for the visual arts since he was just 2 years old! Seeing how popular his recent lion painting (pictured above) was, Allante decided to show the 25 years it took him to get to where he is now. As you look at his progression below, think about how you’ve developed as an artist over the years. We hope this inspires you to continue pursuing your craft, because who knows where you’ll be when you’re 25! Share your thoughts in our comments section below.
Many of us who work at the Scholastic Awards are artists and writers, including our interns! We’re proud to announce that artist Sazia Afrin will have three works on display in a NYC gallery starting tomorrow. Sazia, who has been working with us for two years, is also a fine arts student at Queens College and noticed a call for paintings by BLVCK SOVL Gallery, a pop-up gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Go Sazia!
ASAP Awardee Erika Harper working on a sculpture with Stiller Zusman
Way up in Western New York, nestled between great gorges and the campus of Cornell University, the Abovoagogo Gallery and teaching studio is a hive of purposeful creativity in downtown Ithaca. At its center, Stiller Zusman makes art and offers classes all year long—and this summer she welcomed ASAP Awardee Erika Harper to join her creative community. Read More
The Atelier—and its amazing emerging artists—is back! Last year, we launched our first artists-in-residency program for Scholastic Award winners who had recently graduated from college, and it was a great success (check out a recap of it here). We are excited to be able to bring this program back with more talented alumni this fall!
The 2012 Atelier program, which runs from October 8 through December 28, will include for each participating artist: a monthly stipend, exhibition opportunities, career development workshops and an open workspace provided by Arts Brookfield at One New York Plaza, where passers-by can witness the artists creating new work.
Be sure to stop by to see these artists at work on our open studio dates: November 7 and December 5 from 12:30pm – 5:30pm. Not in New York City? No problem! We’ll keep you updated with pictures, videos, and blog posts from the artists themselves. So, stay tuned!
When you look closely at a favorite portrait or landscape, have you ever imagined the story behind it? What the characters would tell you if they could speak? What the artist had in mind when he or she chose that particular view?
