May 2010

Getting Your Sh*t Together, a.k.a. GYST, Releases Updated BusinessSoftware
For Visual Artists
GYST 3.0 in Time to Help This Year’s Art School Grads Succeed in Marketplace
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Zan Dubin Scott
(310) 383-0956

LOS ANGELES, CA—Just as this year’s art-school students graduate, an artist-run company has released an updated version of its Getting Your Sh*t Together business software. Its irreverent name notwithstanding, GYST 3.0 helps visual artists hone their business skills to earn a prosperous living by making art, only it does it faster and better than ever.
The completely revamped software—on sale in honor of graduation—enables artists to track the umpteen moving pieces of a paper-work heavy profession: each piece they are exhibiting from place to place, its price, condition and buyer. The software houses movies, audio and images, which can now be uploaded more quickly and in greater volume, and databases for mailing lists, budgets and grant-proposal deadlines.

An enhanced 450-page educational component explains everything needed to build a sustainable practice, including bartering and trading laws, billing and collections, copyright and resale royalties, business license requirements, contracts and fundraising tips. All aspects of PR and marketing are covered and GYST 3.0 guides users through the grant writing process.
“Like any sole proprietor, an artist has a business to run,” says GYST developer Karen Atkinson, an L.A.-based contemporary artist who modeled the software after her own databases.
Art schools, however, typically focus on technique and inspiration, not on tax and income. Atkinson, participating in June’s “EATLACMA” show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, therefore started teaching a GYST business course in 2000 at CalArts, across Los Angeles and around the country. The same year she founded GYST-Ink, her artist-run, art career-development business. The software, came next and various versions are now used by over 2,000 users globally. 
“It is essential that art students be prepared for the realities of life after graduation,” says CalArts President Steven Lavine. “Nationally, no one is doing this better than Karen Atkinson with the professional practice classes that she teaches at CalArts and now with this new version of crucial software for the working artist.”

While small businesses will drive the nation’s fitful recovery, artists can miss out on valuable opportunities if bogged down by a business in disarray.
L.A.-based artist Elana Mann used GYST software last year to create a budget for “Exchange Rate: 2008” in which artists locally and abroad presented performance-based work that had been created by other artists and shared with them online. Her line items included website development, promotions, catering and exhibition-space rental.
“GYST software helped me organize and produce a large and complex project, which brought me greater visibility and support, ultimately making me a stronger candidate for receiving a prominent grant,” said Mann, one of four L.A. emerging artists to receive a $15,000 fellowship from the California Community Foundation last July.

Not everyone is so sanguine about professional-practice aids like GYST software and Atkinson’s workshops. The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, which has given grants to CalArts and other institutions to support Atkinson’s efforts, is working to change that attitude. The tide is beginning to turn, but some universities with fine arts programs contend that business skills are unnecessary, might commercialize artists, or should be learned through “the school of hard knocks,” says foundation program director Nicole E. Chevalier.
“This concept is starting to take deep root because students who study art are demanding professional practices courses, especially those who have to pay back $60,000 to $100,000 in student loans,” Chevalier said. “It’s great to know that you can pay back that money using the skills you just invested in.”
GYST software is the only product of its kind created by and for artists. GYST 3.0 is available online at http://www.gyst-ink.com/ for $129 for MAC or PC. Upgrades only: $69.

About GYST-Ink:
GYST-Ink, an artist-run business that supports artists, has been the leading resource for professional practice, art advice and art business services in Southern California since 2000. Founded by artist Karen Atkinson, GYST-Ink is an artist-run company providing information, technology and solutions created by artists for artists. Our mission is to support artists and arts organizations with an integrated mix of software, services and information in order to keep artists working. GYST–Ink is dedicated to empowering and educating artists so that they can develop sustainable and successful careers on their own terms. GYST's products and services include professional practices software, a blog, a newsletter, career development workshops, artist resume and statement reviewing, document and artwork documentation and archiving, a skills bank, web development and consulting services.
About Karen Atkinson:
Karen Atkinson is an installation artist, independent curator and founder of GYST-Ink and Side Street Projects, a nonprofit artist-run organization in Los Angeles that has supported and exhibited the work of artists from around the world. She has exhibited and curated throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Cuba, Japan and South Africa. She has curated numerous gallery and traveling exhibitions and public projects, including the “For the Time Being” parking meter project and “Projections: Intermission Images,” in which art slides were projected in movie theaters. She has taught at CalArts since 1988.
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GYST INK: THE COMPLETE ART BUSINESS PRODUCT & SERVICES ENVIRONMENT

WHO

GYST: Getting Your Sh*t Together is an artist run company that applies the creativity of an artist's mind to the complex and daunting world of professional practices in contemporary art. Our mission is to support artists and arts organizations with an integrated mix of software, services and information in order to keep artists working. Founded in 2000 by Karen Atkinson as a software company, GYST's products and services now include professional practices software, a newsletter, workshops, artist resume and statement review, archiving, and consulting services.

PRODUCTS

Getting Your Sh*t Together software was created by Los Angeles artist Karen Atkinson for artists to keep track of just about anything in their art lives, enabling them to spend more time working in the studio, and making business management of their careers easy.

The dynamic, recently released version 3.0 is a highly efficient platform available for both Mac and PC that helps artists plan their project and manage their inventory and contacts while also housing an in-depth library of information that artists need to be organized and manage their art practice. The software includes:

• A database with a friendly interface so you can easily keep track of all the shit you've done:
  • A robust structure to help you label and organize your artwork so you know when it was made, what project it is part of, where it is, the price, sales information, invoices for sales, labels and more
  • A single place so all the artwork you have made - from images to audio and video clips - and related materials - such as artist statement and resume - can be organized easily accessed and viewed in multiple ways to manage your practice
  • Mailing list manager with unique features such as allowing you to easily pick works to include in a mailing and E-mail capabilities in which you can sort by categories
  • Information on how to store and ship your art work

• Project and career planning guide so you can get your shit together for current and future projects:
  • Proposal tracking
  • Easily print out an artwork checklist for each exhibition
  • Create budgets and to do lists
  • Detailed information to guide you through writing a grant or proposal
  • A place to keep track of research notes including quotes and the ability for keyword searches
  • Links and resources to web sites as well as a reading list.
  • Information on 37 business issues artist's should know about such as Billing and Collection, Business License, Charitable Contributions, Commissions, Pricing, Studio visits, Taxes, Teaching and many more
  • Over 400 pages of information artists need to know from how to write an artist statement and resume, to how to deal with a gallery, to working independently as an artist with a studio or conceptually based/post-studio practice, to working as a curator or organizer

This software and information enables and empowers artists to have an easy transition into the professional realm of running their art career. We created the software to allow artists to be savvy and independent about their business and tracking of their artwork. As an artists-run company, we understand the need for studio time - but how can this be accomplished if your business is unorganized?

The software includes: 21 sections including a career survey, Planning, Checklists & Guides, Exhibition Forms Presentation Ideas, Master To Do List, Artwork Inventory, Getting the Word Out, Proposal Tracking, Grants & Proposals, Legal & Contracts, Artist's Statements, Resume, Mailing List, Documentation, ; Research Notes, Business Issues, Links and Resources, Estate Planning, Shipping and Crating and a Users Guide.

SERVICES

Ten-week Getting Your Sh*t Together workshops are held in Los Angeles. Additionally, GYST does custom tailored workshops regionally and nationally at your local nonprofit. Please check out website or request a workshop in your area through our website: www.gyst-ink.com.

GYST Ink has a professional practices blog. Check it out at www.gyst-ink.com/blog

Individual artists can now send in their artist's statement or resume to have a qualified professional review, edit, and suggest changes or additions. Please see our website for more information: www.gyst-ink.com.

Do you live in Los Angeles and use the GYST software but don't have time to do the data entry? Do you have a large body of work that you need help organizing and archiving? Let GYST help, by hiring our trained GYST data entry manager to input all of your data and images into the software. Additional, GYST makes house calls in Los Angeles, to determine how much you really do or don't have your sh*t together. We work with you to create a package of custom archiving services tailored to your needs. Please see our website for various pricing and premium services available: www.gyst-ink.com.

Are you thinking of starting an organization or does your organization want to take a fresh look at how it serves its audience? We provide consulting service to both for profit and non profit arts organizations by drawing on a unique, multi-disciplinary team of experts in marketing, gallery management, strategy, planning, accounting and law. We stand alone in our ability to be sensitive to the dynamics of the art world while also being attuned to the circumstances of running a market-driven, sustainable organization that succeeds on multiple levels.

WHERE

Are you interested in taking our professional practices classes? GYST Ink teaches workshops from three hours to one day or ten weeks (also called Getting Your Sh*t Together). These workshops are a great introduction to the GYST mission and to network with local Los Angeles artists just like you! If you live in the Los Angeles area and are interested in taking a workshop, please email us at info@gyst-ink.com. If you live outside Los Angeles, please contact us for additional information for a workshop in your city at info@gyst-ink.com.