Networking for artists

Artists at the start of their career already have the start of a network. New graduates have contact with their fellow students, tutors, and visiting artists. Artists who did not go to art school have contact with friends and family. People outside of the art world can still help with:

• Accounts, budgets, and money
• Reading over application forms to see if they make sense
• Finding empty spaces for self-organised exhibitions
• Connecting you with businesses for discounts on materials
• Feedback on your work
• Connecting you to people they know in the arts.

A good networking plan will include aspects of online and offline activity.

This is a resource by artist and tutor Edwina Fitzpatrick. It stimulates thinking on support networks and structures new graduates need when starting out.

It focuses on

• how to increase and develop support systems from peers at all stages
• how by supporting fellow practitioners, your practice will also develop

Since the COVID-19 pandemic many arts organisations have held more online events. Artquest runs online peer mentoring groups and one to one advice. Many of these artists keep in touch with each other and make friends.

Many online events take place on video conferencing like Zoom or Skype. It can be as hard for shy or introverted people to meet people online. Consider these tips and decide what’s right for you:

• You don’t need to have your camera on all the time during an event. It will help connect to people if you turn on your camera when you are asking a question. If you’re in a small meeting and you feel comfortable, you might decide to leave your camera on. Check what’s in the background of the image and use a virtual background if you want to.
• Send thoughtful comments on the speakers during a talk. Most platforms will have a chat feature for participants. Use the time during a presentation to think about questions or comments. Comment on topics and ask relevant questions. Think about the effect your question might have. Make sure you are adding to the conversation for everyone.
• Send relevant articles and links on the chat. Don’t only send your own website – keep it relevant to the conversation. Put a sentence like: “As the speaker was describing, this is a very relevant topic:” in front of the link. This will make it clear you’re doing more than sharing an opinion.
• Use private messaging to ask people you know about what they think. Use this rarely. You can message speakers you don’t know but only if you have something useful to say. You should find things to say that build trust and show that you value their opinion.
• Where you find a good connection, share your email address with people. In the first few days after the event, send a brief message to people you met to:
  • Thank them for their contribution to the talk.
  • Ask to add them to your email mailing list.
  • Comment with them on social networks.
  • Ask to have another conversation and explain what you want to discuss.
  • Look on social networks for the event or hashtags and connect to people talking about it.
• Make sure you respond to people trying to connect to you and check your spam folder.

Social networks

Artquest Exchange is our professional social network for artists. Any artist can join for free. The network helps people meet each other, find work, share resources, and give feedback on art work.

Our research suggests that Instagram is the most popular social network for artists right now.

Find out how to use hashtags to connect to more accounts and find people who might relate to your work.

It’s very easy to find people on social networks that you have never met. You might meet someone for a short time and track them down on a social network. Be careful of how you will appear. Some people will find this behaviour alarming. Always be professional on social networks.

Not everyone wants to use social networks. If you are not interested in social networks, don’t feel pressure to use them. A social network that is not updated or interactive can be more damaging that nothing. Around 7% of the artists who use the Artquest website do not use social networks.

Social networks can be addictive and cause mental health issues. They encourage people to compare themselves with each other. To avoid the worst effects of social networks:

• Turn off notifications and app badges. This will help social networks taking up more of your time than you want.
• Delete apps that you feel waste your time or do not support your wellbeing.
• Decide how many hours a day you want to spend on social networks. Install a screen monitor to limit how much time you spend online.
• Installl a browser that limits the information shared with social networks. This will reduce the information social networks can use to recommend content. Qwant, DuckDuckGo, and Firefox, have options to block social network tracking.
• Avoid recommended links. Search for your own content to avoid rabbit holes. Some extensions for Google Chrome can block recommendations.
• Check content that seems unlikely or extreme. You can search the internet or use a fact-checking service. It is important to do this before you share content. Use:
  • BBC News Fact Check,
  • Full Fact,
  • FactCheckNI,
  • Fact Check from Channel 4 News and
  • Ferret Fact Check.
• Avoid ‘clickbait‘ adverts. By clicking on adverts, social networks make money from misinformation.
• Get different points of view. Follow people with different opinions. Avoid accounts who treat other people’s identities and existence as a matter of debate.

If you are a carer or parent, consider:

• Limit devices in the bedroom and immediately before bedtime.
• Limiting social network use until age 16.
• Review social network use with resources from the NSPCC.
• Agree a ‘time budget’ with your children and decide how long they want to use social networks.

The art world is full of events, exhibitions and social occasions that are a good way of meeting new people. Find organisations that interest you. Join their email mailing lists to find out about what they do. You will meet people interested in the same things as you. Art events are also a good place to take new friends to get to know them better. You can ask friends to invite people you want to meet, and bring some of your friends to meet them too. The best type of networking is mutual.

Many exhibition openings happen in the early evening. It can be hard for artists with caring responsibilities to get to these. Some galleries are hold openings on weekends or afternoons to try to make it easier to attend.

Some events and conferences charge for tickets which might be expensive. Contact them well before the event and ask if they have discounted tickets or free places. If you explain you are an artist and would like to attend, they might be able to help.

Some artists can be nervous to meet people they don’t know at exhibitions and events. There are some simple tips to make meeting new people in real life more easy.

• Get in the mood to meet people before you go to an event. Remember that everyone attending will be a little nervous about meeting new people. Try not to just think about making new connections. People will be more interested in you if you show interest in them. Be prepared to help people with something small and to ask for help too. Showing a need and helping other people are good ways to build friendships.
• Share contact details with the people you connect well with. This will not be everyone that you meet. It’s still a good idea to have a simple business card with an image of your work. This reminds people who you are.
• If you go with someone, introduce them to people you know. Mention in a sentence something they do or why you are both here. People you have introduced to others are more likely to introduce you to people they know.
• Try to avoid questions like ‘what do you do?’. It’s more interesting to get to know people through who they are than what they do. Many events happen after working hours and people often want to relax. Be careful not to ask questions that are too intimate. Be sensitive that everyone has had a difficult time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Keep your first questions neutral like: ‘What’s keeping you busy these days?’ or ‘What brings you here?’. You can also ask how they are enjoying the event.
• If you are shy focus the conversation on other people. People often enjoy talking about themselves. You can direct a conversation with questions, but try not to ask too many. Remember to give some information about yourself or a conversation will feel one-sided.
• If you are not shy, remember to ask questions about the person you’re talking with. Don’t just tell everyone all about your art work. Getting to know someone means you share information about each other.

There are sometimes informal drinks after an event. If you have met some people you want to connect with consider going along. If there are no plans you can invite people to carry on your conversation over dinner or drinks.

A few days after the event email 1 or 2 people you met with something you spoke about. This might be a link to an article or a book, your website, or an online resource like Artquest. 🙂 Remember what you spoke about and send something they might find helpful.

In general spend more time keeping up with your network than trying to increase it. Deeper friendships are better than shallow ones. It takes time to get to know someone so don’t ask for too much too soon. Like friendships, you get out as much as you put in. Remember that friendships are mutual. You are as useful to others as they are to you.

The art world is a large social space. People often prefer to work with people they already know. This is because they need to know they can trust that work will get done on time. If people are working for low fees they want to be sure they will have a good experience.

This can lead to favouritism amongst small groups of friends. It also contributes to the majority of the art world being middle-class white people.

You recommend people that you introduce to other people you know. The relationship they have with each other will reflect on you. In the same way when someone introduces you, it reflects on the person who introduced you. If you abuse this contact by asking for a lot, your friend’s reputation will suffer as much as yours. They will be less willing to introduce you to people in future.

If you introduce people on email, give a specific reason you are introducing them. This will make it easier for them to follow up with each other. Get both people’s permission before you share their contact details. Someone might be busy right now and prefer an introduction another time. Or they might decide they don’t want to meet them. Getting everyone’s consent shows that you respect them.

Sometimes you will want to meet someone but you don’t know anyone they know. Ask people you know who might be able to help. You might know someone who has connected to them on a social network. Or you might know someone who worked with people they might know. Your friends might have as much to gain through a new connection as you. As a last resort, LinkedIn or Facebook might be able to suggest a connection.

If you need to contact someone you don’t know at all, be clear about why you’re contacting them. Tell them what they will get out of a connection as much as what you are looking for.

First impressions are crucial in setting the tone of a friendship. The art world is small so be friendly to everyone. Junior staff will become gallery directors and curators. You never know who might make a useful connection if treated with respect and courtasy. People tend to look for a personal as well as professional connection.

It is as important for an artist meet curators as for a curator to find artists. As with anyone in the art world you will meet by chance or by choice.

Curators are always looking for artists whose work they can include in an exhibition. They will have their own specialism or interest in particular types of art work. Remember that most exhibitions take a few months or more than a year to organise.

A curator in your network can tell you about opportunities and support your work. They can introduce your to other curators who might be more interested in your work. Try to go to their exhibition opening and show your support.

You can meet curators by:

• Showing your work as much as possible. This can be online or in real life. Curators will research artists at:
  • open studios,
  • exhibitions,
  • on websites and social networks,
  • talks and events,
  • residencies.
• Find out who is curating exhibitions that link with your art work. Keep a note of curators who might find your work interesting. Follow the work they do so you can explain why you want to meet them.
• Be selective about who you contact. Curators will get a lot of messages and are more likely to respond to something specific. Some major curators don’t go to exhibition openings because so many artists approach them. So keep things concise, interesting, chatty.  Make sure you have a card to give them and ask if you might have theirs. Find their contact details on exhibition press releasees or social networks.
• Ask your friends if they can introduce you.