Seminar: Professional Practice for the Visual Arts

South Africa Wed 24-11-2010

Seminar: Professional Practice for the Visual Arts
By a Correspondent

Being successful as a visual artist is not just about making good art. It takes a considered combination of delivering quality art, opportunity and astute management to turn a talent into a career.

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It’s an industry that does not come with a handbook nor is it governed by a set of criteria for success. Managing the sometimes complicated relationships and opportunities that it brings can be intimidating for new artists entering the market. Contrary to popular conception, opportunity doesn’t come knocking on the door of an artist who is closeted away in a studio waiting for inspiration to strike.

EPSAC Community Art Centre will be hosting Johannesburg based Artspace Gallery and consultancy Art Source South Africa who will conduct a seminar on professional practice for visual artists who want to learn how to effectively manage and direct their careers. This seminar is made possible through the support of the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund.

The seminars have been successfully run in Johannesburg, Pretoria & Cape Town. Due to demand we are pleased to offer this opportunity to Eastern Cape artists and members of the art community in the Port Elizabeth area.

The seminar asks artists to take decisions about themselves, their desired career path and their artistic objectives. It looks at how to set and achieve goals and what strategies need to be applied to successfully reach these. It will also talk to the business side of the art world and consider how to engage with this successfully.

Topics covered include:

1. Taking decisions on how to engage professionally outside of the studio

2. How to establish yourself as a professional artist

3. Defining a strategy related to your individual career plan

4. How to successfully build an artistic profile

5. The value of networks

6. Marketing yourself and your work to realise your objectives

7. How to increase and leverage the value of your work

8. Building a professional ethos in the South African art sector

9. The roles and responsibilities of the gallery or agent and the artist

10. The value of a well planned PR and marketing plan

11. How to engage with and manage the media

12. Art projects vs art exhibitions - the difference

13. Exhibition management and curation

14. The gallery system

15. Sales and pricing of artworks

16. Funding and sponsorship – the differences in approach

17. Mobilising resources

About the presenters:

Les Cohn

Art Source South Africa was established in 2001 by Les Cohn, a qualified artist and an experienced arts administrator and arts project consultant. She is well networked within the South African cultural sector. She specializes in strategic career management for artists

Teresa Lizamore

Over the past 27 years Teresa Lizamore has developed a sound career in the industry, as an art consultant, curator and gallerist. She consults for several major corporate collections and has been director of Artspace gallery for the past 8 years. She was the curator of the Sasol Art Collection for 27 years and currently curates the RMB Corporate Collection.

Taryn Cohn

Since 2002 she has worked in various capacities within the sphere of arts management and cultural marketing. Her areas of specialty include marketing and communications for art and development projects, financial management, project management and strategy.

Feedback from past participants:

“I was moved by your strength and drive, your incisive and motivating style has given me valuable insight into my own position as well as sensible guidance regarding my way forward.”

“Thank you for your informative and inspirational seminar. I liked your no-nonsense straightforward, but at the same time funny, warm and relaxed, style. As I said to you after the seminar, your enthusiasm is contagious! "

"What you bring to the industry is a level of quality and principle. Marketing art and finding a suitable support base is a serious business."

Where:
EPSAC Community Art Centre, 36 Bird Street, Port Elizabeth

When:
09h00- 17h30 on Saturday 27th , Sunday 28th and Monday 29 November 2010

Cost:
R 995-00 EPSAC Members
R 1195-00 non members
R 700-00 for students

Bursaries are availalbe at the discretion of EPSAC

Book:

EPSAC 041 585 3641

Email: manager@epsac.co.za

Programme for the seminar will be supplied upon confirmation of your booking.

Seats are limited so booking is essential!

Posted By: Hirum Ndungu

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