Reflections

This year I have decided to write more as a way to reflect, comment, and share pertinent information that can hopefully influence or motivate you to keep moving forward with your goals and aspirations. It is a new year and for many it is a new start. I like to think of it as a continuation of making ideas become reality. 

 

 

 

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February 26, 2018

Losing Sight

It is easy to loose sight when multiple things are coming your way from all directions. I often say to myself that art is my savior and art is my destruction. We want to live happy lives and sometimes we will push ourselves beyond our boundaries to make that happen. Remember to always keep your eyes on the prize (whatever it may be) and that what you do does have an impact on others and ultimately, will have an impact on you.

February 20, 2018

Staying Focused

It is easy to get distracted from life and responsibilities. Our best intentions can often ebb and flow, but we need to keep our eye on achieving those end results. What will it take to continuing moving in the right direction? What do you do that holds you accountable? 

January 27, 2018

To Embed or Not to Embed

Over the past few months, I have noticed a trend in how people have been submitting requested information by embedding it into the body of an email. Has this become a standard practice for artists or is the information being sent for conveniency? After all, technology is always a dependable side kick.

The bigger question is if this new process of submitting information convenient for the person on the receiving end? The person who has or might extend an opportunity for you. As someone on that receiving end, I can tell you that it is not a convenience. The best way to loose someone’s motivation is by having him/her put forth more time and energy than what is needed or expected.

Today may be a great time to substitute ‘conveniency’ with ‘accessibility’ the next time you submit information that could present an opportunity.

What are your thoughts?

January 22, 2018

Your Own Critic

On December 2, 2017, I gave my first keynote speech to a room full of Illinois art educators during the Illinois Art Education Association Conference. For the first time, I planned out what I was going to say. I even rehearsed and sought out podcasts on how to be an effective speaker. Even with the preparation I was not 100% confident in myself. What if my story isn’t as exciting as they think? What if I freeze on stage? What if I mumble my way through? When we start to self-doubt, our attitude changes and lack of confidence kicks in. We are our own worst critic. Regardless, the show must go on and all I can do is do the best job that I can. 
 
Last week, I received some feedback from one of the conference committee members. She shared that from the feedback she has been getting many people have stated that I really got them to think about the importance of being an active advocate for the Arts, being out there, connecting with other artists, creating themselves, and learning how to balance everything. Eye-opening would be a great way to describe what people felt. One of her friends stated to her that she felt like she needed to get more involved in the local community and reaching out more.

When you put yourself out there, you become vulnerable to judgement. The only way to gain self-confidence is by putting yourself out there and to experience opportunities and to embrace risks.  Win or lose, you will still grow. Receiving such feedback did put a smile on my face and I look forward to the next one. 

January 12, 2018

Timing is everything

As a gallery director, one of my roles is to support the artists that I represent by promoting them and their work. This week two of the artists I work with have had some press in a magazine and newspapers. This is the content that we strive to obtain – to be published on a larger scale to reach a broader audience. But what do you do when you have several things to promote? Do you share it all of it at once or do you disseminate it in chunks? The answer is in chunks. Why you may ask? Well, when artists share everything that they have, there tends to be no follow up on that shared information. My guess would be that it has already been shared so what is the point?

The truth of the matter is that with so many platforms available people have their favorite ones, which means that in order to reach our audience we need to go to those specific platforms. This does not necessarily mean that you have to open more accounts for yourself. It just means that you will have to figure out where you can get your most bang for your time whether it is Instagram, Facebook, MailChimp, email, and so on. With smaller chunks you can strategically share that information with a post, an image, a website, and so on. All of which comes back to you. 

For me, my main priority is to keep the momentum rollin’ for the gallery’s current exhibition at least one-two times a week. This opens the opportunity to share other gallery related items in between. So, you’ll need to figure out what day and what time your audience is on whichever platform you decide to target. This will take some time, but the great thing is that there are analytics available to assist you.  

I would love to hear how you promote yourself and your events/exhibitions. 

January 4, 2018

When one door closes, another opens.

This week I had to turn out some great opportunities. These opportunities ranged from being part of a juror panel for a fellowship program, a speaker at a local university and a panelist for a grant peer review panel. The reality is my teaching schedule does not afford the flexibility. 

I have learned that when one door closes, another opens. Knowing this does take patience and self-understanding. I have to admit, I was a bit bummed for a second. On the brighter side, I was able to accept another invitation as a visiting speaker at a local art school to talk about running an art gallery and teaching high school art later in March. There is something to be said about letting fate run its course. 

It is not easy to decline an invitation especially when an experience can be enjoyable and can have an impact on others.