Here’s a belief I encounter constantly that might sound familiar: that being strategic about money somehow makes you less of an artist. That planning ahead or making calculated career decisions means you’re selling out.
Stephanie Brown proves otherwise.
The photographer and interactive installation artist graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design debt-free, secured a fully funded MFA at University of Michigan, and has spent the past 7 years building a sustainable art practice with intentional, strategic thinking.
In this conversation, which is the first of a 2-part interview, Stephanie shares exactly how she made it work, and why treating your art career like a business from day one doesn’t diminish your creativity. It amplifies it.
An Intentional Path
Stephanie didn’t leave her education to chance. She applied early to SCAD, worked relentlessly for scholarships, and made her first year completely free. Then she took general education classes at community college during summers to save thousands of dollars—and ended up graduating a year early.
For her MFA, she only applied to fully funded programs. The best advice she received? Only pursue graduate school when you know what you want to say to the world as an artist.
After graduation, she continued thinking strategically. She:
- Set non-negotiable rules for herself: at least one residency and two exhibitions per year so she could always say “I’m an exhibiting artist.”
- Earned certifications in project management during the pandemic to increase her earning power.
- Leveraged transferable skills from managing art project budgets ($5,000-$50,000) to land higher-paying roles.
- Transitioned to remote work and never looked back, eliminating the commute gave her energy and time for her studio practice.
The result? A career built on intention rather than hope. Financial stability that supports her art rather than draining it. And the freedom to make the work she wants to make.
Listen
Create your own non-negotiable parameters for your art practice. Stephanie’s are at least one residency and two exhibitions per year.
What would your rules be?
Stephanie Brown Quotes
“I know that a private school, our education is expensive and I wanna make sure that I’m maximizing the dollars being here. So I did not take any non-art classes at SCAD.”
“You either get a master’s degree for one of two reasons. Either 1, because you need your terminal degree and you wanna be a professor or 2 because you want to utilize your master’s program to launch your career.”
“My name is Stephanie Brown and I’m a full-time artist. I pay my bills with my art practice. That has always been the goal.”
“I started coming up with rules for myself, like one art residency a year, at least two exhibitions a year. Different things to ensure that … if I met you on whatever day I could say I’m an exhibiting artist.”
“This is how people do it. This is how I can be an artist and not be drained. Like just the commute alone kills you.”
“I can tell you about artwork that I’ve done (with) $10,000 budgets, $5,000 budgets, $50,000 budgets. I had to manage all of that for myself and my art practice. And these are the transferable skills that a lot of artists don’t realize they have.”
About Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown is an Atlanta based photographer and interactive installation artist. She is also the host of IN BTWN ARTIST, a podcast about navigating sustainable creative careers. Her conceptual artwork explores how people of African descent construct their identities through social, cultural, and systematic confines.
Stephanie identifies as an interdisciplinary artist interweaving mediums to narrate a greater contextual story rooted in historical research and contributes contemporary perspectives that empower people of African descent to discover themselves and take control of who they choose to be and become.
Follow Stephanie on Instagram: @createdbrown and @stephaniesquared_
