How do you get on the radar of the art world?

Take a look at the artists selected for the Artadia Awards, or for the Whitney Biennial, or for any prestigious art award. Even though many of these awards claim that they recognize “emerging artists,” the winners did not come out of the blue.  They were already on the radar of the art world.

To get on the radar, first think about your art.  

Artists  whose work combines conceptual clarity with innovation in materials are getting on the radar. In the last decade artists have been recognized and rewarded for breaking down, combining, and collapsing the boundaries of traditional media. Recently artists working on racial equality and social justice are receiving long overdue attention.

But don’t forget that what is considered new and interesting eventually becomes old, and then there is a reaction, a return to earlier traditions.    

If you want to get on the radar of the art world, start exactly where you are. Ask yourself, what is new and compelling about my work? What boundaries am I pushing? Consider your subject matter, your materials, and your technique, and identify your strengths.  

Where you live can also make a difference. Major urban areas are large in geography but function as small towns when they discover and promote artists. A group of critics and curators and gallerists go to the same events and talk to each other, creating a buzz that puts artists on the radar.

Now virtual art platforms have given us a more democratic space. Online art publications such as Colossal and Hyperallergic showcase artists from around the world, putting them on the radar no matter where they live.

Take a look at artists who are receiving such attention, and plan your next steps.

​​~ Mary

Mary Edwards, Ph.D
Career & Life Coach for Artists
“Left Brain Skills for Right Brained People”
Instagram: coachingforartists.maryedwards ​

The Big Art World has always been an irrational place, but it is especially chaotic right now, and I think you can take advantage of that. 

We know that traditional galleries are trying to be flexible, experimenting with hybrid forms, “art consultancies” and other attempts to broaden their reach. Artists are finding new opportunities for connection and community. (Check out the World of Co, where emerging and mid-career artists come together in an international online residency program.)  

When faced with so many changes, it is easy to get overwhelmed. You hesitate to act, afraid of not getting it right. The point is that there isn’t any right way anymore, and you need to experiment in order to move your career forward. It’s not the time to be careful, to worry about following the rules, since all the rules are changing.

Even if you’re not a gambler, you may have heard the term “double down.” It comes from the card game Blackjack, when you’re holding the cards you’ve been dealt and then ask for more, doubling your bet in the face of uncertainty.     

Look at your own cards, and ask for more. Do what feels risky to you. Make that phone call. Send the note. Ask for the favor. Sign up for the class. Go to the art opening. Raise your prices. Enter the show. Stop protecting yourself from possible rejection. Stop thinking of yourself as an artist with a fragile ego. Put yourself out there and see what happens.

When you take more risks you develop the ability to take more risks. Like any habit, you get better at it, you learn as you go and eventually you become more comfortable and skilled operating out there in this brave new art world. 

​​~ Mary

Mary Edwards, Ph.D
Career & Life Coach for Artists
“Left Brain Skills for Right Brained People”
Instagram: coachingforartists.maryedwards ​

Sometimes you need to have a conversation and don’t know how. You want to talk to a gallery director about submitting your work, or ask advice from a well-known curator, or get faster turnaround times from your website designer.

How do you have such conversations? First, have one with yourself. Be honest about what you are feeling and thinking, and try to separate the two. Strong feelings can get in the way of clear thinking, so first give voice to your frustrations by saying them out loud to an empty room. 

Be clear about the results you hope to achieve. Do you just want to be heard or are you trying to solve a problem? In the examples above, the artist wants to establish or improve a relationship, and that requires planning what you want to say. 

Don’t begin by explaining your own point of view. Ask good questions instead, and expect to spend at least half the time listening. For the examples above, here are some effective questions:

Artist to a gallery director:  “if you’re not accepting submissions,  what’s the best way for me to make my new work visible to you?”

To the curator: “can you give me a sense of what museums are looking for now?” or “what exhibitions are you working on?”

To the website designer, the best question might be: “what are some good days for me to get quick edits to you?”

Notice that all of these inquiries seek information, and suggest that you will be the one responsible for taking action. None is a complaint, but a genuine effort  to understand how the other person’s process works. In this way you open up the possibility of having an authentic conversation. By asking better questions you get better results. 

​​~ Mary

Mary Edwards, Ph.D
Career & Life Coach for Artists
“Left Brain Skills for Right Brained People”
Instagram: coachingforartists.maryedwards 

In the world according to social media, your personal narrative matters most. Instagram calls your profile “your story”; TikTok’s most popular videos document  a-day-in-your-life; Facebook constantly connects you with “friends” you don’t remember; YouTube’s name tells you what it’s all about.  

As an artist, when do you resist this pressure and when might it be a good idea to let down the barriers between your art and your life?  

There are many reasons to keep the barriers high. When you are juggling a day job and a family with an art career and barely have time to go to your studio in the garage, your best instinct is to keep your art practice separate from the rest of your life. But sometimes you might want to peek over the fence to see what opportunities might be lurking in your own back yard.   

Some artists have unusual stories that attract people to  their art. Davis Perkins’ remarkable landscape paintings become even more interesting when you know he started life as a smokejumper. When Kevin Keaney’s art was taken from his storage locker and auctioned off, serious art dealers discovered his talent. His gritty urban collages became more valuable, even to himself.     
  
While you may not have such a compelling story, your personal connections can create greater visibility for your art. Does your school or college have an alumni magazine that might publish an article about artist graduates? Does your church or club or library offer art talks for the public? Do you have neighbors who ought to be invited to your art events?

Your first buyers are often friends and family because they know you personally. Think about creating a similar bridge between your art and the rest of your world. It’s all part of your story. 

​~ Mary

Mary Edwards, Ph.D
Career & Life Coach for Artists
“Left Brain Skills for Right Brained People”
Instagram: coachingforartists.maryedwards 

If you’ve been trying and failing to keep up with the Crypto Art craze, it might be time to let yourself off the hook. Tech tycoons wandering in the metaverse have suddenly discovered that there’s real art you can buy and live with in your own home. It might even bring you joy.

​The New York Times recently reported that these tech billionaires found their way to the Miami Art Fair in December and fell in love with “physical art collecting.”  While they had only bought digital tokens of art (NFTs) before, they purchased real art that artists make. That development brings me joy. 

NFTs became a thing during the early days of the pandemic, when we were all stuck on screens. Investors could buy images, or tokens of art, and speculate with them using cryptocurrencies. Everything happened virtually, yet these digital marketplaces were modeled on traditional art venues, with galleries (called gateways) and even a Museum of Crypto Art. Gradually in-person Crypto Art exhibitions started to pop up, where you see images of art projected on the wall. Right now you can visit “Verse: the Art of the Future: an NFT Exhibit” in San Francisco. You put on a headset and holograms of art appear.

Yet real art has made a comeback. People suffering from the sensory deprivation of life on screens long for connection. We want real experiences instead of simulated ones, and there’s nothing like art to satisfy that hunger. The recent Frieze Art Fair in Los Angeles (an actual, in-person event) showed galleries full of fiber art, full of materiality, full of life.

The art world has always loved the new new thing, and now it seems that art itself is the new new thing, suddenly back in our lives. 

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​~ Mary

Mary Edwards, Ph.D
Career & Life Coach for Artists
“Left Brain Skills for Right Brained People”
Instagram: coachingforartists.maryedwards 

How do you develop confidence, that sustaining belief in yourself and your work that keeps you going over the long term?  You first need to get your work out there, to share it with others you trust.

When you keep your art in hiding, you waver between two illusions:  your work is the most brilliant art anyone has ever created, or it is completely worthless.  How you feel on a particular day determines which end of this teeter totter is up.

Oddly enough, you build confidence by opening yourself to criticism.  Without feedback you are trapped inside your own feelings, shifting between opposite illusions that keep you stuck.  It hardly matters whether your feelings are positive or negative, because they keep you in a fixed place.  By opening yourself to  other points of view, you begin to discover the difference between what you intended and what you were able to achieve.  This makes it possible for you to grow as an artist.   

When you are ready, share your art with others.  Choose people whose opinions you respect, including other artists.  You can also post your work on instagram, but it is harder to get detailed feedback that way.  Think about inviting people for a studio visit, or set up a virtual conversation where you share images.

When asking for feedback, prepare questions ahead of time.  Be clear about what you want to know.  If you’re looking for an overall response, ask “how would you describe the effect of my painting?”  If you’re looking for technical information, ask “does the scale of this sculpture seem right to you?”  Your questions will open up a conversation that helps you see your work in a new way.  

That clear-eyed view is the foundation of real confidence.
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