How to Prepare a Top-Notch Artist Packet

July 1, 2009 | 1 Comment

Art

The most important thing that you can do as an artist, apart from creating great work and taking the time to get to know the people who work and hold influence in your field, is to take the time to put together promotional materials that reflect your artistic vision, creativity and level of professionalism. Over the years I have seen hundreds of portfolios and artist statements, and here are a few tips that I can recommend :

1. Your Portfolio is Everything: Your presentation package or portfolio should reflect who you are as an artist. EVERYTHING COUNTS, from the quality of materials that you use, to spelling and grammar. Choose a portfolio that mirrors your image. Remember that it is often the first thing that you will present to people, and will allow them to get an idea of who you are and what you do.

2. Using the Best Quality Materials: You should invest in the BEST QUALITY MATERIALS THAT YOU CAN AFFORD, especially with respect to any visual material or reproductions of your work. Forget about photos taken at home with your work on the wall and stuff scattered in the background. The technology is there (hyperlink). You can now scan images, or crop photos with Photoshop. If this seems daunting, get someone to help, a niece or young neighbour. Barter art work with a professional photographer. If you do take photos of your work, find a blank wall, preferably white, with good lighting. Focus in on the art work. Crop as close as possible. Also include several installation shots of your work, to provide a sense of dimension and overall perspective.

3. Identifying Your Work: Any image of your work needs to be accompanied by DETAILED INFORMATION on that art work. Always include the following information for each work of art:
a. Artist’s Name
b. Title of Work
c. Date
d. Dimensions
e. Materials
f. Price Rental / Price Purchace

4. The Artist Statement: Take the time to write-up a compelling ARTIST STATEMENT that clearly expresses your artistic vision (I didn’t say this was going to be easy… you will probably need to rewrite your statement several times and read it to others to get it right). Don’t be afraid to ask others what they think! This will help you make sure you are being clear and that even uninitiated art-lovers will understand what you are trying to express. You don’t have to include all suggestions, but you should try to listen carefully to suggestions that might be helpful.

5. More on the Artist Statement: Your artist statement should describe your artistic vision and approach to art-making. Use concrete examples to highlight your ideas. Speak about HOW you work (materials, technique, approach), as well as WHAT is important to you (vision, values, philosophy, ideas, passion). Most artist statements are between ONE PARAGRAPH and TWO PAGES long.

Check List of What to Include in Your Artist’s Package:
a. Artist statement.
b. Biography or professional C.V.
c. Visual material or images of your art work, that are of good quality and clearly identified (this goes for digital images as well as printed images).
d. Printed or electronic invitations, pamphlets or posters.
e. Catalogues and publications.
f. Business card.
g. Good quality copies of favourable reviews, published articles or links to blogposts. If you have many entries include only the most important articles, the others can be cited in your CV.
h. Website

Once your artist portfolio is complete it will serve you for the next few years. Don’t forget to keep adding invitations, reviews, letters or appreciation, and any other promotional material related to your work.
You can also draw from your portfolio to create an artist packet to be sent out to prospective galleries, art fairs, funders or calls for submission. All the information will be in one place!