Art is a Business, and Artists Should Run It
The marketplace is changing—not just technology, but HOW art is marketed, bought, and sold. You, the Artist, are at the center of this. Take charge of your career, mesmerize your audience, maximize your extraordinary professional advantages, and Sell-Sell-Sell. This is going to be an amazing event. Tickets are on sale now.
Join Us for This Important Learning Event
Registration also includes Colleague-level access to CHF's Digital Learning Portal.
Price: $395
Attending the Art-Business Conference was one of the best investments of my time and resources I’ve made. I feel like the trajectory of my art career has changed because of it.
Bradley Reyes
Fine Art Painter
The Art-Business Conference gave my wholesale business the jumpstart it needed ... The workshops were informative, motivating and eye-opening. I recommend this event to all passionate artists who want to make a living doing what they love.
Alene Geed
Jewelry Designer
It’s like I’ve been waiting all my life for someone to say "this is how it’s done" rather than telling me to "paint my passion."
James Moore
Sculptor
The Art-Business Conference was extremely helpful and enlightening. I left with a wealth of knowledge and ongoing support from The Clark Hulings Fund, and they made sure I had a clear plan for moving forward.
Karlie Rosin
Illustrator
ArtServe
1350 East Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
FRI: AM
Shape Your Own Art Career
Check in at the desk, get hand-outs, ask questions now. Get coffee. Meet your fellow artists.
Elizabeth Hulings will open the Conference with an introduction to its purposes, hosts, speakers, and sponsoring organizations. She'll focus on the event's core assumptions: Art is a business, and artists should run it.
Carolyn and Elizabeth will overview the powerful changes in the market that set up the context for everything else we'll learn.
Get at your "why" and turn it into a clearly defined goal that advances your career and gets you more of what you want.
Build your art business plan. Good intentions are like crying babies; they should be carried out immediately. Goals without execution are a dime a dozen. Goals that get acted upon are the result of continually taking the next right step. Those are the ones we tell our grandkids about. This workshop helps you break down a pivotal goal into an action plan, so you can be relentless about always taking the next right step.
This is a great opportunity to bond with other artists. Be back on time!
FRI: PM
Deliver Your Powerful Message
Bring your business questions to our panel of experts (see below), who will give you quick answers, and also advise you on what questions you REALLY need to be asking and what answers you need to move forward.
Every artist is a brand, and every brand wants a wider audience. What defines a brand is a compelling brand story; that's not the same as a better bio, portfolio, or resume. Every story uses a universal arc or format that anyone can learn. YOUR creative story is unique—get past the artist bio trap and nail your story.
Nailing your brand story is one thing, but telling it is another. You don't tell it once. You tell it continuously, in different venues and formats (social, email, press, blogs). Learn how to distill your overall narrative into bite-sized chunks that keep your audience engaged and in the loop.
Marketing works better when you've got two things: a team and a story to tell. You need a team to implement, but you're surrounded by people who already get it. We'll show you how to leverage your two greatest marketing assets—other artists and your own story—in this lively workshop.
We'll look at the importance of a cohesive portfolio with a signature style and concept; presenting your portfolio professionally through the use of excellent visual and written materials; types of photos necessary and how they can be deployed.
Let's have some fun. Where are you with your brand story? Are you willing to let us use your brand narrative as an example? Bring your cases. Daniel will take on 2-4 cases to help you crack the part you're struggling with and help you keep your audience in the boat.
SAT: AM
Sell – Sell – Sell
Make connections with your fellow artists that can have lifelong potential for collaboration, exchange of skills, and mutual contacts.
Strategically create a body of work that's designed to be collectible and emotionally resonant, and learn how to add perceived value. Discover turnkey products and the power of niche markets. Explore price point spreads, additional formats, limited editions, and other ways of increasing sales.
Strategically create a body of work that's designed to be collectible and emotionally resonant, and learn how to add perceived value. Discover turnkey products and the power of niche markets. Explore price point spreads, additional formats, limited editions, and other ways of increasing sales.
Pricing formula breakdown; understanding markups; how to reduce expenses and increase prices; the “two halves” of a price and why it matters; pricing for fine artists including knowing where you fit in the art market, your baseline, and working with galleries.
Online sales of art and handmade goods are growing every day. This presentation addresses the many options for selling work online, including third-party websites and your own artist website. It includes strategies on how to give the best presentation, maximize sales, and avoid the most common mistakes made in online selling.
This is a great opportunity to bond with other artists. Be back on time!
Solve for y–your why! Bring your sales, marketing, and business strategy questions. The speakers will give quick answers, and also advise you on what questions you REALLY need to be asking and what answers you need to get to move forward.
SAT: PM
Maximize Your Advantages
Artists and corporate employees have something in common: all that time spent in the studio/office on the immediate goals limits the ability to acquire powerful relationships that advance our long-term objectives. It also shortchanges one's social life. Those aren't separate realities–they're the same problem. This workshop will give you tools to form powerful relationships with other artists in ways that facilitate shaping your own market, industry, and professional destiny.
All the things that stop us from achieving our business objectives are not random–they are interrelated. Identify the culprit as an external force to be overcome, and achieve your dreams as an artist.
Now that you've acquired new skills and clarity, update your action plan to more closely suit your professional goals.
This closing session summarizes what we've learned, provides some helpful next steps, and asks for your input, which will help shape our next Art Business Conference.
Let's have some fun. Where are you with your sales strategy? Are you willing to let us use your strategy as an example? Bring your cases. Carolyn will take on 2 cases to help you crack the part you're struggling with and increase your revenue.
Time to decompress, have a glass of wine, and make future plans to meetup and continue working together. Let your hair down, and relax at our after-event event.
Conference Leaders
Elizabeth Hulings
Director, The Clark Hulings Fund
Elizabeth Hulings, daughter of famed artist Clark Hulings, is the founder of The Clark Hulings Fund for Visual Artists. Elizabeth is a strategist who drives organizational achievement by insisting on clarity of purpose, detailed planning, and conclusive action. Her leadership at The Clark Hulings Fund brings practical business training and strategic toolsets to working artists who are not provided those things by art or business schools, but who increasingly require self-reliant entrepreneurial skills in the evolving marketplace.
Carolyn Edlund
Sales Director, The Clark Hulings Fund
Carolyn Edlund’s background includes owning a production ceramic studio for 20 years, selling extensively at retail and wholesale. Subsequently, she spent several years as an outside sales rep for art publishers, and paper and gift lines. In 2009, she launched Artsy Shark, which is recognized as a “top ten” art business blog. She does extensive private consulting for artists, has written seven e-courses on the business of art, and authored hundreds of related articles.
Daniel DiGriz
Corporate Storyteller
Daniel DiGriz is a corporate storyteller who writes a Forbes column, hosts podcasts, and is a charismatic speaker at national conferences. Daniel leads organizations and entrepreneurs to find and deliver their brand narrative to motivated buyers and constituents.
Roundtable Participants
Our panel discussion, on Friday at 12:30pm, will feature the following experts.
Ilene Adams
Owner of The Marketing Works of Palm Beach, Ilene Adams is a marketing guru, graphic designer, and artist who combines her business acumen with her artistic skills to provide branding, marketing, and web-, logo- and print-design services. In addition to her business clients, Ilene has worked with artists and nonprofit arts organizations, curated art exhibitions, and served as a judge for a variety of art shows and fairs.
Deborah Bigeleisen
Deborah Bigeleisen has been a practicing professional artist for 18 years, since leaving her former career as the founder and owner of a global textile print-design company in New York City. Her paintings grace private and corporate collections around the world, and her work has been published extensively, shown in museum exhibitions, displayed prominently in international fine-art fairs, and is represented by fine-art galleries across the United States.
Rickie Leiter
Rickie Leiter is the publisher of The Rickie Report, which covers southeastern Florida’s visual-art scene, from Melbourne to Miami. Her free online publication features artist stories, helpful tips, upcoming art events, and calls to artists and artisans for both juried and non-juried shows. Rickie enjoys helping artists achieve their potential and connecting with art lovers and potential patrons.
Janeen Mason
Janeen Mason is a noted artist, curator, author, illustrator, speaker, and arts advocate who is based on Florida’s Treasure Coast, where she has curated 35 exhibits since joining The Lighthouse ArtCenter in 2016—ten for the state of Florida’s official galleries in Tallahassee. As an avid champion for the arts, she has served in appointed positions under three governors.
Acknowledgments
Funding for this program is provided in part by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council. This conference is co-sponsored by ArtServe.
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