Advance your practice
Explore a collection of selected resources to advance the careers of new, emerging, and established artists.
MassMOCA’s Assets for Artists programs offer ongoing in-person and on-line workshops on the topics below, many of which are available freely to artists across Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
ArtsWorcester artist members hear first about A4A online workshops. Visit Assets for Artists to see what resources are available to you now.
We thank the Melvin S. Cutler Charitable Foundation and the Greater Worcester Community Foundation for their support of these efforts.
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Writing an artist statement
- How to write an artist statement – The Creative Independent
- 5 Tips for Writing an Artist Statement from Artwork Archive
- How Do I Write Successfully About My Art Practice? from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- This source from The Art League provides multiple examples of artist statements.
- 10 Artist Statement Examples from Contemporary Artists - Or, watch this (~45 minute long) video on artist statements. It includes a slideshow section so you can follow along at your own pace. Under the video are succinct bullet points detailing the important points of the video.
Image: Dana Mendes, Translating Identity: Racial Imposter Syndrome
Accounting and taxes
- Check out Clara Lieu’s business curriculum on her Art Prof website.
- The Creative Independent is a free-to-use source for creatives. All of the posts are by working artists that aim to share their experience and wisdom to help young or new artists.
- A Short Guide to Doing Your Taxes as an Artist
- Taxes for freelancers, artists, writers and psychotherapists
- Bookkeeping Tips for Artists - This source specifically discusses bookkeeping and details by quarter what artists should do to maintain their books. The post concludes with several other sources on taxes and other business practices.
- IndieMade's Top 10 Accounting Tips - This step-by-step guide gets straight to the point. All of the applications that she lists are accessible and easy to grasp.
- Accounting: The Art of Record Keeping for Artists - This source details tax deductions that artists can claim on their tax forms when they go to file their taxes, and lists deductions.
Writing a business plan
- MassMOCA’s Assets for Artists
- How to Create Your Art Business Plan by Renee Phillips
- An Artist's Guide to Making a Business Plan in Just 6 Steps
- Business Plans for Artists: What Every Artist Should Know
Image: Keri Anderson, Fortify These Notions (detail)
Copyright and intellectual property
- An Artist’s Guide to Copyrights
- Artists' Rights 101 - This source details different types of copyright, including the rights that artists have to their work and how to enforce those rights.
- Clara Lieu’s Copyright Law for Artists: Fair Use & Protecting Your ART
- Copyright Law for Artists with a Lawyer
Image: Chelsea Bradway, Speed Reading
Social media for artists
- 4 Artists Share Tips for Using Instagram to Grow Your Art Practice
- The 9 Best Social Media Platforms and Tools for Emerging Artists - Nine platforms that artists can use to promote their art. With each listing, the site details the usefulness of each platform, and tools artists can use to maximize their overall impact on it.
- Best Social Media Options for Artists - A discussion of five different social media sites that goes into greater detail about the pros and cons of each. The author tends towards the personal, but he also discusses actual artists and their experiences as well.
Photographing your art
- ArtsWorcester has compiled a single page of tips for photographing your work.
- CaFÉ: How to Photograph Your Artwork
- Maryland Institute College of Art Career Resources: How to Photograph 3D Art (video)
- Cleveland Institute of Art: Tips for Photographing Your Portfolio
- 9 Common Mistakes when Photographing your Artwork with an iPhone (and how to fix them)
- How to Photograph Your Art Using Simple Lighting and Camera Techniques
- Basics from Empty Easels, with a few useful diagrams for camera angles
Framing and presenting your art
- Budget Framing Options for Artists - This page features a video (~ 45 minutes) about affordable ways to frame your artwork. Bullet points summarize the topics that are discussed in the video.
- Framing and Presentation Guidelines from The Art League
- Framing and Gallery Wrapping for Professional Exhibitions from Agora Gallery (NYC)
- Framing for Art Competitions and Open Exhibitions
Image courtesy of the Fitchburg Art Museum
Fine Art Dispersal Resources: What Should We Do With All This Art?
Guidance for artists and collectors
Whether for a move or estate planning, the question of "what should we do with the art?" is one we hear all the time--and one that every artist and collector will have to answer eventually.
Artist member Larry DeJong volunteered to help figure it out. Drawing on months of research and in-depth interviews with regional experts, he created this user-friendly, reality-based guide to the dispersal of a fine art collection. Whether you're thinking about downsizing, have a collection that was left to you, or want to know what kind of studio records will help your next-of-kin, "Art Ashes" is his gift to this community.
While we send this resource out to our members first, Larry invites you to share it far and wide with anyone you think will benefit. He also invites you to share with him your experiences and any input for future editions at fineartdispersal@gmail.com.
We thank Larry for considering those questions few want to contemplate, and all his hard work on this resource.
This document gives you some basic options for dispersing a collection, their pros and cons, and requirements. It is not intended to substitute for the advice of an attorney, estate planner, or tax advisor.
Finding opportunities to show your work
- Artist Grants, compiled by Art Prof - A comprehensive and extensive list of artist grant opportunities, broken down into specific categories by medium or vocation.
Here are some quick links you may want to check out to find additional calls for art:
- ArtSake, Mass Cultural Council's listings for calls for art in/around New England, updated weekly
- The "Discover" function on Submittable has thousands of creative opportunities, calls, fellowships, grants, and more
- The Worcester Arts Council (WAC) is a municipal body, supported through the MCC. The WAC promotes excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences through grants and artist opportunities.
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Exhibit and sell art in the galleries, improve your skills, meet fellow artists, and learn more about the local art scene. Artist membership is open to all. /// LEARN MORE