Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, the reality TV show produced by Sarah Jessica Parker, premieres June 9 on Bravo TV.
Let’s pretend you’re a producer. (C’mon. It’s just pretend.)
What would your reality TV show about art be like?
What would be the point? Who would be the contestants? Who would be the judges?
What would the contests consist of?
What would be the prize?
How would contestants get booted off the show?
Share this post
Sent every week or two. Includes new articles, available programs, and episodes of The Art Biz podcast.Â
You will also receive my almost-weekly news for your art business. You can unsubscribe at anytime.
Privacy + Terms
If you’ve ever thought about having a sale of your art but didn’t know where to start or are worried about discounting your work, please join me for PROFITABLE PROMOTIONS on November 14.Â
It’s for you if you have older inventory to move, you want to generate more income, and you want to use your email list more effectively.
I would love to send you my Comprehensive Exhibition Checklist + Timeline. It’s 5 pages of tasks for now, later, and after your show.Â
You’ll also receive my almost-weekly news for your art business.
11 thoughts on “Your Own Art Reality Show”
I would love to have a Project Runway style show with craft artists where they give a theme each week and the artists have to produce a piece within that framework. It would be fun to have really off the wall materials, ideas, and challenges. (Those are always my favs on PR.) Sometimes the contestants would be able to work with their chosen media and sometimes that would be the challenge part. One week everyone would make jewelry for odd body parts, one week everyone would have to work with materials they find at a dump, one week their project would have to perform a function, etc.
Each show would have established artists and the contestants critique the work and then the contestants would vote for who should stay (not being able to vote for themselves). The last three contestants will get to produce work for a group show that fits criteria established by the judges in an upscale fine craft gallery. This work would then be judged and the winner would receive a one person show at that gallery and a spread in American Craft magazine.
Obviously, I’ve thought about this before ;^)
Wendy: You should totally do this as a local thing. I know lots of places mock Iron Chef. You could do this! Maybe even as a fundraiser for a local art organization.
when i think of art reality show i honestly almost imagine it like a Real World (on MTV) thing….all about trying to break into the industry. haha. the angst and rivalries about who has the biggest brush would be highly hilarious…at least to me, anyway.
I think of a project runway type show too. Some sort of creative challenge each week. As a current student, I would make these assignments somewhat similar to some of the ones I’ve been given, but maybe with twists.
I would judge people by their creativeness and workmanship.
Although, if you wanted to do an art buisness reality show similar to the apprentice and their challenges, that would be interesting too.
Too much TV drama for me. ;o)
Why does anyone have to get booted off of anything? Isn’t there room for everyone in this world, especially in art? I’m all for showing the general public what the life of an artist is like, but the “prize” at the end of an artifically drawn out cat fight seems to be the kind of thing that wouldn’t be accepted here. You know, the idea that you have to compete for a single definition of success that is handed out by a fairy godmother or judge. The concept of winners and losers needs to die. The last thing that I want to give the general public is a one-sided view of the art world and what constitutes a success.
Jacqueline: Nobody said people have to get booted off. It’s YOUR show. Obviously your show would be different (yay!) from the current model. How would you do it?
Hmmm…my own Art Reality show. That sounds like a lot of fun!
I would want to have it set up like a weekly art camp or retreat, where 5 artists in the same discipline came together for 7 days and then follow week have pastel artists, etc.
Here’s a scenario for painters:
Day 1 – No creation of art work allowed – this day is just to decompress from everyday life and relax…enjoy scenery & nature.
Day 2 – Free Day to paint/create whatever.
Day 3 – Every painter teaches a 1 hour class outlining their area of expertise followed by 5 hours of painting a still life set up. (This makes for a LONG day)
Day 4 – Do 2 hour rotations where artists paint in each others styles to gain experience and change their perspective.
Day 5 – Free Day to paint/create whatever.
Day 6 – Community project/outreach with the arts
Day 7 – 4 hours to paint/create whatever and then critique & reflection
I think the variety within each discipline would be incredibly enriching for artists. A portrait painter can learn from a landscape painter, and they could also learn from an abstract artist…the possibilities are endless.
Disciplines could be mingled too….like a sculptor, painter, photographer, pastel artist, etc.
I’m sure there would be plenty of drama.. Even as open minded as some people think artists are, some of us are not very flexible when it comes to trying new things, altering our techniques, or switching up our preferred working styles/stations, etc.
The show would come on on Mondays.
I would have 4-5 different artists using different media but everyone would get the same instructions of what to paint.
Every week would be in a different city.
They would have one week to do it.
Let’s say this week they were in DC. and the instructions would be to paint the White House. So throughout the week all the artists would have to paint the White House. The camera would follow each artists on different days.
At the end of the week the show would be on again let’s say on Sat. and each artist will share their finished master piece. They would all share their experience and we could see video as well that the camera took.
We could all see how different or similar each artist views the object by the way it’s painted.
Some weeks it could be in the TV studio and there could be a still life or a model, and the process would be the same but in the studio.
I’m not sure what to do with the artwork yet. Maybe it could be up for auction with money given to charity or artwork could be given away to people in the audience some way or another.
Didn’t think this part out yet Alyson. I just love to see how we all look at things in our own special way and what we see that maybe others don’t. Or…vice a versa… 🙂
Too much reality television is a variation on Survivor or American Idol with the emphasis on cut throat tactics or “judgement”. If artists were gauged on impact and influence it would be much closer to what their role in society should be.
We could all stand to see more examples of creative people effectively changing circumstances, environments and the conversations on people’s minds for the better.
Alyson, That’s a great idea. I’ll have to propose it to one of my groups (either the LDC chapter of the PA Guild or the Creative House of Lancaster). Now I need to think some more about this…