ARTS 715: Professional Studio Practices (updated: Mar 16, 2010)

Spring 2010, Wednesdays: 6 – 8:40 PM | Location: AB 111

David A. Parker | david (at) dpfa.net | 773.350.3024

How do you get your work – and your mind – ready for the “art world” that lies beyond graduation?  This course is designed to help prepare the MFA student for life as a professional artist.   We will address topics such as exhibition preparation, marketing & promotion (including low-cost innovations using social media and the internet), the artist presentation, the teaching dossier & interview, business practices, grant writing, and artmaking long-term. This course is designed to be an incubator of ideas, community support, and creative energy for committed students serious about their work. In order to integrate concepts with studio practice, we will follow a hybrid format of readings, student-led discussions, group studio critiques of student artwork, and visits to galleries and museums for valuable networking with curators, dealers and working artists.

Required texts:

Cay Lang, Taking the Leap: Building a Career as a Visual Artist, 2nd ed. (San Francisco: Chronicle Books) 2006; Don Thompson, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: the Curious Economics of Contemporary Art, Palgrave Macmillan (New York: 2008). Other readings to be handed out or posted online.

Class Requirements:

Show up & share. Basic professionalism. Do the readings, come to class, be on time, join the conversation, attend Chicago trip. 3 unexcused absences and you fail.

Presentation packet: Completion of professional presentation materials: resume, CV, artist statement, 2 sample images, website. Due by end of class.

Business Plan: final draft due by April 21.

Oral Presentation: elevator pitch, My Place in Art History: Including the movement or tradition from which your work stems (i. e. - Color Field painting; Vienna Actionists; Arte Povera, etc.), define the main thrust of the movement in a sentence or 2, then name 3 artists from that time who could be your antecedents, and 3 contemporary artists whose work can be directly, clearly and meaningfully compared to yours. Show how your work adds to the "conversation" started by these other figures. In-class PowerPoint presentation to include images. 5 to 10 minutes. Distribute copies of your artist statement to class for comment. Due: Week 5.

Written Assignment: Grant application: based on Creative Capital Foundation template, complete the document in support of your own project. Refer to Lazzari handout and your notes from grant presentation. Due by end of class.

Written Assignment: 25 Key People in My Art World: Assemble VIP list (names, contact info, brief bio) specific to your discipline and geographic area, noting why they are important. Minimum 30% should be writers/critics/curators. Due by end of class.

Working Timeline (subject to change, so check frequently)

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