#makeartthinksmart

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work. - Gustave Flaubert

Most artists have a serious distaste for the topic of art and money. And most graduate art programs typically steer clear of the issue in order to keep artists free to create without the specter of the looming art market. But I’m proposing a different type of workshop about art and money that revolves around the relationship between an art gallery and the artist rather than about the art market.

This workshop is not about how to make money with your art or how to make your art more sellable or palatable.  This workshop is not about wealthy artists and how they achieved their success. This workshop is about understanding the dynamic between a gallery and an artist, i.e. what an artist should expect from a gallery and how to understand that representation without exploitation.

Some artists think it's okay if a gallery doesn't tell them who the work sold to, some artists have no idea that they can get production materials and labor reimbursed by the gallery, some artists don't know that they shouldn't have to pay for storage or labor costs for their exhibition, some artists don't know that galleries shouldn't charge them for equipment rental when showing their work at an art fair. There are numerous examples of financial and legal transgressions that happen every day between an artist and a gallery. This workshop is about protecting the artist, letting them know their rights, exposing that fine line between an artist, the gallery and money and helping them understand the unspoken industry standards.

The format of this workshop maps an artwork's trajectory through each step from its conception to collection.  By following the life cycle of an artwork from its creation in an artist's studio to the exhibition in an art gallery and finally to its sale into an art collection, this workshop breaks down the subtle relationship between the two entities, revealing the flow of information and the flow of cash with each transaction. This is the first workshop of its kind that deconstructs the relationship between artist and gallery by focusing on the nuanced financial and operational aspects of these interconnected worlds.