Led by Houston artist and businessman Taft McWhorter, this presentation offers artists tips on how to take their art career to the next level.

1. Evolving Your Career:
Basic Business Skills for Visual Artists
Spacetaker ARC Workshop
led by Taft McWhorter

2. “Out on a limb... that's where
artists do their work. Not in the
safe places, but out there, in a
place where they might fail.”
- Seth Godin

3. “You will never leave where you
are until you decide where you
would rather be.”

4. Overall Vision & Goals
• What do you want to achieve with
your art?
• Full-time profession?
• Set a long-term goal.
– Write it down.
– What steps do you need to take to
accomplish this goal?
– Start on step one this week.

5. 2012 State of the Art Survey
http://www.xanadugallery.com/wordpress

6. 2012 State of the Art Survey
http://www.xanadugallery.com/wordpress

7. 2012 State of the Art Survey
http://www.xanadugallery.com/wordpress

8. 2012 State of the Art Survey
http://www.xanadugallery.com/wordpress

9. Evaluate Your Current Status Pt.
1
• Be honest about your current status.
• Are you painting every day?
• Are you ready to turn your hobby into a
career?
• Are you selling your work on a monthly
basis?
• Do you have an available body of work?
• Do you have high quality images of your
work?

10. Evaluate Your Current Status Pt.
2
• Do you have business cards?
• Do you have a website?
• Do you have an Artist Portfolio?
• Do you have a client contact list?
• Do you have a current bio and artist
statement?
• Do you check your email and voice
messages regularly and respond
promptly?

11. Presentation
• Look professional
• Style and ability must be up to par
• No ½” canvases
• Paint the sides or frame your work
• Pricing your work

12. Pricing your work
• Price based on what your market can bear
• Starting low is good ($100-$150 for 30”x40” piece).
Primary goal is to move your art so that
people are seeing it around
– You can easily create 40-50 collectors at a lower
price and then bump the price up once a year
as long as you’re continuing to sell
• Set your price per square inch
• Always be consistent with your pricing (don’t
charge one thing in one city and another in your home city).
• Remember art pricing is always negotiable

13. Marketing/Networking Pt. 1
• Networking is key
• Go to local art exhibits
• Meet artists and collectors
• Create a Top 10 list of people you want
to connect with
• Begin inviting these people to your
exhibits
• Donate your best work to auctions as
long as you get the buyer’s contact info

14. Marketing/Networking Pt. 2
• Web presence
– Website
– Social media (Facebook/Twitter)
• Other marketing avenues
– Spacetaker.org; Artshound.com;
Glasstire.com
• Primary goal: Build your “LIST”
• Additional goal: 2 meetings a week to
network

15. Exhibiting
• Exhibit as often as possible; when you send your
portfolio to galleries, the first thing they will look at is how often
and where you’ve exhibited
• Organize joint or group exhibits with other
artists
• Art markets, co-op galleries, vanity
galleries, restaurants & coffee
shops, Spacetaker’s ARC Gallery
• Look for representation by galleries in
other cities

16. Exhibiting pt. 2
• Cater to your “collectors”
• Organize small, invitation only
“Collector Parties”
• Ask your collectors to invite a guest
• Focus on getting to know your
collectors and utilizing them to grow
your circle

17. Submitting to Galleries
• Co-op Gallery
– Run by artists
– Usually pay a small fee and/or volunteer to be involved
– Usually 50/50 split
• Vanity Gallery
– Pay fee for wall space
– Usually 70% artist/30% gallery split
• Fine Art Gallery
– No fees
– 50/50 split

18. Your Portfolio
• Submit under gallery’s guidelines
• If there are no guidelines, include:
– Cover letter explaining your intention and professionalism
– Bio
• Artist Statement (3-4 sentences only)
• List of Exhibitions
• Gallery Representation
– A CD with 6 images that show a consistent style
– One or two recent PR clippings
– Any other marketing materials (catalog or small book of your work)
• Include a self-addressed stamped envelop so
they can return the submission
• Have the 6 pieces that you used for images on
the CD ready for shipping (do not use these
pieces for anything else).

19. Follow Up
• Call the day you mail your portfolio to let
gallery know it’s in the mail.
• Make follow up call 1 week after mailing to
make sure they’ve received your submission
– If not listed on gallery website, ask:
• Process for reviewing artist submissions
• Who makes the final decision
• Call/email every 3 weeks until you get an
answer

20. Getting Signed
• Read the contract. Consult with an attorney.
• Only agree to exclusivity with that city.
• Only agree to 50/50 split.
• Negotiate that the gallery pays 50% of shipping
to their city and 100% of shipping to your city.
• They should offer you a group exhibit within 12
months and solo exhibit within 24 months.
• Ship work immediately.
• Follow up to make sure work arrived safely.
• Follow up monthly to check on the status of
your work.

21. Never Stop Evolving
• Study with other artists
– Spend the day with a fellow artist
– Art Supply Dealer Demonstrations
– Art League of Houston
– Glassell School of Art, MFA
• Attend workshops
– Spacetaker
– Texas Accountants & Lawyers for the Arts
– Houston Arts Alliance
– UH Small Business Development Center
• Get an “Art Business” coach
– Open Studio Coach, Andrea Rosenfeld
– www.openstudiocoach.com

22. “Never let the fear of striking out
get in your way.”
- Babe Ruth

23. "A clear vision,
backed by definite plans,
gives you a tremendous feeling of
confidence and personal
power."
- Brian Tracy

24. "Smile, breathe and go slowly."
- Thich Nhat Hanh

25. Taft McWhorter
Taft McWhorter Fine Art
www.taftmcwhorterart.com