Artist Goals, Rock Stars and Relationships
Goals may be long term, but knowing this early may help you make the right connections along the way to lead to eventual breaks. For all people no matter what your career path, but especially artists, so we will frame this post in that scope. Let’s focus on mid-career visual artists who want to make moves to advance. Relationships are key. Of course your work and your story have to be exceptionally compelling to earn a place, it’s the first step to getting eyes on your work. Being strategic about your exhibitions and preparations is important. The work you choose to exhibit, the number of times you show a piece to the same audience, the research you do about the organization and the jurors in preparation for a call-for-art all matter. Participation in live gallery shows, belonging to art associations in your city and other towns are also key ways to get connected to your community and forge relationships. All the while, the long term plans can be accentuated with other exhibitions that bolster your efforts on the ground. You are only one person and running your art business takes place when you are not making art. You can increase your efforts by budgeting small amounts to key accessible exhibitions. Miles and money are no longer part of the equation. Savvy artists are using online exhibitions to gain followers and expand their reach.
Participation in virtual exhibitions are another way to show your work with very little expense. You can show work that you have already sold in most cases. Sharing your work in the digital space across thousands of miles for a low barrier to entry is a strategic way to expand your network and capitalize on a new audience viewing your work for the first time. Your community knows your work, has seen it all over the years, so stepping out of that circle into unbridled territory is a fabulous way to introduce new people to your work. Insular and siloed existences are not going to benefit you. Take an emerging rock band for example. They set up a tour in America in all 50 states, making the rounds and getting each location fired up, falling in love with them. The next year, they release a full album. Boom. This strategy mirrors how visual artists can engage with diverse audiences before a major exhibition. Just as a rock band can reach a broader fan base by performing in every state, artists can benefit from showing their work in various locations, embracing grassroots efforts to build an audience and a brand. Showing work at smaller or less traditional venues allows artists to gain direct feedback, test new ideas, and expand their networks outside the confines of a single exhibition space and a single group of people. This approach supports authentic connections and creates anticipation and familiarity, much like a band touring widely. For artists and musicians alike, the grassroots model showcases adaptability and resilience and leverages personal interaction as a way to form long-lasting connections with audiences. We talk about your network and advancing your career based on solid relationships and the act of networking. What are you doing to expand your circle and attract new people?
Sally Stanton, The Burden of Gravity, 24 × 48 inches. On view in GATHER our virtual exhibition about to drop.
GOALS & CONSTANT LEARNING FROM THE ROCK STARS
Theoretically, you have a list of goals and each year you shoot for the goals on that list, but the master list, the one for your all-time career goals seems elusive and far off. Are you taking the steps to bring those event closer to you so you can attain them? We want to help you exhibit in the exhibitions you really want. The first step is investing in your close circle of professional friends that have like-minded goals. You may or may not live near each other. Perhaps starting a small salon group that meets once a month to discuss professional dilemmas and successes. Like a book club, but for artists, you could have time set aside for critiques and reviews, but also discuss the trouble you face and work through solutions with the other folks. You also have to contribute positive vibes to your group and always leave them happier when you leave. There are some members of groups that are soul suckers and you want to be aware of them. Include them for the reasons you have but remember to keep your boundaries clear. We recommend invite older and younger artists at different levels of their career to keep it interesting. Watch the people who are getting exhibitions and grants that you aspire to earn. One hundred percent of the time, they are working their tails off behind the scenes to make this “magic” happen for themselves. They are hustlers that take risks. You may never know how many nos they get to the yeses, but you see them moving and shaking. It is not as easy as it looks. They are putting the work in and know the ropes. Learn, listen and apply best practices that you see working.
OPEN STUDIOS
Invite people to your studio for a visit, a meeting or for an open studio. Allow people into your world, where you most likely hibernate in private and the stillness of your own surroundings. Let their energy come sweeping through your creative space. Take in what they have to say. Listen intently to what they notice and comment on, positives and negatives. Take it all into your vortex of creativity and spin it around. This energy will bring in a new perspective when you return to that place. Repeat this practice of having people in your studio space to get used to them talking about your work and your space. Create a familiar place for them. Open studios that bring in strangers often expand your networks when people discover your work. Every single encounter you have could be a potential admirer of your work. They may not buy that day or the next or even for years, but nurturing relationships with people that love your work is invaluable. You also never know who is going to spend money on one of your pieces. Never ever underestimate anyone looking at your work. Give everyone the care and service that you give to seemingly “Mr. and Mrs. Joe Pro Art Collector” vibe people that walk in your space. Every single person deserves your undivided attention. You never know, kids.
Juniper Rag has a virtual existence tethered by in-person human connections.
RESEARCH, CONNECT & COLLABORATE
Research galleries and curators and visit them if you can. Never apply for a show without looking up the juror or curators. Attend openings, no matter how much of an introvert you are. The pain is real, but get over it. Forging relationships with people in these places can enliven your world. This is their passion. For Payal and myself, the work we do at Juniper Rag is a pure labor of love. We work so hard to plan compelling exhibitions that keep artists moving forward and showing work that matters. Meeting artist that we admire is an extraordinary gift. We try to build relationships with as many artists from each exhibition that we can. Studio visits are a highlight of our job. There are a few ways that you can think about inviting friends, folks like us, curators or gallerists to your studio. The obvious reasons to invite people is the power of the collaboration that can fire up. Any visitor wants to see the story, the truth, the process and the physical surroundings that facilitate your artwork. Studio visits are like seeing the internal world, the imagination of the artist. If you are fortunate to have a working artist studio, you are the envy of all the artists working out of their bedrooms, a spare room or in my case, the boiler room of our basement. Invite with intention and let the magic and conversation happen. If your visitors do not mind photos or video, capture some content for your social media.
Make the most of your relationships and always think about what the viewer may believe is important about your invitation. What will it do for them? Tell your story, it makes your work compelling, but make it worth their while and their time. Explain your processes, especially unique ways you set your work apart and show some intimate and exceptional bits about you that they may not know about. Modesty and confidence go a long way, but don’t forget your shine. Not too bright as to blind them and make them run for the hills. For curators, they are looking to discover work that will make them shine as well. Your body of work could be a powerful exhibition for the curator whose career choices align with the work you create. You have to figure out how to present and explain your work so that they see the connections and the possibilities. Be it as it may, they could also be looking for the next big project to ensure their place in their world. Think like a curator, see the intricate and stirring aspects of your work that would move an audience and impact their thoughts. What is the emotional quotient of your work? It has to move people in order to attract people. Something has to click.
Before you invite curators and gallerists, you should do some homework, know what to say to them, and when it’s appropriate to approach them. Many artists struggle with writing their bios and statements, so we understand that befriending and writing to curators and gallerists has to be handled with care. Never invite an important viewer to your studio unless you are fully prepared and have nuanced your pitch, unless of course you are lucky enough to have a personal relationship established and there is ground to walk on. You pretty much have one chance to swoon your intended viewer and that is a lot to figure out when you write a short bit of correspondence to invite them. The language you choose is very important and should be short and to the point, persuasive and refined.
IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES
There are so many ways artists can leverage their experiences into more opportunities. Knowing how to nuance meetings, engagements and exhibitions to generate momentum and content is very important. A virtual exhibition with Juniper Rag showing your work on our website and in our social can become so much more if you use the opportunity and the relationship.
✅ Leverage your relationships, career success and exhibitions into more opportunities.
✅ Earn positive confirmations for studio visits from key stakeholders in your community.
✅ Feel confident about all your written communication, bios and statements.
✅ Realize that you are in control of your career and give yourself agency and permission.
✅ Think of your viewer or curator by using clear and concise language for any common request you need to make, giving the recipient the answers to obvious questions they may have.
✅ Make your list of long and short term goals for the new year, formulate a plan to attain them and get to work.
AUTHENTICITY & BRAND BUILDING
Building a powerful network of real connections, engaging in studio visits and having constructive conversations, and participating your community and in virtual exhibitions through platforms like Juniper Rag provide visual artists with a unique advantage to expand their reach and deepen key relationships. A strong network introduces artists to curators, collectors, and collaborators, who can offer support, share insights, and create future opportunities. Studio visits add a really personal dimension, allowing artists to showcase their private spaces, creative process and form authentic relationships with visitors, often resulting in word-of-mouth promotion that strengthens their grassroots foundation. Virtual exhibitions on innovative platforms further amplify an artist’s presence, breaking geographic boundaries to connect with a global audience. By combining these in-person and virtual networking and engagement strategies with concrete goals—such as increasing online visibility, gaining critical feedback, or securing specific exhibitions—artists can transform grassroots efforts into sustained growth. Submit your work. Apply for big exhibitions. Do what you can to expand your reach. This approach leverages both local and digital spaces, creating a more resilient and widely recognized artistic presence.
