I have a lot of material in my smARTist library, but until this  year, Art Fairs were not high on my list.

All that changed when I met Richard Rothbard – artist, gallery owner, and art fair producer – at a CODA conference in Savannah, GA, where I was speaking this last spring.

Besides hosting CODA Conference attendees at his Savannah Gallery, Richard treated me to a very non-Southern meal of fantastic sushi and brought me on board for his Contemporary Art Fair NYC, a sister show to his American Craft Fair NYC.

I was fascinated by Richard’s enthusiasm for bringing artists to NYC at a price they could afford – since most high-end venue Art Fairs are truly exorbitant. But more than that, it occurred to me that Richard was carrying around a wealth of information on Art Fairs.

I realized, in short order, that no one had thought to…

Joan Marie – http://www.joanmarieart.com/

2008 & 2009 smARTist Alumni Joan Marie has an Art Opening for her MFA Exhibition at Lindenwood University on Sunday, March 21st. 40 of my Abstract “Music Paintings ” display the song I listened to as I transformed the music into paint on canvas.
Congratulations Joan!

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Did you miss the live 2010 smARTist Telesummit?
No problem! I’ve got The 2010 smARTist Home Study Edition all ready to go!
http://smartist.com/live-telesummit/home-study-edition/

Upwind Flames by Louis Copt

I was asked to speak before an influential group of retired businessmen and women this past summer. By “influential” I basically mean millionaires. But listen, not all rich folks are jerks.  Many started with nothing, never forgot where they came from, and are…

Once upon a time, an artist I was working with spent a long time priming and polishing her artist statement for a very serious studio exhibition she was planning in Boston.

She had been working for over a year on a series of oil paintings that had taken her in new directions, and she was attending to every detail of the exhibit with loving care.

Her large, abstract work was engaging on its own. But when you got a chance to read about her process and her thoughts as she painted, the work took on an even larger presence.

Part of my job was to coach her on how to present her artist statement so it reflected the same attention to detail that her art did.

But, as the saying goes…you can lead a horse to water…