Save the Date | #ArtistHotline Returns February 21, 2018

Get the recap from January’s Chat, then mark your calendar for February!

It’s (still!) the new year. Are you accessing free resources like #ArtistHotline to help define and achieve your career goals for 2018? If you’re new to #ArtistHotline, fear not! Joining in is easy. The monthly Artist Professional Development Day takes place the third Wednesday of each month on Twitter; to participate you’ll need a Twitter handle and to include #ArtistHotline with each of your Tweets. #ArtistHotline takes place from 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM EST and includes a special Guest Chat between 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST with artists and arts professionals, and a Q&A with an arts administrator from 3:00 – 4:00 PM EST. Read more about how you can participate here.

January Topics

During January’s #ArtistHotline, we shared a range of general arts career tips, such as:

• Gather “data” on when applications for opportunities were more or less successful, and try to tailor your future applications accordingly;
• If you’re interested in monetizing a podcast, focus on gaining subscribers and explore options like selling ad space or utilizing a membership platform; 
• Submit strong curatorial proposals through high-quality images and documentation of past exhibitions, and by knowing the history of the space for the proposed show; 
• If your practice is multidisciplinary, there’s no need to compartmentalize. Try combining various elements via interdisciplinary projects.

Key Takeaways from the “New Year, New Budgets” Guest Chat

Each #ArtistHotline, we focus on one special topic during a two-hour window, inviting virtual panelists to share their insights. In January, we heard from two community builders and arts administrators: playwright and performance artist Aaron Landsman and writer and content strategist Eleanor Whitney. They shared concrete pointers and affirmations like:

• Taking control of your budget is empowering. It can help you identify what you need in order to reach your goals, and quantify the value of your time and your work;
• As per Artists U’s Making Your Life as an Artist, begin by calculating the income you need, and build your fundraising or salary goals from there; 
• When prioritizing costs, the people who are indispensable to your project should be first priority. You can economize on “hard costs” like space and supplies if needed;
• Determine how and what you can barter, and make an explicit agreement about what the other person gets in return. Find tips tips for equitable and effective bartering in Whitney’s Grow: Do It Yourself Success Survival Guide workbook;
• Avoid leaving out expenses by breaking your process into each step or phase, and show your budget to another set of eyes;
• When applying for an application, tell a full story by including bartered or in-kind income or donations;
• Appeal to the “budget nerd” on every panel with budget notes on income and expenses, and how you’ll adapt if you don’t receive full funding;
• Be transparent and clear when collaborating about how income is distributed and managed, and engage in realistic conversations about whether collaborators are pitching in equally, financially and otherwise;
• Hone your budgeting skills by serving on panels for applications involving budgets;
• Utilize reliable budget templates, but make yourself start from scratch sometimes to make sure you’re not leaving information out;
• Don’t feel you need to limit your project scope just because it may be expensive, or finish the project quickly in order to stay relevant. Fundraising can take time.

Key Takeaways from our “Art of the Job Hunt” Q&A

#ArtistHotline typically wraps up with a one-hour Q&A with an arts administrator. The January Q&A found us chatting with Molly Martin, Account Manager – NYFA Classifieds, who provided expert tips on job hunting, including: 

• NYFA Classifieds can help you in your job search. It features more listings than any other arts-focused job board;
• If you’re in job-search mode, follow social media hashtags like #CreativeCareers and #NYFAClassifieds in addition to regularly checking job boards;
• When applying for jobs, thoroughly read the application instructions listed. Potential employers sometimes request specific information to test the candidates’ attention to detail;
• Once you’ve applied, be sure to save the job listing text! You may need it later on, and listings eventually expire on our site.

Read the full day’s conversation in our recap on Wakelet, and join us for the next #ArtistHotline on Wednesday, February 21, 2018, from 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM EST. As part of the day, we’ll host a “Cross-Sector Collaborations” Guest Chat from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST and a “Taxes for Artists” Q&A from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST. In the meantime, stay up-to-date with NYFA by following us at @nyfacurrent on Twitter.

Inspired by the NYFA Source Hotline, #ArtistHotline is an initiative dedicated to creating an ongoing online conversation around the professional side of artistic practice. #ArtistHotline occurs on the third Wednesday of each month on Twitter. Our goal is to help artists discover the resources needed, online and off, to develop sustainable careers.

This initiative is supported by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

Image: Quinn Dombrowski