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artist Eve Jacobs Carnahan with short gray hair smiling with knit bird sculpture | on Art Biz Success

The Art Biz ep. 121: Guaranteeing an Effective Project with Eve Jacobs-Carnahan

It’s difficult to talk about a project in the middle. It’s no longer fresh. The passion might be waning as things evolve.

So it’s especially instructive to interview people at various stages of their projects.

I was most interested in talking with Eve at this point in her project, Knit Democracy Together, about judging the effectiveness of her project because it was created to make a social impact. Is it making a social impact?

The Art Biz ep. 121: Guaranteeing an Effective Project with Eve Jacobs-Carnahan Read

abstract watercolor with blues, gold, orange, light red and textural black marks—the central image surrounded by a black arch ©artist Sara Schroeder | on Art Biz Success

The Art Biz ep. 119: Growing Beyond Being an Instagram Artist with Sara Schroeder

For more than a year, Sara Schroeder has been using tools like journaling and the Enneagram to discover more about herself and explore where she wants her work to go.

Now she wants more. She knows there is more than posting and looking for sales online, so she has stepped back and reassessed. She’s ready for a brave step.

In this episode of The Art Biz, we talk about how she’s approaching her business these days, how her Instagram strategy has evolved, and how she is preparing for her upcoming solo show.

The Art Biz ep. 119: Growing Beyond Being an Instagram Artist with Sara Schroeder Read

acrylic painting Modigliani censored artist Laurence de Valmy | on Art Biz Success

Boldly reaching out to art world influencers with Laurence de Valmy (108)

In this episode I talk with Laurence de Valmy about how she has used her bonus talent as a writer to make connections in all arenas of the art world.

It all started with the thought that there were people out there who knew more about how to “be” an artist than she did. She trusted that she could learn from them. Even if you aren’t a writer, I think you’ll be inspired by her boldness and creativity.

Boldly reaching out to art world influencers with Laurence de Valmy (108) Read

Core by artist Leah Smithson painting on linen | on Art Biz Success

The Art Biz ep. 94: Calculating Risks in Your Art Business with Leah Smithson

There is no such thing as the artist’s path. Look at the careers of 50 artists side-by-side and you’ll see 50 different paths. And probably none of them happened exactly as planned.

In this episode of the Art Biz Podcast I talk with Leah Smithson about her path, which kicked into gear after her father suffered a massive stroke and she began researching how creativity works in the brain.

Leah’s interest in learning has led to her nontraditional portrait paintings, jewelry, public art, and murals. You’ll also hear about how she embraces technology and has been teaching herself augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR).

Leah and I discuss how she decides which risks to take on and which projects to get involved with, how she schedules her week, and how her well-meaning husband cajoled her into co-hosting a podcast with him.

Leah has taken many risks in her art career, and I love her point of view: You’ll never know until you try. You can decide to take a risk because even if it doesn’t turn out as you’d hope—even if it’s a disaster—you’ll be glad you did it anyway, if it’s something that fits with your goals.

If you’ve ever considered which step to take next or which opportunities are right for your art business, you need to listen to this advice from an artist who has failed and continues to experience success.

The Art Biz ep. 94: Calculating Risks in Your Art Business with Leah Smithson Read

romy owens under her wing was the universe enid oklahoma public art sculpture

The Art Biz ep. 76: Crowdfunding a Public Art Project with Romy Owens

I live to track down art off the beaten path—traveling to out-of-the-way places to see works of art that delight and inspire, or even confound me. I like knowing that 1) there won’t be a huge crowd or line to get in and that 2) I’m one of a small(ish) group of people who have actually visited that spot.

One of my favorite art writers, Martin Gayford, wrote a book on this topic titled The Pursuit of Art: Travels, Encounters, and Revelations. It’s as much about the journey to see art, much of it in far-flung locations, as it is about the art itself.

Every so often, I can get my mom interested in accompanying me on one of my art trips. Mom isn’t a huge follower of art, but she likes a good adventure, and it was easy to get her to hop in the car with me last fall to see Under Her Wing was the Universe, an enormous public sculpture by artist and curator Romy Owens that was installed in 2020 in Enid, Oklahoma.

Enid is the 9th-largest city in Oklahoma, with a population of about 50,000, but it doesn’t sit on a major interstate highway. It’s about 90 minutes northwest of Oklahoma City, where Mom lives, and not really on the way to anywhere else. You kinda have to go out of your way to get there.

And that’s what we did. Mom and I had both been following the progression of Romy’s sculpture and donated to its crowdfunding. After following the progression of this enormous endeavor and seeing it for myself, I couldn’t wait to talk more with Romy.

On this episode of the Art Biz Podcast, Romy and I discuss her commitment to raising $100,000 for this outdoor public sculpture and native prairie landscape as a gift to her hometown. As it turns out, $100,000 was just the beginning.

While it all worked out in the end, it wasn’t exactly easy getting there. Not only did Romy have to raise a lot more money than originally projected, she had to stand up to the naysayers in the community.

Romy is an artist that knows how to effectively measure success. Community collaboration, fundraising, overcoming controversy and yes, using spreadsheets are just a few of the topics that you won’t want to miss in this conversation.

The Art Biz ep. 76: Crowdfunding a Public Art Project with Romy Owens Read

Knit model of government buildings bu Eve Jacobs-Carnahan

The Art Biz ep. 64: Knit Democracy Together with Eve Jacobs-Carnahan

At the intersection of craftivism and the world of campaign finance is Eve Jacobs-Carnahan. Eve is taking the historical practice of knitting circles and re-envisioning them as modern craftivist assemblies.

While bringing artists together to craft the building blocks of a characteristic state capitol building, she’s also leading conversations about changing the role of money in election campaigns. But the impact that Eve is going to make with this work is going to extend far beyond the current election cycle. In fact, it has very little to do with it.

Kicking off in early 2020, *Knit Democracy Together* combines interested organizations, knitting circles, and conversation about election finance reform. The result will be a 5’x3′ knitted sculpture of a state capitol building that Eve hopes to exhibit in multiple venues.

The pandemic has certainly had an effect on Eve’s plans, but it hasn’t stopped her.

In this episode of the Art Biz Podcast, she shares details about how she has had to reimagine the previously scheduled in-person knitting circles, funding and exhibiting the project, and the art of knitting as a daring act of social activism.

The Art Biz ep. 64: Knit Democracy Together with Eve Jacobs-Carnahan Read

The Art Biz ep. 55: An Army of Artists with Sandra Felemovicius

Covid strikes.
Hospitals start filling.
Her doctor-husband continues to go to work in a building that is treating those who have fallen ill to the virus.

She feels helpless, but not for long. Sandra Felemovicius springs into action. She doesn’t think too long or overanalyze. She only knows she wants to make a difference.

That’s how her twice-weekly Instagram Live program, Tap Into Your Creativity, started.

On it, Sandra interviews artists at home in their studios—hoping to inspire and to be a light amid all the darkness. The artists, in turn, agree to donate a 10 x 10 inch painting to be auctioned to benefit Feeding America.

Follow #armyofartists to watch the progress.

Having recently started my own weekly Instagram Live (Wednesdays at 4pm Eastern) I know that there are a lot of logistics around getting guests to join you. Schedules, bandwidth, backgrounds, audio, and lighting. As Sandra says on the podcast, “Anything can happen on live TV.”

Still, when you’re committed to a project, you’ll find a way to make it happen. Listen to how Sandra does it.

The Art Biz ep. 55: An Army of Artists with Sandra Felemovicius Read

Suzanne Gibbs in her studio

The Art Biz ep. 40: Focusing on Making Work That Matters with Suzanne Gibbs

Two years ago, Suzanne Gibbs entered my Art Biz Inner Circle and began taking full advantage of everything that was offered.

As an aside, although we no longer offer the Inner Circle, we do continue to support artists through the Art Career Success System and our new small group artist masterminds. But, no matter how hard we try, we can’t make you do the work, whether it’s business or studio based.

And that’s where Suzanne’s story comes in.

What she wanted to share in this episode is critical to every artist’s success.

She and I started talking about the idea of doing less (not more) in order to accomplish your goals, but it turned into a conversation about focusing more. Focusing on what matters. For Suzanne, that meant making a new body of work.

Nothing is more important to your professionalism as an artist than a consistent studio practice. Nothing!

Listen to this episode to hear how Suzanne got over FOMO, set herself up for success, and used trusted artists to keep her on track for creating that body of work.

The Art Biz ep. 40: Focusing on Making Work That Matters with Suzanne Gibbs Read

Her Flag by Marilyn Artus

The Art Biz ep. 30: Multi-State Multi-Year Multi-Artist Art Project with Marilyn Artus

In 1920, women–white women, that is–across the United States got the right to vote when the 19th amendment was ratified by ⅔ of the states. The fact that we are coming up on the 100th anniversary of this event did not escape the attention of Marilyn Artus. For years she had been wondering what art project she could possibly do that would be grand enough to match the significance of the occasion.

Then, in 2017, Marilyn attended one of my workshops. At the end of two days of masterminding with like-minded ambitious artists, Marilyn had the outline of her multi-state, multi-artist, multi-road-trip project: Her Flag.

Her Flag includes collaborations with artists and public performances in each of the 36 states that passed the amendment. Her first road trip was in June and included the first four states: Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Kansas. Her next trip begins on July 13.

Marilyn has scheduled 17 trips over a period of 14 months. At the end, Her Flag will be complete and measure 18-by-26 feet.

It’s an enormous project that involves an incredible amount of logistics and organizing. But Marilyn is up to the task. As she says, she’s psycho-passionate about this project and topic.

I’ve been dying to share this project for awhile and had the thrill of interviewing Marilyn before she left on her first trip. I hope it inspires you to think bigger about what is possible for your art.

The Art Biz ep. 30: Multi-State Multi-Year Multi-Artist Art Project with Marilyn Artus Read

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