Continuous Project Altered Quarterly | June 2023

A story and an invitation

When I made the decision to go to graduate school for an MFA in visual art, I had a specific idea of what my life as an artist would look like. It’s an idea of success that’s probably familiar to most readers here, and probably also describes some of your lives: I’d have an active studio with a busy exhibition schedule; a tenured professorship in an MFA program; and low key gallery representation in a handful of cities like Los Angeles, New York, London, Berlin… At some point during graduate school, I awakened to the reality of what assembling that success would require. I realized two things at once: It actually wasn’t at all what I wanted, and even if I did, my school was not preparing me for it.

Despite my dual realization (and despite too many other things that look in retrospect like flags waving at me to change course), I decided to complete the program. After I graduated, I managed the studio of one of my former teachers to earn money and make my own work, and it became even more clear to me that I had not found my path.

I decided to pursue a role in a curatorial department at a museum. My mentor in graduate school was married to a curator at a local museum, so I approached my mentor’s spouse for advice. When my mentor heard that I was pursuing and was offered a job at the museum, he called me to encourage me away from this path. This person had been unconditionally supportive for nearly three years prior, and we had a close relationship. It was jarring to hear my mentor judge my career path. Even though my ears heard their reasoning that the job would compromise my art, my head and heart couldn’t hear it. My mentor didn’t acknowledge that I’d been selected for a coveted role from a competitive pool of candidates, and more importantly, they didn’t acknowledge that I had been offered a job that I desperately needed to make a living and pay back the giant pile of student loan debt I’d accumulated to pay for my MFA.

While cautioning me against taking the job, my mentor didn’t offer an alternative, nor had they or my school educated me about how to actually be an artist or introduce me to people who would help pave the way. My mentor had a teaching job, gallery representation, and a spouse with a steady, prestigious job to rely on. All I had was myself and my MFA.

This story is, unfortunately, not unique. There is a part of me that treasures the three years I spent in graduate school, completely immersed in the pursuit of my art practice, and also completely isolated from the realities of what’s required to be an artist in public. That part of me doesn’t want to mess with the magic of art school. But I also know that my life might have taken a different shape if my education had included more insight into establishing and navigating a life as an artist. It’s impossible to know whether that shape would have been better (and don’t get me wrong, because I love my life), but at least I would have been empowered with more knowledge to help me make informed decisions.

For the past three years, I’ve taught workshops and classes at BFA and MFA programs across the region, and beyond. Teaching gives me the opportunity to share the knowledge, tools, and skills that I wish I’d learned when I was in school. Though the students I’ve had the honor to work with have been incredible, I found myself unfulfilled by the experience, so I decided to take a break from it this year to get some perspective. To that end, I’m actively seeking conversations that will help me understand how individuals, faculties, and institutions more broadly are thinking about what is often referred to as “professional practices,” and which I call the parallel practice. As I think more deeply about how Continuous Project can contribute to a transformation of how we as a society perceive, acknowledge, compensate, and value cultural labor, I’m searching for ways that I can have an impact within the art educational framework beyond the occasional workshop or class. I’m open to conversations that will illuminate the path, so I invite educators and administrators in BFA or MFA programs to reach out if you’d like to share your stories and thoughts.

Ideas & Resources
for Art Workers

The Writers Guild of America strike and the broader contemporary labor movement have been inspiring me to reflect on the past, present, and future of cultural labor. There’s lots in the Ideas & Resources Doc relating to this topic, so I encourage you to dive in. One highlight is Working Artists for the Greater Economy, also known as W.A.G.E. Founded in 2008, W.A.G.E. has made enormous contributions to our field with their work, such as establishing pay standards for art worker labor on a sliding scale depending on the hosting institutions’ annual budget. W.A.G.E. just launched a major website update with many new initiatives in the pipeline. Joining WAGENCY—W.A.G.E.’s solidarity union—is free, and subscribing (which I encourage you to do, as member subscriptions directly support their ongoing work and is required for using WAGENCY services) costs $5 per month for any self-identified supporter of W.A.G.E. I’m WAGENT #702. Please join me in becoming a member to support this important work!

Updates from
Continuous Project

I’ll be offering my workshop Parallel Practice: Growth Planning for Art Workers again this fall. I’m limiting the cohort to ten people this time. Registration starts in August. Email me with questions and to join the waitlist. Early inquirers will be polled to find the best day and time to meet.  

In 2020, I co-founded Contemporary Art League (CAL) as a way to engage the third of three objectives of Continuous Project: consulting, teaching, and advocacy. Transforming how society perceives, acknowledges, compensates, and values cultural labor—the singular aim of Continuous Project—cannot happen without art workers advocating for ourselves with a unified voice. CAL is a trade cooperative building that voice. Our long term goal is to provide professional support (such as grant writing, legal counsel, bookkeeping); community services (such as health insurance, child care, a retirement fund); and advocacy opportunities (such as regular meetings with local, state, and national policy-makers) for our members at a cooperatively-owned community center. If you’ve been following the Writers Guild strike and wish there was a WGA for the art world, join us to help make it happen! Visit our website to sign up for our mailing list, read the most recent edition of The Art Worker, and join us TOMORROW Saturday, June 24 (and the last Saturday of every month) at ICA LA. We’ll be there from 11am-1pm; there is no set agenda, so drop in any time.