Ours is a profession with no clear pathway. There are innumerable measures of success for an artist. CARFAC BC’s enhanced ebook, Artists Talk: A Practical Guide to Emerging as an Artist in Canada, therefore does not provide a standard roadmap towards a vague artistic career. Rather, it offers windows into opportunities that can be created and key advice from those working in the field. This guidebook provides tools to help artists make pathways towards the practice they envision, whether they have just graduated from arts school or are determining their next career move.
Artists Talk includes texts on a wide-range of business of art topics—from preparing exhibition proposals to negotiating artist fees—written by artist Annie Briard, CARFAC National Director April Britski, public art administrator Ashley Guindon, Access Gallery Director/Curator Kimberly Phillips, and others. Texts are bolstered by comprehensive video interviews with prominent Canadian artists, arts administrators, and gallerists, including artists Luke Parnell and Kristina Fiedrich and 221A Artist-Run Centre Director Brian McBay.
Chapters include:
- Establishing Your Career in the Arts
- Presenting and Promoting Your Work
- CARFAC, Artist Fees, and Copyright
- Showing Your Work and Negotiating Fees with Confidence
- Emerging as an Indigenous Artist
- Developing Your Business Skills
- Financing Your Art Practice
- Working as an Artist in the Public Realm
- Continuing Education
Available now on the iBookstore, Google Play, Chapters Indigo Kobo, and Amazon Kindle.
This project would not have been possible without the generous support of the BC Arts Council, Access Copyright Foundation, the City of Vancouver, and CARFAC National.
CARFAC as an organization has released a wide range of other publications, including guides for visual artists on contracts, estate planning, healthy living and studio life, copyright, legal issues, and a general survival guide for the practical artist.
To see the full offering from CARFAC Ontario, and purchasing options, visit their website. There’s a bulk discount offered if you’re interested in purchasing them for a classroom or other educational setting!