The Business of Being an Artist
Lecture Series

Twice a year Visual Art Exchange presents its Business of Being an Artist series of lectures to educate visual artists and provide them with the tools to become successful. Our fall series was held on October 22^nd from 9:00a-4:30p, with time allotted for lunch and small breaks. This series featured 7 in-depth lectures from various local artists and art experts, along with shorter art talks. All lectures were held at William Peace University in Jones Lecture Hall in the Flowe Building.

A digital copy of the handouts provided can be seen below. Please feel free to email sarah.corpron @visualartexchange.org if you have any questions

Lecture Schedule

Creating and presenting a series

• Building a cohesive series. Speaker: Shana Dumont Garr, Assistant to the Director of Ackland Art Museum (www.ackland.org)
• Series handout
• Finding the right gallery fit and collaborating to sell your “series”. Speaker: Marty Baird, Artist & instructor at the Raleigh Institute of Contemporary Art (www.martybairdprojects.com) and Mary Kay Kennedy, Gallery Manager of the Mahler Fine Art & The Collectors Gallery (www.themahlerfineart.com)
• Photographing your series for portfolios and web. Speaker: Mary Kay Kennedy, Manager of The Mahler Fine Art & The Collectors Gallery (www.themahlerfineart.com)
• photographing art handout

Alternative art income options

• Festivals and art markets: how to establish yourself as an individual seller. Michelle Lyons: Artists & Owner of Peculiar Pets (peculiar-pets.com)
• festivals handout
• Grants and residencies: what they are and how to find them Speaker: Sarah Powers, Executive Director of Visual Art Exchange (www.visualartexchange.org)
• grants, etc. handout

Managing your art business

• Social Media Walkthrough. Speaker: Kestrel Lemen, Marketing Strategist for Bronto Software (bronto.com)
• social media handout
• Tax talk. Speaker: Alex Lehmann, CPA & Tax Manager, McMillan-Pate

PKN style presentations

• A 30min series of short lectures modeled after the PechaKucha Night style. The PKN segment will feature up to 4 speakers on various topics including artists’ testimonies, establishing an art-business minded community, and more. PKN style presentations will be held after the scheduled lunch break.