Get control of, among other things, communities, website and solo exhibitions. These are some of the pieces of advice from visual artist Anja Franke, who is a new mentor in the Association of Visual Artists (BKF).
I BKF's Mentoring scheme you can get a professional, focused guidance course with an experienced artist or mediator.
Here, Anja Franke gives 5 pieces of advice on how to have a good working life as an artist:
1 – Create a community
During your education as a visual artist (or if you are self-taught, possibly with the addition of other education) ensure that you create a trusting dialogue and discussion with your fellow students.
Create a community, a connection. It is necessary so that you can perspective your artistic thoughts in relation to other artists and previous artistic strategies.
It is important to reflect the society you are part of.
At the same time, you also create an artistic platform, or a window, where you, together with other artists, can show your art to the public. It is essential and the foundation for the rest of your artistic career.
2 – Solo exhibitions and supplementary work
After your artistic education, make sure to have at least one solo exhibition per year for the next 3 years. Also create a complementary job that suits you and your artwork, so you get a financial platform.
Create a website you can handle yourself. Be sure to go to vernissages – this is where artists meet in a non-committal forum and create networks.
3- Formulate your artistic visions
As an artist, you can participate in many different contexts that are not necessarily creating a work of art.
Get good at formulating artistic visions in communicative texts, so that you can communicate via text. This can also be used to apply for funding.
Be sure to combine your art work with other work where you can earn money for rent, running and food. The work can either be artistically related or otherwise. Don't work with anything that prevents you from creating art.
There must be time and space to fumble.
4 – Set a budget
Familiarize yourself properly with setting up a budget.
Which means:
•Put finance on your expertise
•Hourly pay for your knowledge and process
•Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the prices of materials, craftsmen and art dealers
•Learn to handle tax accounting, B income or VAT and get an accountant
5 – Create your own platform financially and artistically
As a creative artist, you are on a stage where the lights are switched on and off, all conditions can change in a short time.
Make sure you create your "own" platform both financially and artistically. It takes many rejections to create a solid career as a visual artist.
Anja Franke (b. 1962) is a trained professional photographer in Copenhagen and New York (1985). Visual artist and cand. phil. in art communication and theory at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen (1994).
Professor at the Funen Art Academy 1997 – 2006.
As a conceptual visual artist, she creates contextual works based on identity, gender, culture/nature. She revolves around feminist strategies, that the personal is politicizing the aesthetic. And from here on questions about the abolition of the public and private.
Read about her work at: www.anjafranke.dk
See the overview of all mentors in BKF's Mentoring scheme here…
Anja Franke's 5 good tips for working life as an artist are presented for the first time by AJKS - the Unemployment Fund for Journalism, Communication and Languages. Read more about how AJKS assesses artistic work in relation to the award of daily allowance here…
Read more at BKF about artists and unemployment benefits here…