Let's Work This Sh*t Out.        

GYST WORKSHOP Description

Due to Covid 19, we are no longer doing in-person workshops, but we are available virtually.

Our workshops and lectures are designed to guide artists of all types, from beginners just developing a practice, to experienced professionals, through many important aspects of becoming an organized, professional, and successful artist. The GYST software is an integral part of this workshop and functions as a textbook and workshop manual that guides participants through each week of the class and will allow them to stay organized and informed after the class has finished.

GYST Workshop Learning Outcomes

• Understand how to effectively organize your practice based on sound and sustainable business principles.
•Assesses your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to having and developing a professional art practice.
•Develop and perfect an “elevator speech,” a short verbal introduction about your work, which can be used in professional social occasions in order to network with other artists and professionals in your field.
• Set specific short and long-term goals pertinent to your artistic career.
•Archive your work using the GYST software, keeping accurate and detailed records of important information on each artwork you have created.
• Write an articulate and concise one-page artist statement detailing important aspects of your practice, the content of your work, and your personal artistic goals.
• Compile and format a complete and accurate Artist Resume/ Curriculum Vitae (CV) 
• Compose a strong artist portfolio with examples of current and past work.
• Understand the many exhibition/presentation opportunities open to you.
• Write a press release for an exhibition and other essential marketing strategies.
• Understand, prepare, and execute grants and proposals for a future exhibitions/ projects including budget and timeline.
• Discuss, understand, and navigate legal issues and ethical scenarios in the art world.
• Understand the many research opportunities available to artists and how to find valuable information once the class is over.

Teaching Philosophy

This class is guided by the philosophy that one never really HAS their sh*t together, that professional development and the process of getting organized is just that: a process, an ongoing series of goals, actions, and assessments that defines an artist’s personal practice. We believe that all kinds of artists, including students and art school graduates, self-taught artists, young and older artists, emerging and established artists benefit creatively, personally and professionally from having an organized and directed professional life. We believe that creating artwork and having business skills go hand-in- hand in order to avoid pitfalls, heartbreak and botched opportunities.
 

Class Structure

Getting Your Sh*t Together is taught with an emphasis on class participation and group critique. Each week’s exercise involves class discussion, collaborative work, and group feedback. Participants are encouraged to share their work with one another, ask questions to the group, and pool resources. We have discovered that this lively workshop environment fosters a sense of community, creating a network that participants feel a part of, and can rely on once they leave the classroom.

While our teaching modules are backed by extensive research and professional experience, we admit that we don’t know everything there is to know about professional practices. It takes constant research and vigilance to keep apace of technological, theoretical, and institutional development in the art world. We embrace this constant change and encourage you to do so as well. Amidst this continual reordering of the cultural landscape, we seek to answer even the most daunting questions by going to those persons who are more knowledgeable than ourselves. If a student raises a question we are unable to answer we are confident that our personal network of professionals in the arts, legal, accounting, science, and museum worlds have the answer. In addition to seeking advice from these professionals, we provide participants with the necessary research destinations where they may seek their own answers to tough questions, thereby empowering them with tools for future development. 

GYST Workshop

Due to Covid 19, all person to person events are on hold. We are however are available for virtual workshops and lectures.

8-Week GYST Workshop
Weekend Retreat Workshop
One-Day GYST Workshop
2-3 Hour Crash Course Lecture/Workshop
Portfolio Review Workshop
"Teaching Professional Practices for Artists" Workshop for Arts Educators

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