SURVIVING AS AN ARTIST
Learning from industry experts with The Fine Art Collective
Our global arts education programme, The Fine Art Collective, hosted an afternoon of discussions at the Colart Head Office in June.
The event was a fantastic opportunity for emerging artists to network with and learn from established artists and industry specialists. The evening revolved around three questions:
• What does professional practice mean for the fine artist?
• What is the range of possibilities that define employability for an artist in the current climate?
• What skills outside of their practice need to be developed?
The afternoon included a lively panel discussion with artists, educators, and curators who offered their insights to the audience. The panel included Juan Bolivar, Emma Talbot, Ian Monroe, David Mach, Stephen Beddoe, Doug Fishbone and Lucy Day.
The Fine Art Collective is practical and hands-on so the afternoon also offered some genuine advice from artists who have been working in the industry for a number of years. For artists who are navigating and negotiating life after university this is invaluable.
For example, Ian Monrose led a workshop on how to work with galleries and apply for new opportunities, which focussed on relationships with galleries and how to make a good proposal. With his vast and varied experience, David Mach discussed how to manage your own practice, especially in relation to working on ‘temporary’ and ‘site-specific’ artwork. And on a very practical note Doug Fish Bone explained what we can learn from transferable skills, how they can be reapplied, and how an artist can curate their own skills for opportunities.
About The Fine Art Collective
The Fine Art Collective is an artist led educational community in which students are given the opportunity to question and test innovative artist products. Through regular newsletters, students also receive articles exploring different techniques and mediums, providing a platform for them to seek solutions and ask questions about their own practice.
The community gives students the opportunity to exchange knowledge with other practicing artists, take advantage of special offers, and apply to a range of open calls and residency programmes. The Studio Building offers an exciting dialogue between art and science since its artists’ studios are located next door to our Innovation & Development laboratories.
We currently visit all the main art schools worldwide offering a series of lectures and workshops, which are designed to share knowledge about art materials and allow students to experiment with materials they might not usually come across in their studies.
The lectures are free to art colleges and universities where artists deliver talks on painting and their own materials practice. These lectures are followed by a hands-on demonstration session that focuses on all aspects of media, mediums surfaces and tools, including, pigment types, mediums, permanence/lightfastness and safer practice.
The aim of the lectures is to provide invaluable technical information on innovation and development raising awareness of the quality and integrity of how artwork is created.
There is time for students to ask questions about specific painting concerns for those who would like to discuss these further, which they always make full use of. We then give them free samples along with information about how to find out more about the products and opportunities.
To find out more visit The Fine Art Collective website.