Professional Practices for the Visual Artist

SP 15 GRADUATE SEMINAR - ART 6897
Tuesday/Thursday - Per. 6-7 (12:50-2:45pm), FAC 102
Office Hours – FAD 223, Mondays - 11:30am – 12:30pm
Or by appointment
Lisa Iglesias
Liglesias@arts.ufl.edu
SP 2015 - PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES:
Preparation for the artist now and after graduation
Texts:
ART 6897 COLLECTION OF ARTICLES (photocopied, provided)
Suggested Texts Include:
• The Practical Handbook for the Emerging Artist, Margaret Lazzari
• Writing for the Visual Arts, Mashey Bernstein, George Yatchisin
• The Artist’s Guide: How to make a living doing what you love, Jackie Battenfield
• The Grove Book of Art Writing, Edited by Martin Gayford and Karen Wright
• Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists’ Writings, Edited by
Kristine Stiles and Peter Selz
Syllabus subject to change by the Professor
Through lectures, individual meetings, field trips, discussions, writing, and presentations
you will develop the skills necessary to participate in various existing art worlds now and
after graduation. You will develop your writing and communicating skills in order to express
your concepts clearly and develop your written creative voice. Other topics include:
delivering an artist’s presentation, resume preparation, writing an artist’s statement, artist
bio, and cover letters, exposure of work in various platforms, grant writing, applying for
artist residencies, and career opportunities. Particular attention is paid to the development
of your professional and promotional materials.
Objectives:
1. To think of yourself and practice as a professional artist NOW, not after you graduate.
2. Better inform you about the commodity and theoretical systems surrounding art practice.
3. Help you to better prepare your promotional material.
4. Conduct market research surrounding your goals and objectives as artists.
5. Conceive a plan of action as well as considering alternative options.
6. Exercise your abilities to communicate your artwork in written and oral forms.
7. To consider the several facets of maintaining a sustainable studio practice.
8. To prepare to most effectively apply and secure creative opportunities.
This course has been designed in reflection of my personal experiences and with the advice of various
colleagues. There is no road map for success in our career, so take the suggestions and
encouragements I provide with a grain of salt.
GRADUATE SEMINAR - ART 6897 - Pg. 2
Lisa Iglesias
Course Structure
This course will consist of a series of presentations, lectures, field trips and discussions including:
A. Basic Professional Information: A series of presentations will focus on practical information intended to
help you in your future endeavors including: publicity, presentation, and marketing.
B. Student Presentations: Each student will be required to give presentations to the class.
C. Discussion and Information Sharing: Discussions and presentations addressing various issues facing the
artist today.
D. Guest Lectures and Field Trips: Presentations will be made by various members of the faculty, local artistic
and business community regarding their work and their relationship to the art world.
E. The Artist and the Market: We will examine how your field intersects with commerce, commodity and the
general market place.
Student Responsibilities
The success of this class will be based on your involvement in the class as a contributor and
participant of all aspects of the class.
1. Regular and prompt attendance. Your presence, participation, and contributions in the class are critical to
the success of this class. I will make every effort to adapt the class to your needs and address topics that
are of concern to you. However this requires your input! Please let me how the course can serve you
better. I will attempt to modify the content and structure to adapt to your needs. Please do not wait until
the class is over, by that time it's too late to benefit you.
2. Completion of all assignment and projects (see assignment description handouts) in timely fashion, to
the best of your abilities.
3. Performance and participation in the discussion, questioning and exchange sessions:
YOUR GRADES WILL BE BASED ON
The creativity, ambition, and quality of your performance in the following areas:
1. “State of the Arts Presentation” - form and content……. 10%
2. “Individual Presentation” - form and content….………….. 10%
3. Personal Web site……………………………….…..…………. 10%
4. Artist Interview Project…………………………………..…….. 10%
5. The “Egg Drop Project”………………………….……...……. 10%
6. Project Proposal Project ………………………………..……... 10%
7. Professional Portfolio Packet………………….……………….. 30%
8. Participation in the discussion sessions………………….….. 10%
Attendance & Participation
You are expected to attend and actively participate in ALL scheduled class sessions.
Excused Absences
Excused absences are for medical reasons and/or family emergencies and require documentation; medical
emergencies require a note from a doctor or nurse. You are allowed a maximum of three excused absences.
Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class session. Your participation grade will be negatively
affected by unexcused absences.
Lateness is arriving after roll call. If you are late three times it will be counted as an absence. It is your
responsibility to make sure that the professor has turned your absent mark into a lateness if you arrive after roll
call.
Lateness of more than 30 minutes or early departure is considered an absence. Sleeping in class, or working
on non-course related work during class is also considered a form of absence.
If there are any extenuating circumstances that make lateness and attendance an issue for you, please let me
know as soon as possible.
https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/attendance.aspx#absences
Grading
1. A: Extremely well presented exceptional work. Exceptional work demonstrates a full realization of the ideas
put forth in assignment, and more. This ‘extra’ should be the student researching projects by looking up artists
mentioned in slide talks, asking questions about artists works/ideas, and being thoroughly engaged with the
work to the point of working on your own pieces/ideas and not just doing the minimal expected from the class
syllabus. Further, participation in an intelligent analysis of the work including both form and content.
Discussing points in the work of you and your peers is expected during the critique sessions. Excellent
attendance (none or one absence per semester) and no lateness. Clearly projected enthusiasm and joy in the
subject, an inquisitive, curious mind, and, finally, a desire to learn and grow as an artist.
2. B: Well presented very good work. Very good work demonstrates a sound and competent realization of the
ideas put forth in each assignment. This work conveys an understanding and intelligence, which would only be
lacking in the ‘special’ characteristics mentioned in ‘A’, above. Participation in critique, attendance, and
enthusiasm apply throughout.
3. C: Well-presented, average work. Average work demonstrates a fairly good attempt at grasping the
expectations of each given assignment, and the break down of the particular specifics, (material
experimentation and handling, idea development, etc., whatever has been discussed prior to assignment).
This work lacks a competent, comprehensive understanding mentioned in ‘B’ above. Participation in critique,
attendance, and enthusiasm are expected, as they would be in the earning of any letter grade.
4. D: Inadequate work: Extremely poor and/or half-finished work with no care or attention to the assigned
problem or presentation. In addition, when someone has missed an enormous amount of classes, (three and
above) and has failed to complete assignments, or keep up to date with the studio-based syllabus.
5. E: When someone stops coming to class and stops communicating with instructor. This is a severe grade
and is usually given in severe circumstances.
Grading Scale
a 95-100, a- 94-90, b+ 89-87, b 86-84, b- 83-80, c+ 79-77, c 76-74, c- 73-70, d+ 69-67, d 66-64, d- 63-60, e 59-0
A: 4.0, A-: 3.67, B+:3.33, B:3.00, B-: 2.67, C+: 2.33, C: 2.00, C-: 1.67, D+: 1.33, D: 1.00, D-: .67
Galleries
In order to show your work or curate an exhibition locally you may have to think creatively. If there are no
open slots at 4Most or WARPhaus, consider launching an apartment show, professionally installing your work
in the student galleries (like those in FAD or FAC in sculpture) or presentation cases, etc. Check out the
website for the Bronx Blue Bedroom Project, an art venue run by artist Blanka Amezkua in 2008-2009:
http://www.bronxbbp.com/about.html for some inspiration.
Local venues for viewing include the University Gallery, the Focus Gallery, Grinter Gallery, the Samuel P. Harn
Museum of Art, Sante Fe Community College Gallery, Thomas Center Galleries and the venues below. You
are expected to attend as many art lectures as possible in the spirit of nurturing a creative community and
enhancing your professional experience at school.
See below for local galleries you may wish to consider visiting or pursuing an exhibition at:
Gallery Protocol: http://galleryprotocol.com
F.L.A. Gallery: http://rewildingfla.com
Display Gallery: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Display/128070390618851
MASS Visual Arts: http://massvisualarts.wordpress.com
The Wooly: http://www.woolydowntown.com
Hippodrome Art Gallery: artgallery@thehipp.org. http://thehipp.org/explore/art-gallery
Charlie Cummings Gallery: http://claylink.com/zen/index.php?main_page=index
Santa Fe Gallery: http://www.sfcollege.edu/finearts/gallery/
Oak Hall School Cofrin Gallery: http://www.oakhall.org/finearts
WARPhaus gallery: Contact Bethany Taylor, bwarp@ufl.edu , https://www.facebook.com/pages/WARPhausGallery/152065564891401
4Most Gallery: https://www.facebook.com/4MostGallery, 4MostGallery@arts.ufl.edu
This course will follow the Universities honesty policy regarding cheating and use of copyrighted
material.
Students with disabilities requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of
Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then
provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation.
Professional Practices Projects
The following are summaries of projects and assignments that you will successfully complete this semester. In
most cases, you will be provided with additional information and supplementary texts. Due dates are TBA.
Personal Art Presentation
At many times during your career you will be asked to organize and deliver a presentation on your
work. Called a lecture, artist talk, artist presentation, or otherwise, you will regularly be asked to speak about
your work in a gallery setting as part of an exhibition, at a university lecture hall if you are invited to be a
visiting artist, at a residency in collaboration with other fellows, or in other contexts. You will organize and
deliver a 10- minute Powerpoint style talk about your work and receive input from your colleagues and myself
in regards to the quality of your images, the flow of your talk, the structure of your narrative, etc. You will be
provided with tips on how to effectively develop your artist talk.
State of the Art Presentation
You will be required to share information and thoughts about what's going on in your field; who are
the artists of importance, who is popular, and who is "controversial" working in the contemporary art scene
today. Each of you will be required to collaborate and coordinate with your media area classmates to
research, prepare and present a Powerpoint style presentation to the class, on the assigned due date,
addressing contemporary artists and issues in your specific discipline.
The Egg Drop Project:
This project focuses on the necessity and sometimes calamity of shipping artwork. Though you may
start to use professional shipping companies as part of your practice, you will need to develop your
competency at packing and mailing your artwork yourself at times when it is not financially feasible to
outsource.
Bring a wieldy work of yours to class as if you are going to ship it to an exhibition. The work should be
representative of what you most regularly or usually show (i.e. ceramic sculpture/installation components if you
are an MFA candidate in the Ceramics Area). The work should be professionally wrapped and labeled. As a
class, we are going to perform the famous physics assignment – “The Egg Drop Project” with these packages.
You will be graded on the professional appearance of your package (both exterior and interior), the
communicative effects of your package (labeling, installation directions, etc.), and the economy of means with
which you package your artwork. The survival of your artwork through “The Egg Drop Project” is bare
minimum – if your artwork is damaged, you fail this assignment.
Artist Interview Project
In the contemporary art world, many artists blur the boundaries between artist, curator, writer, and
journalist. You will encounter many opportunities for exposure through interviews on blogs, podcasts, through
‘zines, and exhibition catalogs and pamphlets, etc. In this project, you will be paired with a colleague. The two
of you will take turns interviewing each other. This interview will then be posted online or printed out with
images. In consideration of a range of strategies (email, live recordings, etc), we will approach various models
of interviewing and will read and discuss provided examples. In addition, each student is responsible for
bringing to class a printed interview of an artist from their field. Some examples of printed or online matter
include BOMB, Art Forum, The Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, eFlux and more. Your project will be graded
based on the fulfillment of handing in the interview of another artist in their field, the quality of writing of both
student partners, the layout and design of the interview, and the success that is evidenced by the combination
of the layout and text.
Project Proposal Project
Teaching may not be your deepest passion and intended career choice. However, teaching workshops
at universities, non-profits, and museums can be a positive experience, an often necessary freelance option
and it builds your professional resume. Check out the organizations below, and their descriptions of artist
workshops, as well as the provided examples and write up your own workshop proposal.
Socrates Sculpture Park Workshops: http://socratessculpturepark.org/programs/all/
Brooklyn Museum of Art Workshops: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/education/gallery-studio/schedule.php
MACLA Workshops: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/contemporary-art-making-from-the-studio-to-the-streetswith-gwen-mercado-reyes-tickets-12840162271
Professional Portfolio Projects:
You will be handing in a final portfolio at the end of the semester that includes professional materials based
on your efforts throughout this class.
For example, you will develop your artist statement throughout the semester through multiple statement
assignments. For this particular facet of your practice, one of the exercises that you will be asked to do is to
bring to class three examples of artist statements that you admire. In addition, we will read supplementary
texts about the creation of artist statements like https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/papermonument/toward-a-history-and-future-of-the-artist-statement/.
In order to find artist statements you admire, you’ll have to read several. You can do this by scouting current
and past resident profiles at residency websites (good to do anyway when considering to apply yourself), by
reading the suggested texts, galleries, and artist websites.
Final Professional Portfolio: Due end of semester, date TBA.
o Website (with a simple domain name) & Professional Email Address
o General Cover Letter (a letter of introduction)
o Artist Statements – one paragraph version and one-page version
o Artist CV/Resume
o Artist Bio
o CD of at least fifteen images
o Image List with thumbnails
o Postcard, business card or other promotional material
o Numbered list of at least 20 opportunities that you archive for your professional organizing –
residencies, fellowships, grants, etc. with deadlines, websites and relevant information for applying.
o Professional Mailing List: Spread sheet with contact information – emails (and mailing address if
applicable) of at least 20 names in your community – this contact list will be important to develop for
when you begin to mail out exhibition announcements and news updates. You may print out an
exported contact list from MailChimp.com for example. For privacy reasons, you may choose to black
out part of the email addresses as you see fit.
o One or Two –person exhibition of your work or curating an exhibition (local, domestic, or international,
in any official gallery, apartment show, publicized happening, etc).
o Official press release for above exhibition
Apply for four opportunities in any of the following four opportunity categories and provide documentation
*(See resources below). You do not have to be accepted to the opportunity to fulfill this requirement:
o Solo or Group Exhibition entry documentation (does not include the solo exhibition criteria above)
o Residency application documentation
o Scholarship/Grant application documentation
o Viewing Program application documentation
* Documentation may include screen shots, cut and paste, scans, xeroxes, confirmation emails,
acceptance/rejection letters or emails, etc. Some online application programs, like Slideroom, allow you to
print out your application.
Non-exhaustive List of Suggested Resources:
Apply to a Residency:
http://www.transartists.org/m ap
http://www.resartis.org/en/residencies/
http://www.wooloo.org/open-call
http://www.nyfa.org/source/content/search/search.aspx?SA=1
http://www.verm ontstudiocenter.org/residencies/
http://www.atlanticcenterforthearts.org
http://source.nyfa.org/content/search/search.aspx?SA=1
http://libraries.cca.edu/learn/research/grants
Online Presence / Viewing Programs / Artist Registries / Flat File Programs:
http://hifructose.com /subm it/
http://www.wooloo.org/user/create-account
http://local-artists.org
http://paperdarts.org/subm it/
http://www.pierogi2000.com /about/flat-files/
http://www.artistsregistry.com /catalog/registration/artists_registration.php
http://www.southarts.org/site/c.guIYLaM RJxE/b.7505309/
http://www.artistportfoliom agazine.com /#!subm it-art/c1411
Apply for an exhibition/call for entry/juried show:
http://www.wooloo.org/open-call
http://www.nyfa.org/source/content/search/search.aspx?SA=1
http://www.newam ericanpaintings.com /com petitions
Apply for $$$$ - grant/scholarship
https://www.dso.ufl.edu/hom e/scholarships/uwc
https://www.dso.ufl.edu/hom e/scholarships
https://www.scholarships.com /financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-bym ajor/art-scholarships/
http://www.nyfa.org/source/content/search/search.aspx?SA=1
http://m cnairscholars.com /funding/
http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/education/scholarships/
http://www.ham pshire.edu/corc/16342.htm
http://www.leakycon.com /m akem agic/
http://www.adm issions.ufl.edu/scholarships.htm l
http://www.honors.ufl.edu/Honors-Program-Scholarships.aspx
http://www.arts.ufl.edu/resources/usp.aspx
W ebsites to view em erging artists’ work & read statem ents or bios:
http://sm ackm ellon.org/index.php/contact/current-artists/
http://www.lm cc.net/residencies/workspace/current_session
http://www.bem iscenter.org/residency/current_residents.htm l
Art Blogs/O nline M agazines/Videos:
http://eyelevelstudiovisits.tum blr.com
https://nplusonem ag.com
http://www.13waysoflookingatpainting.com
http://www.art21.org
http://hyperallergic.com
http://www.e-flux.com
http://ubu.com
http://www.coolhunting.com /video
http://www.twocoatsofpaint.com
MIAMI FIELD TRIP:
We will take a group field trip during the end of the semester exam week. This overnight trip is optional and
will be funded, extremely fun, informative, and inspiring. We will visit various collections including the De La
Cruz Collection as well as other sites of interest. Exam Week: April 25 – May 1, 2015 (Specific dates TBA).
EVALUATE YOUR PROFESSOR
Students are expected to give feedback on the quality of instruction in this course based on 10 criteria. These
evaluations are conducted online at https://evaluations.ufl.edu . Evaluations are typically open during the last
two or three weeks of the semester, but students will be given specific times when they are open. Summary
results of these assessments are available to students at http://evaluations.ufl.edu/results/.
CELL PHONES / PERSONAL ELECTRONICS:
Students must turn beepers and cell phones on silent mode during class. Students will not be permitted to use
personal music devices during class.
DEMEANOR POLICY:
Students are expected to assist in maintaining a classroom environment that is conducive to learning. In order
to assure that all students have the opportunity to gain from time spent in class, unless otherwise approved by
the instructor, students are prohibited from engaging in any form of distraction. Inappropriate behavior in the
classroom shall result, minimally, in a request to leave class and will negatively affect the course grade of the
offending student.
UF COUNSELING AND WELLNESS SERVICES:
University Counseling & Wellness Center: 3190 Radio Road, PO Box 112662, University of Florida, Gainesville,
FL, 32611-4100, (352) 392-1575, http://www.counseling.ufl.edu/cwc/
ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY:
http://itl.chem.ufl.edu/honor.html
ACCOMODATION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students office. The Dean
of Students will provide documentation to the student who will then provide this to the instructor when
requesting accommodation. The ADA office (www.ada.ufl.edu ) is located in Room 232 Stadium (phone 3927056 TDD 846-1046).