Saturday, March 19, 2016

Not Enough Artist Opportunities


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?