Art Career

“Let everything happen to you
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final”

-Rainer Maria Rilke

We have no control. Our days are filled with motion for which we often take credit, actions we believe to have defined and executed of our own free will. And yet there is, at the very base of things, nothing but chaos that we have learned to deftly navigate. The neat lines of each day spin out of control more often than we may care to admit. However frustrating or frightening this may feel, the ability to allow each moment to wash over us, free of expectations and open to the unexpected, is the stuff of a rich, fulfilling life.

Varvara Keiden Shavrova spoke to us from Berlin in late August. She reported improvement from the time she arrived in early April of this year during the height of the lockdown. Whereas the city was closed off and deserted and people seemed scared, now, she says, the city has opened up with admission to museums and galleries once more allowed and cafes and restaurants brimming with guests once more. In terms of her artistic practice, the lockdown slowed her pace considerably. Despite having ample time to work, there was a void that she – like many artists – did not find conducive to creating art. In the month before we spoke, things had just begun to pick up with some shows coming up and she has begun working again in some small ways, examining surveillance as it relates to flight. To hear more about her work, including a knitted parachute she’s collaborating on, listen to the complete interview.

Nathan Hoks is a poet whose most recent book, Nests in Air, was published in 2021 by Black Ocean Press. Living in Chicago, he reports a mixed landscape when it came to the lockdown period. While some didn’t enjoy this time, Hoks found the ability to stay home to be a refreshing change from his usual commute. The pandemic exacerbated some of the themes of his recent book – namely the compressions of homelife. The parent of small children, his experience of lockdown was strongly infused with the daily labor of parenting. This coupled with learning how to teach online proved a steep curve in the beginning of lockdown. To hear more about this, his published works and live readings of poems from Nests in Air, listen to the complete interview.

A Few Words to Keep in your Pocket:

Perhaps learning to give in more easily is a better way to make our way along the path of life.

Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android please click here. All weekly essay pieces in a shareable format are here. The full archive of interviews here.

Books to Read

What are you reading? Add your titles to our reading list here. When we spoke, Varvara Keiden Shavrova was reading a Russian translation of Rainer Maria Rilke poems. Books by Nathan Hoks can be found here.

Deadlines:

The 19th annual Smithsonian Photo Contest is accepting submissions in multiple categories. Eight prizes will be awarded in spring 2022, including a grand prize of $2,500, six category prizes of $500 each and a reader’s choice prize of $500. For full details and to submit your work, visit the website. Deadline for submissions is November 30.

From 24 June to 20 August 2021, Marian Goodman Gallery and Holt/Smithson Foundation will present the first exhibition of Robert Smithson’s work in the gallery’s New York space. The exhibition, Abstract Cartography, will focus on a crucial five-year period in Smithson’s development: 1966 to 1971, a time when his “inklings of earthworks” began. This careful selection of artworks will trace Smithson’s radical rethinking of what art could be and where it could be found.

Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists; Making it in the Art World, New Markets for Artists, The Art World Demystified, Fund Your Dreams Like a Creative Genius, Sell Online Like a Creative Genius, and Succeed with Social Media Like a Creative Genius. His book, Making it in the Art World, is available now with bonus content here.

A career in art is all about reaching. Every day, artists much reach for their next goal. While this can be an exhausting pursuit at times to be sure, it can also be an exhilarating way to keep yourself motivated and excited about the work to which you have chosen to dedicate your life. For artists, work is life and life is work. There is a beautiful symbiosis in the balance of these two things.

The Kashima Artist in Residence program in Japan seeks both foreign and domestic artist for upcoming residency. Be sure to read all eligibility requirements before submitting an application. There is a one-time stipend available for this program. For complete details, visit the website. Deadline is October 29.

Apexart seeks proposals for upcoming exhibitions. Before starting work on a proposal, read the instructions carefully: Proposals should describe focused, idea-driven, original group exhibitions. No biographical information, CVs, links, or images will be accepted. Submissions cannot exceed 500 words and must be submitted in English. For more information and to submit your proposal, visit the website. Deadline for submissions is October 31.

The 19th annual Smithsonian Photo Contest is accepting submissions in multiple categories. Eight prizes will be awarded in spring 2022, including a grand prize of $2,500, six category prizes of $500 each and a reader’s choice prize of $500. For full details and to submit your work, visit the website. Deadline for submissions is November 30.

Praxis Center appreciates the tremendous effort that goes into each art career. We have made sure to have experts on hand to help you through the details while our community of peers is there to support and celebrate alongside you. Join us and see where Praxis can take you!

Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists; Making it in the Art World, New Markets for Artists, The Art World Demystified, Fund Your Dreams Like a Creative Genius, Sell Online Like a Creative Genius, and Succeed with Social Media Like a Creative.

 

Photo credit: Planetware

“Art is the highest form of hope.” -Gerhard Richter

It is easy, in the moment in which we find ourselves, to fall victim to a kind of despair – for the planet, for our children, for the future of humanity as a whole. And yet each time an artist lifts a brush or births a new idea into the world, this is itself an act of defiant hope. This is saying, into the echo of the chasm, I am here and I will. We will. There will be.

Patricia Lee Stotter spoke to us in late August from Pennsylvania. The news that day was of the bombing at Kabul Airport, news that shook Stotter like it did all of us. In terms of her current work – Stotter is an Emmy Award-winning composer and writer for film and television – she is currently working on a project called Dog Walk Home. The work, which she will compose music for, deals with the stories of veterans who come home with severe PTSD and turn to therapy dogs as a way to begin healing. Stotter recalled the first project she composed for after 9/11, a documentary titled From the Ashes which artists who lived in lower Manhattan at the time of the attack. It is work, she says, that helps her and many artists like her cope when terrible things happen. To hear more of our conversation with Patricia Lee Stotter, listen to the complete interview.

Erik Beehn spoke to us once again, again from Las Vegas where he reports tourism is still in a slump because of the ongoing pandemic. His studio serves a number of functions including a gallery in front and a printshop in back. More recently, he established a woodshop in the space, which also houses his personal art studio. When we spoke, he was working collaboratively on a few ideas as well as revisiting his drawing practice. He also had a two-person exhibition running at the time. To hear more from Erik Beehn, listen to the complete interview.

A Few Words to Keep in your Pocket:

Hold fast to hope, write it down, sketch it out, do not let it out of sight.

Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android please click here. All weekly essay pieces in a shareable format are here. The full archive of interviews here.

Books to Read

What are you reading? Add your titles to our reading list here. Patricia Lee Stotter had recently finished Apeirigon: A Novel by Colum McCann. Erik Beehn was reading some of the notes of Gerhard Richter when we spoke.

Deadlines:

Public Art for Spatial Justice seeks artists with projects that creatively engage important and timely conversations, bring healing to space and place and/or foster public imagination for a more just version of what is possible. If you are an artist who meets these criteria, check out the website for more information and consider submitting your work for grant consideration. Deadline for submissions is October 18.

From 24 June to 20 August 2021, Marian Goodman Gallery and Holt/Smithson Foundation will present the first exhibition of Robert Smithson’s work in the gallery’s New York space. The exhibition, Abstract Cartography, will focus on a crucial five-year period in Smithson’s development: 1966 to 1971, a time when his “inklings of earthworks” began. This careful selection of artworks will trace Smithson’s radical rethinking of what art could be and where it could be found.

Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists; Making it in the Art World, New Markets for Artists, The Art World Demystified, Fund Your Dreams Like a Creative Genius, Sell Online Like a Creative Genius, and Succeed with Social Media Like a Creative Genius. His book, Making it in the Art World, is available now with bonus content here.

Keeping up your momentum as an artist is one of your most important tasks. This applies not just to your studio practice, but to all those activities which help advance your career within the public realm. Throughout the calendar year, you must always be seeking and applying for new opportunities. Plan ahead, have items lined up with deadlines flagged so that you can put enough time into each new application or submission process. Time management, although perhaps not the most romantic aspect of an artistic career, is certainly one of the most critical to master.

Public Art for Spatial Justice seeks artists with projects that creatively engage important and timely conversations, bring healing to space and place and/or foster public imagination for a more just version of what is possible. If you are an artist who meets these criteria, check out the website for more information and consider submitting your work for grant consideration. Deadline for submissions is October 18.

The Recharge New Surrealist Prize invites artists living in the U.S. who work in the New Surrealist Style to apply for a $7,000 grant to support their work. The Recharge Foundation is a private non-profit organization that aims to promote cross-cultural craftsmanship preservation and create dialogues between antiques, high jewelry, fine arts, and technology. For more information and to apply, visit the website. Deadline for applications is October 19.

VIA Art Fund invites artists to submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) for the Artistic Production Grant. This award is given twice each year to individuals, organization and institutions who create work that is intended to be displayed outside of galleries and museums, within the public realm or in non-traditional spaces. For complete details about the LOI guidelines and to apply, visit the website. Deadline for LOI is October 25. Please note that once LOI is submitted, artists will be notified if they are invited to apply formally.

Praxis Center knows that time management doesn’t come easy to everyone. We work with you, helping build the strengths you need to succeed as an artist. Just like any new skill, managing your time and ensuring that it includes space to apply and submit takes practice. With diligence, you’ll be on your way to success before you can say deadline.

• creatively engages important and timely conversations, brings healing to space and place, and/or fosters public imagination for a more just version of what is possible?
• While we are still on this collective journey towards realizing more just futures for our public spaces, do you have a great idea for a public art project that offers creative ways to see, feel, and experience spatial justice through your artistic/creative practice in public spaces?

Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists; Making it in the Art World, New Markets for Artists, The Art World Demystified, Fund Your Dreams Like a Creative Genius, Sell Online Like a Creative Genius, and Succeed with Social Media Like a Creative.

Photo credit: Andrew Ruan via Wikicommons

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.”

-Leonard Bernstein

Of all the commodities in the world, perhaps none is more precious and scarce as time. It slips quietly past, often ignored or even resented when it moves too slowly during times we’d like to be in the past. But for every single person to ever walk this earth, time is finite, and suddenly one day it is gone. We become acutely aware of the fleeting nature of time when we feel we do not have enough of it. And yet this often yields the best work. The knowledge that our time is short, whether in the grand scheme or simply in the moment, pushes us forward and challenges us to think in ways we might not if we were to believe that our timeline infinite.

Traci Brimhall spoke to us from Kansas in mid-August where the weather was warm though the Delta surge was making its way to the area from Missouri. Brimhall is a poet with multiple books to her name. Her most recent, Come the Slumberless from the Land of Nod came out just as the pandemic began which meant cancelled book tours and staying home reading poetry to herself rather than to others. The work in this new book stretches far into the past, some of it from the time when she was pregnant with her son who is now eight years old. The pandemic dampened the celebratory feeling of the book launch at first, but now that our culture has adapted to a new way of connecting, Brimhall feels that the option of an online platform has actually opened the world in interesting ways. To hear more, including live readings by the poet, listen to the complete interview.

Bishakh Som spoke to us from Brooklyn. She reported that her neighborhood was returning to some semblance of normal with people going out to eat and drink. Som was in Manhattan when we spoke, preparing to teach an in-person class, a new world for her in many ways. An author and artist, Som has published two graphic works (more information below in the reading section of this newsletter). She is now at work on a third book having spent much of 2020 wanting to do so but finding she was not in the right frame of mind. Instead, she worked on a series of small paintings through 2020, now turning her attention to this new, long-form book project. To hear more about her work, both written and visual, listen to the complete interview.

A Few Words to Keep in your Pocket:

Time is not yours, use it wisely.

Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android please click here. All weekly essay pieces in a shareable format are here. The full archive of interviews here.

Books to Read

What are you reading? Add your titles to our reading list here. Traci Brimhall’s work can be found on her website. To learn more about the work of Bishakh Som, visit her website.

Deadlines:

The Hopper Prize awards two grants in the amount of $3,500 and four grants in the amount of $1,000 to artists from around the world representing many disciplines. The fall application period is now open. There is a fee for entry. For full details and to apply, visit the website. Deadline for applications is November 16.

From 24 June to 20 August 2021, Marian Goodman Gallery and Holt/Smithson Foundation will present the first exhibition of Robert Smithson’s work in the gallery’s New York space. The exhibition, Abstract Cartography, will focus on a crucial five-year period in Smithson’s development: 1966 to 1971, a time when his “inklings of earthworks” began. This careful selection of artworks will trace Smithson’s radical rethinking of what art could be and where it could be found.

Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists; Making it in the Art World, New Markets for Artists, The Art World Demystified, Fund Your Dreams Like a Creative Genius, Sell Online Like a Creative Genius, and Succeed with Social Media Like a Creative Genius. His book, Making it in the Art World, is available now with bonus content here.