Self-Promotion Pays Off!

Got this very cool email from Debbie Goodman:

. . . I recently used my artist statement as part of a packet of materials I provided to a newspaper reporter who wrote a story about me and my artwork.

I wanted to let you know that the techniques I learned from your classes in the past year were the direct cause of this story. First I "shamelessly self-promoted" myself into exhibiting my original artwork at the annual Great Salt Lake Bird Festival, and then I augmented my exhibit with a one paragraph biography and a stack of business cards. I also entered my work in the Festival art contest, and won prizes in two categories.

A local community reporter was sent by one of our two major newspapers to cover the Festival events, and she noticed my artwork and the prize ribbons and grabbed my card. She contacted me a week later (she already knew a lot of interesting things about me because she read the bio in my display) to do a story, and the paper ran full color photos of two of my pieces with the article. . . .

I give you and your classes the majority of the credit for this very pleasant series of events. Part of what you taught me was to get my work into appropriate venues and to present informational materials alongside my artwork. But this is only half of the equation. The other aspect of your coaching was helping me believe that my work is worthy of positive attention, and not to run away from it.

I expect that my artist statement as well as my other written materials will continue to evolve. The thought process of journaling about my artwork was particularly helpful when it came to being interviewed, as I had already formulated answers to questions about how I work, why I choose certain subjects and materials, and so on. I keep my notes from all your classes on my desk so I can review your lesson plans as reminders of what I need to be doing. . . .