The Thriving Artist Podcast

Philip Koch, is a professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, specializing in landscape realism. He has also been a Clark Hulings Fund Grant Review Panelist for 3 years running. In this episode of the Thriving Artist Podcast, Philip talks about the significance of genre/style for an artistic career, and the business end (selling things) via galleries and dealers.Topics include:Crossing the abstract/realism divideGenre biases and reaching one's artistic/career potentialThe avante garde in light of its predecessorsEducation and the role of history and traditionGetting work into galleriesThe universal grammar of artBeing a panelist (and applying for a grant) at CHFListen now, or download and take this episode with you on your phone or mobile device. Philip's website is philipkoch.org and you can meet other members of the CHF grant review panel on our panel page.If you’re a working artist, feel free to visit our Grants page. If you’re an arts industry professional, collect

Elaine Grogan Luttrull is a CPA and founder of Minerva Financial Arts, a company that increases business and financial literacy for artists and arts organizations. She also runs the Business & Entrepreneurship department at Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. In this episode of the Thriving Artist Podcast, Elaine provides insights on the types of financial decisions that directly impact the purity of one's art!Topics include:The big financial questions (budgeting, pricing, taxes...)Tax issues artists faceHow do artists choose an entity type?Impacts of entity types (for taxes, health care types, creditworthiness)Overcoming the emotional barrier of art vs. business concernsThe “Starving Artist” stereotypeHow financial literacy impacts artistic purityWhat financial decisions say about an artistPricing of art: intrinsic value vs. commodityFinancial literacy as a path to more moneyListen now, or download and take this episode with you on your phone or mobile device. Also, read Elaine's recent

Jim Grace is an attorney for the arts, and Executive Director of the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston. One of their major programs is Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of Mass., which does free legal services for the arts including seminars on legal topics. Jim is also co-author of the Joan Mitchell Foundation's workbook on estate planning for artists. In this episode of the Thriving Artist Podcast, Jim provides insights for art collectors and artists on estate planning. It's OK to suffer for our art, but we don't want it to make others suffer. Some of the topics we must consider include:The importance of estate planning for visual artistsHealthcare proxies, living wills, and powers of attorneyGoals, options, and tools - not letting the tail wag the dogOptions for supporting causesArtist endowed foundationsWhat happens to your collection?Valuation of your art, including unfinished works in your inventory, formal appraisal, and tax consequencesWhat happens to your unfinished work?What about your

What started as a labor of love for someone's mother, became a modern tool for art collectors and visual artists. John Feustel is co-founder of Artwork Archive, a cloud-based tool for tracking art inventory and managing consignment records, sales info, and competition history. John's solution works on any device (phone, tablet, desktop) and takes the worry and hassle out of cataloging a visual artist or art collector's works/collection, while providing solid financial intelligence and even heat-map based location maps. "Galleries love artists that use Artwork Archive, because it makes the consignment paperwork so easy,' says Feustel.The Clark Hulings Fund is sponsoring discounted access to Artwork Archive. Says Elizabeth Hulings, founder of the fund, "I have looked at all kinds of ways to track my father's work, and I love this product. I'm migrating everything of Clark Hulings onto it." Because we at the fund feel so strongly that artists can maintain control over their own work only if they track it, A

P.A. Nisbet (pronounced "nesbit") is a painter of outdoor landscapes, based in Santa Fe, and this year he's a panelist at the Western Art Society's Quest for the West. Before his career in fine art, he was a commercial artists (illustration and graphic design). He's quoted as saying "no artist is going to survive without being a business person." In this episode of The Thriving Artist Podcast, he answers questions about the fundamental tension between being effective as an artist and effectiveness of growing and marketing a body of salable work.Topics include:Knowing your audienceBusiness best practicesCommercial viability vs. imitating commercial successThe tension between art as creation and art as business (distinct but inseparable)Artistic clarity - intrinsic personal vision as a component of commercial visibilityCollaborating effectively with galleriesDoing your own marketing vs. relying on galleriesQuantity of artists & its effect on gallery collaborationQuantity of work & its eff

Meredith Bergmann is an American Sculptor who both creates public monuments & sculpts on a private scale. She lives in NYC, and has created the Boston Women’s Memorial (2003), is currently working on the FDR Hope Memorial for Roosevelt Island, and has also created the 9/11 Memorial at Cathedral of St John the Divine. In this episode of the Thriving Artist Podcast, Meredith helps us understand what goes into managing large scale art projects. Topics include:The trials and tribulations of doing commissions, especially large public art onesManaging project scope, objectives, and expectationsDependency on 3rd parties (e.g. foundries)Contracts and payment by project milestones (not time)The financial side – getting paid in chunks without knowing how long each check is supposed to lastWhy do your best work even when the money isn’t there?“The biggest skill is not to panic.”Special issues sculptors face vs. other visual artist.Not being limited by genre biasesThe influence of m

Special Edition: 3rd Annual CHF Grant to Visual ArtistsElizabeth Hulings is daughter of Clark Hulings and Director of the Clark Hulings Foundation. In this episode of the Thriving Artist podcast, Elizabeth explains how to change the culture by funding, training, connecting, and equipping working artists. Topics include:Creating the Middle Class Artist (vs. stars and starvers)A “Kickstarter” for art and cultureWhy artists need capitalCharity vs. business development for artistsPatronage, not parentage – cutting out the middle manA big tent for artists – style agnosticismExchanging the expertise of artists and art industry professionalsWhy spread the word: Artists wanted!Elizabeth lets us see into the world of the working artist in this 22-minute episode, and explains what is needed to make thriving artists the norm. Grab the mp3 to listen on the train or the drive home.If you’re a working artist, feel free to visit our Grants page. If you’re an arts industry professional, collector, or

Shannon Linker is VP of the Arts Council of Indianapolis and is liaison on arts issues with organizations throughout Indianapolis. She also directs the Arts Council’s contemporary fine art Gallery – Gallery 924. In this episode of The Thriving Artist podcast, Shannon helps us understand how art communities are built and economies grow by funding and training the working artist. Topics include:How are arts councils faring with slimmer budgets and fewer galleriesThe crucial distinction between an art market and an art communityHow funding individual artists (not just arts organizations) impacts a communityHow working artists begin to thriveCritical blind spots and needed business skills that challenge working artistsThe artist as small business owner (accounting, copyright, legal issues, contracts)The stigma behind art as a businessHow arts councils facilitate collaboration between artists and art industry professionals (as well as the organization itself)For the artist: ingredients of effective art exhibitions

Watie (pronounced “Waddy”) White is a thriving American artist living in Omaha, Nebraska. whose works appear internationally in museum exhibitions and galleries as easily as the sides of building in public spaces. Watie creates public art and public-works related art and delivers business-oriented workshops for artists. In this episode of The Thriving Artist podcast, Watie reveals the inside realities of treating your art as a business rather than a martyrdom. Among the insights are:Who among artists gets business trainingThe advantages of smaller markets, and the importance of creating an artist community around youCreation vs. distribution, and how being an artist does not mean being a monkSelf-reliance and the artist’s identityStepping into the unknown with your careerThe allure of public art, and the ‘lurid truths’ of pulpCrossing boundaries, and interior vs. public expressionWatie’s initial marketing strategy and take on professional successThe myth of doing things differently and the significa

C.W. Mundy is a successful American impressionist painter who also routinely sells out enthusiastic workshops for professional artists. His spouse, Rebecca Mundy, is his business manager. Together, they live in Indianapolis where they’ve based their partnership and career. In this episode of The Thriving Artist podcast, the duo reveal the keys to their longevity as an art/business team and the secrets of C.W.’s reach and fame as a visual artist. We ask the Mundy’s about:The requirements for making a business out of one’s art: financial, collection tracking, marketing, fulfillment, communications, eventsThe role of teamwork and building brand recognitionHow the industry has evolved and the role of digital media, especially videoThe duty of successful artists to teach and the role of teaching in the creative processGallery divorces and the nexus of spirituality and artBucking the trend of flocking to the coasts or the temptation to join an artist colonyDefining success for yourself, and showing your art on your