Juneau Artist Career Forum April 10, 2014

Transcription

1 Juneau Artist Career Forum April 10, 2014 Participants 11 participants total, plus Jackie, Danielle, and Karen Participants included 2 family members of an artist with a disability, 5 artists with disabilities, 1 arts educator, 2 arts administrators at a disability agency, and 1 disability support staff. Business Skills for Artistic Endeavors Jackie Perry Question: Should someone price their work lower when they are just getting started? Answer: You don t want the perception of low value and it is hard to raise your price later Other discussion from the presentation: Naming your business is important and you don t want to limit yourself to one thing by naming your business around a specific process incase you decide to expand. There was a discussion on benefits and the importance of a benefits analysis. There is often a lot of misinformation around benefits and earnings so it is best to seek professional help. The Work Incentives Planning Assistance (WIPA) program can help pay for a benefits analysis as well as Vocational Rehabilitation. Places to think about for funding Arts and Humanity Council, Individual artist grants Pay attention to your audience. What is selling? Why is it selling? There is a fine line as the artists of getting bored with producing the same thing but it is what sells. One of the artists present shared that he has someone to help him with color choice and art theory Price point, trying to find a happy place where your at a good point where people will pay and so you sell more versus having such a high price that you only have a few buyers. Sometimes struggle with pricing and with donations. How to reach customers Trial and Error Website build your own or hire a web designer Press release Places online to sell work for free or small commission Social Media Facebook, Google+ Show at the Canvas in December gallery walk Stay in touch with customers

2 When you donate your work you always include promotional material business cards etc. Panel Discussion The panel consisted of the director of an arts program for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the Executive Director of the Alaska Arts Education Consortium, and an artist with a disability. Each panelist discussed their experience with the arts and also described an unwritten rule of success. Rules of success included persistence and balance art for sale and art for expression. Other topics that were discussed included linking careers and education in the arts, artistic expression as a means to cope with disability, and the need for business support and thinking like a businessperson. Question to panel What resources have you accessed as an artist or in assisting artists that have been helpful? Applying for grants, applied to Rasmuson and didn t get it but the feedback was helpful. She has received other grants. Other Artists are such a great resource, talking with other artists Help with finances and retirement, hiring a tax person has been worth it expenditures that made it worth it Question from Panelist - How do we identify resources and connect people to them? Member of juried art service database. List of Shows you can apply to, Café for the Pacific Northwest. Alaska State Council on the Arts newsletter. Artist match making to resources, roundtables of resources Question to Panel How to reach supports for arts? Canvas supports all levels of artist, place to sell work, pottery studio. Create environment for the arts. Broad Range of individuals in the arts. Sticky Note Exercise Challenges listed Business support and resources (9 Votes) process for receiving support is unclear, financial management resources, accessing and finding resources, transportation, assumption Parents can do that when it comes to the business end Space and places to sell (9 Votes) - finding places to sell artwork, need for more gallery space, there are more people downtown from the ships in the summer can we sell downtown? Art opportunities in schools (6 Votes) Understanding of arts market (5 Votes) How to know what will sell, pricing, what is the value, art undervalued by non- artists Balancing work to sell and work for yourself/expression (4 Votes)

3 Turning an artistic skill into a marketable product (4 Votes) Small community limits exposure (2 Votes) Developing a professional practice (2 Votes) mentors and feedback Struggling to set up business individually rather than collaboratively (1 Vote) Transition of support staff Having programs for artists especially art forms that are not widely popular Lack of good art schools in Juneau Discussion of Challenges Having arts opportunities in the schools Most art funding was cut in the 70s, so generations after that time don t have arts experience and lack of experience leads to lack of value for the arts. School groups coming to the Canvas Schools called canvas about the pottery studio and artist got paid for their time Momentum at statewide forum create statewide collaboration and support for the arts to lobby to government. Identifying benefits to art in schools and lobbying for it. Tried lobbying the school board to allow more art in the elementary schools, but they said they don t have any funding. It s a button you can t stop pushing Talking to legislature and highlight and connect to the visitor industry Key Campaign and PIP to support the arts Need a study with economic value. Research that can be used to help lobby. Juneau Economic Development Council study Accessing and Finding Resources Worked with AKSL to recognize Arts as an Industry on AKSL site Groups from previous forums in other states, Regional art groups connect with other artists, Canvas, Different arts organization can share information, Develop a website to share the resources and links start with the State Council on the Arts what resources are available, make it more accessible Determine economic value of canvas. People off the cruise ship who have family with disabilities will see the Canvas at Reach and walk in. People see artists work when traveling and are more likely to talk and engage First Friday at the JAC, Application process, have tables, music, food. It s not the best for tourism because they go back to the boats at night. Expensive to be downtown, would be good to have a tent or some space. Could have a certain time to set up tents and sell. The JAC is not where the tourists are. Parking garage at the library on Saturday? Heavy boat traffic is not on the weekends

4 There is an area with a lot of empty space near the tram who owns and how much do they charge? Convince them to allocate booths for a certain purpose. JAC interested in the Art on a Cart program, find a different way around the regulations. Artists need training in how to prepare for a show. Try to coach people on how to prepare for a show, how to get past the no Finding a place to sell art See above Understanding Art Market and How to Sell Figuring out a marketable product Exploring ways to create product more efficiently Discovering yourself, internship, find your niche Goes back to mentorship and feedback Group to brainstorm ideas, bring in a person from outside to provide mentorship and feedback on art. Maybe State Council could do it. We could have a Artist Start- Up weekend where people work on art skills and business skills, and get help with business plans Researching prices, look online, cost of materials, cost of labor Set up a group of mentors, Art Council event May 1-3 rd, Community of Artists Balance of Selling & Creating Need to feel a balance Study of famous artists commissioned and uncomissioned work judged by experts and all preferred the uncommissioned pieces. Kids need uncommisioned time and time to be creative. Important to balance need to be creative and need to have time to be creative, can t just focus on selling Pieces I create because I love them and other people love them, freedom in playing with new materials, good to have personal retreat to play. Self- employment in the arts vs. self- employment in a clothing store the difference is you are selling your passion. You have to have space to be passionate or you lose the art. Need to learn to talk about art the way it makes you feel, color, etc. Creative process kids learn early on, elementary kid all say I love art and at some point that stops, usually in Jr high or High School. They pick up insecurity about art. Wish we could encourage more abstract art in schools less inhibited. Training programs for artists Lack of art schools in Juneau Great art school at Canvas, University has some but not huge and it s expensive to attend, Juneau Fine arts camps for 7 th grade and under and it s expensive. Sense the value of art is not equivalent to soccer or other sport camps. Expand camps to high school. We live in a fishbowl would be nice to get art out there

5 Small community limits exposure Chose to live in Juneau because there were more opportunities as a young artist because communities are small and you have access For key campaign went to the capital to say We need this Higher than average art careers, lower than average spending in the arts Juneau is 2 nd most traveled place by cruise ship in the world Difficulty selling to tourists, mass produced goods seem more desirable. Jewelry stores offer discounts to cruise ships Business support and resources Business side for someone with a disability, especially DD, finding a bookkeeper and accountant. Need more affordable services, maybe get a group of artists and a package deal. At Reach can t take care of the business side. Need to make the business side accessible to artists ME grant program survey of recipients by UAA students. Maybe we could access the university for students to help with bookkeeping Maybe need a list of resources. Employment first initiative available resources and steps Ideas on how to best help people with disabilities get the business side figured out, out- of- the- box ideas, make it easy to run a business Affordable paid support Risk in business, 1 year of super discount for bookkeeping support or percent of total sales and change as the business grows Not in support of discount services, finding supplemental sources to help instead Need people who know the population