This Friday I participated in the buffer2 workshop organized by guts gallery (which hosts a yearly group exhibition of recent graduates, aiming to open a constructive dialogue with young graduate artists just starting their art careers, and to provide an annual platform for them under the graduate failure of the traditional art education system).
The purpose of this workshop is to assist newly graduated artists in successfully navigating the art world. It was divided into two parts: established artist first-hand experience sharing and financial support advice.
The first part begins with a conversation between Ellie Pennick of guts gallery and artist Olivia Sterling. They talked about things like the artist-gallery relationship, essential skills artists need, and practical tips, such as having contracts, setting boundaries, and being professional in the art industry. They also highlight the importance of transparency in pricing, managing intellectual property, and having a professional online presence.
The conversation ended with the topic of Art career development and networking. Olivia sterling encouraged graduates to embrace their creative freedom and take risks in their art practice.
The second half of the workshop is about essential financial knowledge and advice for artists brought by HSBC.
I think this workshop is very practical in its combination of artist experience sharing and financial advice. It brings a lot of really useful advice to newly graduated artists and also provides an opportunity to build connections. However, this also depends on the initiative of the participants. I observed that many participants were not enthusiastic in their responses to the questions and the conversations after workshop ended.
For Chinese graduates, language barriers are also a factor to consider. I will continue to think about how to bring opportunities for connection to my target audience. My current thoughts are: 1. Maintain a mental balance part to bring positivity and initiative to their journey. 2. Community building: It can be embedded in the emotional diary sharing or resource sharing part. 3. Then hold offline activities in the community in the future.