The Art Biz

Latest Episodes:

Impacting Artists First in a Curatorial Project Focusing on Empathy with Nanci Hersh (#168) Oct 26, 2023

Show notes

In this episode of The Art Biz I talk with Nanci Hersh about an exhibition she organized with 25 artists from multiple states and countries.

The show used the central theme of tears to explore empathy, compassion, and understanding within a sacred space—a metaphorical chapel. She says, as artists "we are so fortunate that we can use our art to make sense of life experiences."

Nanci and I discuss:

The ripple effect of art when it impacts the artist first.
The training she received to facilitate uncomfortable conversations.
The benefits of taking on such a big project and why it's important that it aligned with her values.
How the exhibition was paid for and ideas she has for improving funding options in the future.
How she stayed organized.
The importance of clear lines of communication, accepting help, and practicing gratitude.

⭐️ ABOUT NANCI HERSH

Nanci Hersh is a contemporary artist whose work is informed by the experiences, relationships, and places in her life. Her two-dimensional work, as well as her sculptures and installations, are at the intersection of personal narrative, art-making, and community engagement—exploring the grace, beauty and fragility of our lives.

Nanci is also a curator, illustrator, educator, arts advocate, and former Executive Director of the Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education. She has one foot in Pennsylvania and the other in Delaware.

🎧 RELATED EPISODES

The Art Biz ep. 160: Overcoming Anxiety about Making Art World Connections with Heather Beardsley

The Art Biz ep. 146: Remember The Many Opportunities We Have Because We're Online with Barbara Muir

The Art Biz ep. 30: Multi-State Multi-Year Multi-Artist Art Project with Marilyn Artus

The Art Biz ep. 64: Knit Democracy Together with Eve Jacobs-Carnahan

📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/empathy-hersh

🔶 Sponsored by The Art Biz Accelerator 🔶 a coaching group for strategies, support, and accountability inside a community of artists who get you. https://artbizsuccess.com/accelerator

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~

This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here's how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/

How to Have a Sale of Your Art and Feel Good About It (#167) Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

Dare you have a sale of your art?

I acknowledge that having a sale of original work might be unpalatable. It feels as if you are cheapening the work you put so much effort into. I get it.

In just the last episode of The Art Biz (#166), I talked with Bri Larson about the mindset around raising prices and why it was important to do so.

In this episode of The Art Biz I discuss the psychology and process around having a sale of your art or any products that you might sell. Products such as calendars, note cards, books, catalogs, or print

I cover 6 options for structuring a sale, although, as you'll see, promotion is probably a better word because not all of the options are about offering a discount.

I also outline additional steps to take around your sale.

Stick with me to the end and I'll share 3 mistakes you don't want to make when having a sale of your art.

📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/

🔶 Sponsored by The Art Biz Accelerator 🔶 a coaching group for strategies, support, and accountability inside a community of artists who get you. https://artbizsuccess.com/accelerator

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~

This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here's how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/

Raising Prices on Your Art, Valuing Community, and Balancing Motherhood with Bri Larson (#166) Oct 12, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, Bri Larson and I talk about her decision to raise her prices and how she overcame the mindset that her art needed to be affordable.

We also discuss:

The value of her artist community—how they have supported her growth as an artist and her journey into motherhood.
How she has been able to maintain a studio practice with a baby, including how she structures her days around the baby's schedule.
What kind of work she would give to a studio assistant and how she'll know when to hire.
The decision to focus on organic reach v. paid advertising online.
Bri's #1 piece of advice for would-be artist-parents.

🎧 RELATED EPISODES

Juggling parenthood also came up in these episodes:

The Art Biz ep. 162: She Knows Exactly How Much Her Art Income Will be Every Month with Kelly Pelfrey

The Art Biz ep. 84: Money Mindset Breakthrough Secrets with Lea K. Tawd

The Art Biz ep. 131: Injecting Personal Narrative into Your Art with Sara Lee Hughes

📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit

https://artbizsuccess.com/larson-raising-prices

⭐️ Connect with Bri and see more of her art: https://brilarson.com

🔶 Sponsored by The Art Biz Accelerator 🔶 a coaching group for strategies, support, and accountability inside a community of artists who get you. https://artbizsuccess.com/accelerator

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~

This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here's how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/

How to Feel Like a Successful Artist (#165) Oct 05, 2023

Show notes

There's no neat way to explain what success is because it's different for every artist. I hope this episode is the start of an ongoing conversation on the subject.

💡HIGHLIGHTS

Success for artists might include income (sales), exhibitions, leadership roles, achievements, collections, and studio production.
A few of the diverse stories of success from artist-guests of The Art Biz.
The importance of aligning the goals for your art and expectations of yourself with how you want your life to be.
Success requires you to be nimble—to adapt to changing circumstances and be open to risks and failures.
My best advice: Success doesn't happen all at once. It's the result of small wins, each of which must be acknowledged in order to stay motivated and focused on your vision.

📖 To read the complete transcript, see featured artists, and comment about the topic of success, visit artbizsuccess.com/feel-successful

🔶 Sponsored by The Art Biz Accelerator 🔶 a coaching group to support you as you follow your vision and take successful steps along the way. https://artbizsuccess.com/accelerator

🔶 Sponsored by the Create Opportunities Challenge 🔶 a 3-month program this fall to help you find and improve venues for showing, selling, and/or teaching art. It's about being intentional rather than waiting for an email in your inbox. Find out more and see if it's for you https://artbizsuccess.com/opportunities

🎧 MENTIONED EPISODES

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~

This is a special invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here's how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/

Maintaining Your Studio Practice with a Busy Teaching Schedule with Sally Hirst (#164) Sep 28, 2023

Show notes

Sally Hirst was born to teach.

Fortunately, she was also born an artist.

Like most of us, she adapted to the new reality that she was faced with at the beginning of the pandemic. Well, actually, she did more than adapt. She thrived. She took the challenge head on and has been thriving ever since.

Sally and I discuss what her income sources looked like before Covid and look like now. Specifically, we talk about her teaching:

The teaching platform she uses and why she chose it
The skills she had to acquire in order to teach online
Her video recording setup
What her teaching schedule looks like in terms of what is pre-recorded and what is live.
How she attracts new students.

Sally reveals how Brexit has impacted her goals—especially where she shows and sells her art.

And I wondered: How does Sally manage to maintain her studio practice with her busy teaching schedule?

📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit artbizsuccess.com/hirst-teaching

⭐️ Connect with Sally, see more of her art, and find out about her art courses: sallyhirst.co.uk

✴️ NOW AVAILABLE: THE MONEY PLAN

You do have some control (plenty, actually) over how much money you earn, and it starts with getting real about your current situation and the vision. you have.

The Money Plan is my success workshop for accelerating your income and it's now available on demand. In it, I lead you through a series of steps where you identify your income sources and set goals for how you will earn more from them. You'll be able to clearly see which are worth your time and attention.

The Money Plan gives you a realistic, though hopeful and challenging, blueprint for increasing your income in the future. It's a plan that only you could make with a tool that you will be able to reuse at every point in your art business.

Learn more and enroll now at artbizsuccess.com/moneyplan

🎧 RELATED EPISODES and POSTS

My Money Odyssey (ep. 161)

How Do Artists Make Money (ep. 159)

Creating a Monthly Report for Your Art Business (ep. 74)

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

Leaving Gallery Representation to Reach More Art Buyers with Adele Sypesteyn (remix) (#63) Sep 14, 2023

Show notes

This episode is a remix of episode 36 from 2019. It is such an inspiring interview that I wanted more people to hear it.

Adele Sypesteyn has been making a living from her art for four decades. Listen in as she takes us through her journey of selling her art, from the traditional process of applying to galleries to a more strategic approach that involved teaching herself about business and pivoting in the face of economic downturns. Adele also shares how she transitioned from galleries to the antique show in Round Top, Texas, where she made excellent connections with hundreds of interior designers.

Adele discussed testing a new concept for teaching art to children and shares her approach to teaching herself about business, especially during the recession. You'll hear about how she embraced the concept of viewing her art as a product, combining creativity with research to make her work more marketable.

Finally, Adele shares how she has adapted her income streams, shifting from relying on galleries to events and online classes. She talks about how she used YouTube as a lead magnet to grow her business and shares her strategy of going out where people are to learn what they want and need from her art.

🎧 RELATED EPISODES

Reinventing Your Art Career with Ali Cavanaugh (ep. 33)

Qualities Galleries Are Looking For in Their Artists with Jeremy Tessmer (ep. 123)

Leaving Behind What is Safe with Jan R. Carson (ep. 23)

📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/sypesteyn-leaving-galleries

⭐️ Connect with Adele and see more of her art: https://adelesypesteynstudio.com

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~

This is a special invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here's how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/

She Knows Exactly How Much Her Art Income Will be Every Month with Kelly Pelfrey (#162) Sep 07, 2023

Show notes

Lately, I've been diving into money on The Art Biz. As much as I do NOT want to talk about money, I know it's necessary. I also know it's more necessary for some artists to make money from their work than for others.

If you're lucky enough to have outside support for your art business—even if it's from a day job—count your blessings. Because the pressure on the work is real when you don't have that extra source of income, which is why I will continue to bring up the topic of money.

Let's continue the conversation in this episode.

Kelly Pelfrey's goal in 2020 was to replace her $50,000 teaching salary, but she quadrupled that. Her income has allowed her husband to leave his job to focus on his doctorate, feel comfortable about taking maternity leave, and save for college for her children.

Kelly shares her income sources, which are dominated by sales of commissions, followed distantly by releases of small paintings. She also sells art for TV screens, has a monthly print release, and a coffee table book.

Kelly obviously has the pulse of her best collectors. Her work is strong for sure, but I also believe that people are buying into Kelly's joy and optimism. When you hear her and detect that in her voice, I think you'll know what I mean.

📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit artbizsuccess.com/pelfrey-commissions

⭐️ Connect with Kelly and see more of her art: kellypelfrey.com

✴️ COMING UP: THE MONEY PLAN

If you aren't clear about where your money is coming from, I strongly encourage you to figure it out. It's only with that clarity that you can plan properly for the future. I can help with that.

Soon after the release of this episode I'll be leading The Money Plan artist success workshop. Seating at the live sessions of the workshop—where you can ask questions and interact with other artist-planners—will be limited, and there will also be a replay available. But if you want to attend live, you need to get on the interest list. You can hit pause right now and go to artbizsuccess.com/moneyplan to make sure you don't miss it.

🎧 RELATED EPISODES and POSTS

My Money Odyssey (ep. 161)

How Do Artists Make Money (ep. 159)

Creating a Monthly Report for Your Art Business (ep. 74)

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

My Money Odyssey and the Evolution of Art Biz Success with The Bottom Line (#161) Aug 30, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, I'm doing something different and sharing my money odyssey from an interview with Parker Stevenson of The Bottom Line podcast by Evolved Finance.

I reveal:

How my dad taught me to balance my checkbook (and how it was quite different from my mother's suggestion).
How I learned to ask for money by collecting money for charities as a little girl.
That I set the curve in my accounting classes at the University of Wyoming.
How I gamed the system to get cash because I knew the checks I was writing would take 8 days to process.
How little money I had when I quit my museum job to start my business.
How I came up with the income accelerator for artists, which I teach in The Money Plan success workshop and Create Opportunities.

⭐️ ABOUT The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance

The Bottom Line by Evolved Finance explores the financial journeys of some of the most successful educators, thought leaders, influencers, and service providers in the online space. Each week, Parker Stevenson sits down with a current Evolved Finance client to talk about their relationship with money and how their mindset has changed as their business has grown.

Parker is the Chief Business Officer at Evolved Finance, an accounting firm that specializes in helping online entrepreneurs to build more profitable and financially stable online businesses. They do all of the bookkeeping for Art Biz Success and I just love how professional their whole operation is.

They don't just do the books, they also go to great lengths to educate their clients.

🎧 RELATED EPISODES and POSTS

How Do Artists Make Money (ep. 159)

Is Being Too Cheap Hurting Your Art Business?

Creating a Monthly Report for Your Art Business (ep. 74)

🔶 Sponsored by The Money Plan 🔶 a success workshop for accelerating your income.

https://artbizsuccess.com/moneyplan

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~

This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here's how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/

Overcoming Anxiety about Making Art World Connections with Heather Beardsley (#160) Aug 24, 2023

Show notes

Heather Beardsley's art has been influenced by extensive travel and residencies in diverse cultures. This started with her year in Vienna as a Fulbright Scholar and then continued for several years until the pandemic shut down her residency in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Like everyone else, Heather had to pivot upon returning to the U.S. She used the downtime to her advantage by getting organized and shaping her career path.

In our conversation in this episode of The Art Biz, you'll hear how she managed to transform her social anxiety into opportunities—realizing that real growth could only happen when she overcame the urge to play it safe by sticking to open call entries.

Heather has learned to navigate the complex art world with intention while connecting with institutions and curators to propel her career.

She shares her experiences of the following:

Securing exhibition fees, grants, and residencies while managing expectations.
The importance of being organized and ready for opportunities.
Using Microsoft OneNote to organize opportunities and deadlines.
Building authentic relationships within the art world where so much can seem transactional.

You'll also hear about Heather's current solo show at the Chrysler Museum of Art and how it came about.

📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit artbizsuccess.com/beardsley-artworld-connections

⭐️ Connect with Heather and see more of her art: https://heatherbeardsley.com

✴️ COMING UP: THE MONEY PLAN

If you aren't clear about where your money is coming from, I strongly encourage you to figure it out. It's only with that clarity that you can plan properly for the future. I can help with that.

🎧 RELATED EPISODES

These episodes have exhibition venues as a primary focus:

Putting Artists First in Curatorial Projects with Melissa Messina (ep. 136)
A Married Life in Art: Sam Woolcott and Poe Dismuke (ep. 8)
Portrait Project and Museum Exhibition with Lisa Kovvuri (ep. 11)

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

How Do Artists Make Money (#159) Aug 17, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, I want to start a conversation about one of those things that can get in the way of feeling successful: Money.

In particular, I want to dive into income sources for artists.

Where does the money come from?

I discuss:

Why you might want to branch out and sell more than originals.
How to categorize your income sources so that you can better understand the possibilities.
How to analyze where the money has come from in the past so you can plan for the future.

📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, including the 3 videos 🎥 that will help you visualize this process, visit

https://artbizsuccess.com/podcast-money-plan

✴️ COMING UP: THE MONEY PLAN

If you aren't clear about where your money is coming from, I strongly encourage you to figure it out. It's only with that clarity that you can plan properly for the future. I can help with that.

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

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