This course will take you through a survey to determine just how much you know about the business aspects of being an artist. It will give you a good idea just how much you need to learn, or the satisfaction that you already know what you need to know.

The second part will take you through 10 steps to getting your sh*t together. If you complete these 10 steps, you are well on your way to being ready to engage with the art world and having a handle on just what else you need to figure out.

So come on this journey and see just how much you have your sh*t together!

This course will require approximately 1-1.5 hours of your time, but you can always save your place and return at your convenience.

Course Instructor:
Karen Atkinson is a media, installation and public artist, independent curator, collaborator, and has published and guest edited a number of publications. She has exhibited and curated internationally including South Africa, Australia, Europe, Mexico, Canada, and throughout the USA, and exhibited in the Fifth Havana Biennial in Cuba. She was a co-founding director of Side Street Projects in 1991, a non profit artist-run organization in Los Angeles which is still up and thriving today. She has been a faculty member at CalArts since 1988. She is a past board president of NAAO, the National Association of Artists’ Organizations. She has served on the board of directors of LACPS, Side Street Projects, Installation and serves on many Advisory Boards of arts organizations. Atkinson currently teaches classes and workshops titled “Getting Your Sh*t Together” and has created software for visual artists of the same title. Her company GYST Ink, is an artist run company for artists. She also co-edits the blog. www.gyst-ink.com

At this point in your life, you have probably tried to answer the question: “Who am I?” many times over. If you’ve been successful enough to figure out that you are a creative professional, then you’ve already made huge strides towards demystifying your professional identity. However, there is more work to be done. This course walks you through some basic steps to clarify your professional identity, which will lay the foundation for all of the strategic planning work to come.

This course will require approximately 1-2 hours of your time, but you can always save your place and return at your convenience.

This course was developed as a collaborative effort of the Fractured Atlas staff.

As an artist or arts organization, you have to be able to market your creative offering. And, since you’ll be competing with other art professionals, as well as every other place that people spend their discretionary income (e.g. restaurants, bars, clubs, movies, amusement parks, sporting events, etc.); you need to make sure your efforts are targeted and compelling. Marketing Demystified is an introductory course that will explain marketing basics like market research, segmentation, positioning, pricing, distribution, promotion, and designing your creative offering.

This course will require approximately 1-2 hours of your time, but you can always save your place and return at your convenience.

This course was developed as a collaborative effort of the Fractured Atlas staff.

Money, Money Money! According to our research, many artists feel uncomfortable with money: talking about it, asking for it, including it in the conversation around their art.

Get over it! Producing art is generally not inexpensive. We as artists need money to survive and to make our art. But many of us don’t always have full-time, salaried jobs or trust funds. So, how do we go about paying for the work that we want to produce? We fundraise!

This course will require approximately 1-2 hours of your time, but you can always save your place and return at your convenience.

This course was developed as a collaborative effort of the Fractured Atlas staff.