Artist Trust gives a career EDGE to creative professionals -- Career Center Blog

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October 18, 2011

Artist Trust gives a career EDGE to creative professionals

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By Randy Woods
NWjobs

For many people, the idea of "being an artist" often runs counter to the concept of "having a career." This is one stereotype that does have at least some basis in fact: Most artists I've met are extremely talented and wonderful people, but they aren't exactly Bill Gates when it comes to running a successful business -- or even writing a simple business plan.

Amy Nagaichouk, however, says this doesn't have to be the case. As manager of the Creative Career Center at the Seattle-based nonprofit Artist Trust, her goal is to help nurture the careers of creative professional by teaching them basic business principles. For a $45 membership fee, Artist Trust, now in its 25th year, caters to those in the visual, performing, media, literary and interdisciplinary arts, providing a peer-review process to help win financial grants, as well as professional information resources.

One of Artist Trust's main teaching tools is a seven-week course called the EDGE Professional Development Program, designed for visual artists, writers and filmmakers based in Washington state. Held in two parts, called "cycles" (the most recent was held in August and September), the EDGE program offers hands-on, interactive workshops, professional instruction, networking opportunities, specialized presentations and panel discussions about building entrepreneurial skills for about 15 to 16 selected local artists at a time.

The course is often an eye-opener for students. "Usually this is the first time the artists have done anything like writing a business plan," Nagaichouk says. "They are mostly just concentrating on making art."

Niki Sherey, a mixed-media artist who combines painting and photography, recently completed this summer's EDGE Visual Arts program. She was particularly impressed with the lawyers and other guest speakers who helped walk the students through business issues, such as taxes, insurance, licensing and copyrights.

"It's probably worth about three times what they charge," Sherey says of the EDGE program. "I had never learned anything about running a business before. Every one of the speakers were good at saying that art is a business. They get you in the practice of writing a budget and taking yourself seriously. They showed us alternative ways to sell things, including looking for shows out of state."

Because many art galleries are closing down across Seattle due to the economy, artists are losing these long-established networking connections and so must rely on their own online marketing efforts, Nagaichouk explains."The program can teach you the necessary things you have to do to get your portfolio ready," she says. "These days, it's all about how good a marketer you are."

"I learned how to see what it's like on the other side of receiving portfolios," says Seattle sculptor and metalworker Heidi Wastweet, another of this year's EDGE Visual Arts program grads. "I saw how you need to be very brief and to the point, and to move away from 'arts-speak.'"

Artist Trust charges $545 for each EDGE cycle, plus another $250 for lodging and food at the second cycle, which is a week-long intensive course that ends in a presentation of the students' work before a panel of experts. Last year, about 100 people applied to the EDGE program, Nagaichouk says. To date, about 420 artists have gone through the program.

Competition to get into the EDGE program is tight, but it appears to be worth the effort, professionally. Wastweet says her commissions already are going up, especially in fine-art. Sherey says she recently landed a commission in which she charged a higher price that was more in line with the rest of the market.

"There's a real lack of this sort of instruction for artists," Wastweet adds. "I've had many apprentices come to me and lament that they had no education in business. It really goes against our natural brain function as artists."

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.