Too many artist, Not enough Opportunities
At what point should an art organization stop taking
applications to improve the chances for an artist to get an acceptance letter
rather than a rejection? With a note saying…”after receiving 705 application you were not selected.”
At $ 57 per applicant
x 705… come on!!!! is this how they fund one artist? It has been made clear
that the art world is over saturated with artist and not enough opportunities
available to support them.
When are we, artist, going to make art organizations
responsible and ethical? I say we stop sending in applications that have a high
fee, make it free! Close the application at 100, give artist better chances to
be selected!
Two of the many rejection letters after hundreds of
applicants have submitted.
“Dear Applicant:
Thank you for applying to the Fine Arts Work Center’s
2016-2017 Fellowship season. The Visual Arts Committee pre-jury recently met in
New York City to select the finalists. We received 705 applications and only 46
applicants advance.”
“Dear Nayda,
Thank you so much for your application to the Sustainable
Arts Foundation.
In this round, turnout was again very high: over 1,100
writers and artists submitted their portfolios, an intense demand which drives
our mission…”
It is of no surprise why artist Brainard Carey author of Making it in the art world, has been
helping artist for more than 5 years. Encouraging artist to break the mold,
attempt different things, and take matters into their own hands. Carey
publishes an educational newsletter to develop the professional careers of
artists and produces a number of online courses to do the same.
Graduate school sends artist out into the art world with a
pat on the back, Good Luck! let us know how you do!
Things learned outside of graduate school; through
professional development programs, like Assets for Artists here in MA and other
artists guide tips, here is what I have learned.
1.
Decide on what you want, set a Goal
2.
Action, What can you do to meet that goal? What are
the steps it takes? Write them down
3.
How long could it take to reach this goal
4.
Get you Shit together, high quality images, CV,
Artist resume, website, cards, etc
Easier said than done! All these steps require invested time
and attention. How bad do you want it?
