Artist Experimentation: Finding Resonance

Kinds of research that are helpful for artists: Seeing if other artists are making similar work. If yes, figuring out ways to distinguish yours from theirs. Tracking art prices to make sure yours make sense. Paying attention to how your favorite artists and galleries present, display, organize, speak about their art. Reading or watching collectors talk about what, where, how, why they buy. Reading or watching artists talk about their artistic lives, careers, challenges, setbacks, successes, etc.

Does your organization grow industry artists or artists in the industry? An industry artist is one in full lockstep with singular models of working styles, accountability, impact, and success. The industry artist is grown to preserve the status quo. An artist in the industry has autonomy to develop, modify, adapt, and imagine practices aligned to industry vision, mission, and imperative. The artist in the industry is syncopated to the beat, creating sounds around it, slightly behind it, slightly ahead of it, sometimes late, sometimes early, sometimes in ways that make the rest of the band uncertain but excited. Industry always changes. Organizations sometimes resist change. Your artists in the industry are valuable, even if the beat, melodies, and harmonies are unfamiliar or unsettling. The might just compose you a whole new symphony.

When an artist go into the studio, they’re not just bringing lyrics they’re bringing their story, their energy, their perspective. My part isn’t just to record sound. It’s to translate the vision into something polished, and powerful enough to last.

At the end of my PhD, I was delighted to be selected as Pint of Science Australia’s Annual Digital Artist for 2026. Their annual festival uses art to promote speakers in bars across the country to facilitate inclusivity and challenge biases around who can do science and what it constitutes. Science has always deeply interested me but I worried that pursuing it might overshadow my enthusiasm for art and creative writing which did not often go hand in hand. However, I found that science provided a rigor and thoughtfulness to what I made or said; I wrote short stories for competitions which got published, helped with design projects, and animated my thesis while finishing my PhD. In this latest project, I had a lot of fun designing some illustrations which place interdisciplinary science and collaboration at the core of Australian research excellence. Diverse Australian animals embody the six themes at Pint of Science events which work together to fill the central Pint of Science glass. This cooperative act unifies the themes and depicts the organisation’s values of collaboration, inclusion and social atmosphere through the meeting of the diverse characters and beverages. The dimensions at the base of the design also diverge from the rest of the image, illustrating the unique perspective provided by the six research themes within the Australian research landscape in 2026. 🍻 While we focus on the research in the lab, science outreach is key to combatting misinformation and engaging the broader community. If you would like to be involved in the festival, visit their website and attend Pint of Science events on 18th - 20th May 2026 (https://lnkd.in/g663CvTZ)!

Not understanding or trusting prices is a main reason people don't buy art. To complicate matters, many artists aren't sure how to price either. They have no system. They can't explain prices in straightforward terms. They make prices up on the fly. Worst of all, they stumble around when potential buyers ask price questions. The solution? Standardize your prices. Apply the same criteria to every work of your art. The more confident you are about pricing, the more confident we'll be about buying.

Online opinions can be loud, conflicting, and often outdated. When it comes to long-standing galleries, separating fact from speculation is essential. This Advice Blog addresses common myths about Agora Gallery and offers artists a practical framework for evaluating online sources with clarity and confidence. It explains why not all comments carry equal weight and how to identify reliable, current information when researching opportunities. 📖 Read the full article on our Advice Blog: https://lnkd.in/gzNTqSPk #AGIFineArt #AdviceBlog #artadvice

Artists sometimes resist using "collector language," thinking it's selling out. But it's actually about being understood. Artist language focuses on technique and process (encaustic, mixed media, liminality). Collector language focuses on how the art enhances a space (large blue abstract, coastal living room, calming). One tries to impress, the other to connect. Which approach truly serves the art? #ArtMarketing #ArtistTips #SellingArt #ArtCollectors

I don't know if this is true but if a.i is replacing us is the industry low key saying artist are trash and or left behind artistically or not good enough anymore. Are we in the A.i Vs. Human war now? . . . . . . . I didn't think I'd see the day seriously. I don't know about y'all but I'm not taking a loss to A.i lol. Ask yourself next time do you sound like a.i or does a.i sound like (you). Humanly a.i shouldn't be able to copy us.

The artist selection process for public art is more complex than most people realize. I've been working in public art for over 20 years, and I've seen firsthand how challenging it can be to select artists for projects that will become part of our shared spaces for decades. In my latest Public Art Curious newsletter, I explore two interconnected challenges: 🕐 Time commitment: Reviewing 100 applications means 233+ hours of committee work before anyone even meets to discuss. Who has time for that? 🗣️ Public engagement: How do we bring more voices to the table without compromising the process? These are just two of many issues facing the field. But without transparency, we can't find better solutions. I'm committed to building that transparency through Public Art Curious — making the complex systems behind public art accessible to everyone. What challenges have you seen in artist selection processes? I'd love to hear your experiences. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/eQre4ggq #PublicArt #ArtsAdministration #CommunityEngagement #ArtsLeadership