Chapter 6

Chapter 6
Creating Your Command Post

• Your office is the hub of your professional activities, the center point from which you enter the world as an artist
• It should be well organized and easy to work in
• The easier it is to work in, the less time you will spend there
• The ideal office contains: desk, filing cabinets, computer, printer, telephone, comfortable chair
• A smart option is to have a partner handle the business aspect while you, the artist handles the art
• Another option is to hire someone to oversee your business for you
• You still need to supervise everything your office assistants do
• Make a habit of keeping clear and accurate records of everything that you do
• A computer system can streamline your office
• Keep your filing system simple and direct
• Be able to find what your looking for without a lot of effort
• Standard file-folder titles could include: artists bio artist statement, art consultants, art dealers, consignments, donations, exhibitions, inventory lists, invoices, juried shows, publications, slide masters, slide duplicates, materials out list, plans, goals, and leads
• Keep track of sending out slides for consideration, shipping artwork to and from exhibitions, and consigning works to galleries
• The materials out list can remind you with the minimum amount of f=effort on your part
• In order to have a useful inventory list you must use it faithfully every time a piece of art leaves your studio
• Keep your inventory list on your computer desktop for easy access
• Keep an inventory list with an entire page devoted to the activities of each piece, if they move around a lot
• Use a consignment form every time you ship or hand-deliver art for an exhibition, or to a gallery or art consultant who will be selling or showing the work
• Be sure to fill in all of the blanks on the consignment form
• Make three copies of the consignment form, one for you, one for the consignee, and a third for your files in case the others get lost.
• With a consignment form a problem can be solved before it becomes a problem
• The two ways to price your work: decide the amount you want to be paid then let your various dealers add whatever they want when selling it to their clients, or set a selling price and decide in conjunction with the dealer or client the amount of commission he or she will receive from the sale of the work
• Anticipate what could go wrong and plan for it when shipping
• The safest and most professional way to ship is to hire an art shipping company to do it for you
• One of the most powerful things you can do is to create, maintain, and use an up-too-date mailing list
• You will need to add a schedule C to your tax return, keep clear records, and save receipts and show announcements when it comes to doing taxes
• Don’t make simple organizational mistakes that could cost you a job