SNAG Educational Endowment | Entry 3

Beginning Balance: $771.16
Now that I had two new pieces to add to previously completed work, I was ready to install version 2.0 of my solo exhibition Home in the Main Hall Art Gallery at Kent State Stark. With my scholarship money, I was able to add some new components:

For my candidacy review exhibition of the same name that took place in March, I used a stool, a display mannequin and wall-mounted coat hooks to install the pieces Womanhouse 2012, Perilous Home and Womanhouse 2013. I wanted to use mounts typically associated with the home to reference a domestic space and emphasize the idea that these pieces were meant to be donned before walking out the door and worn throughout the rest of the day. In this second installation, I furthered the idea by adding a chair rail behind the works, $17.00 at Home Depot.

Jessica Todd, (left to right) Womanhouse 2012, Perilous Home and Womanhouse 2013
installed at the Main Hall Art Gallery, Kent State Stark

Labels for the work along with various hardware and mountings cost $25.09; a beveled mirror to go under the piece It's A Great Neighborhood, $10.39. The show turned out exactly as I imagined it to be and the entire process was an incredible opportunity and learning experience. I enjoyed sharing my work with the students, faculty and staff at Stark and loved hearing their interpretation of and feedback about the show.

Jessica Todd, Home at Main Hall Art Gallery, Kent State Stark

Jessica Todd, Home at Main Hall Art Gallery, Kent State Stark

Total Purchase: $52.48
Ending Balance: $718.68

SNAG Educational Endowment | Entry 2

Beginning Balance: $872.17
My next pursuit was another piece I had in mind for quite some time - a mini series relating suburbia to the body. Thanks to my scholarship, I finally had the money to pay a model to subject herself to the abuses of paint, flocking and strong adhesives to create the effects I was looking for. Fellow grad Rachel received $20.00 for her troubles, a small price to pay for the uncomfortable posing and skin damage she endured! Materials cost an additional $14.90. 

Jessica Todd, Suburban Growth Series, SLS, glass, paint

Jessica Todd, Suburban Growth Series, flocking

Jessica Todd, Suburban Growth Series, skin

For my solo exhibition Home at the Kent State Stark campus I purchased beautiful 20x24 prints of the work from AdoramaPix ($45.20). They looked fantastic on the walls and added visual diversity to the overall exhibition. I also purchased 8x10 prints of my performance pieces that I had previously only displayed in rotation on a digital screen ($20.91). Having the physical prints allowed my audience to view all the images at once and had a much greater visual impact in the space.

Jessica Todd, Suburban Growth Series installed

Jessica Todd, documentation of performance pieces installed
(Womanhouse 2012, Perilous Home, Womanhouse 2013)

Total Purchase: $101.01
Ending Balance: $771.16

SNAG Educational Endowment | Entry 1

Back in May at the SNAG conference in Toronto I learned that I had received a SNAG Educational Endowment Scholarship. I was, and am, honored, humbled and inspired to work even harder toward my goals.  It truly means the world to me to get this vote of confidence from the jurors and an organization I respect so much. Because people donate so generously to make these scholarships happen, I decided to track every penny on my blog and share the work and processes made possible by this funding. So, here's installment one:

Beginning Balance: $1,007.38

There wasn't even enough in my account for an ATM withdrawal before I deposited my $1,000 scholarship. An instant surge of excitement rushed through me as I processed the realization that I had guilt-free "art" cash, none of which would pay for a single grocery or water bill.

My first purchase was from Joann Fabrics - Cotton muslin, Rit dyes (20% off!) and PhotoFabric, a paper-backed cotton you can send through an inkjet printer (total: $100.36). These materials were for a piece I had in mind for several months - a set of eight dresses dyed to match the eight McCormick exterior Colonial paint colors permitted by my hometown's Community Guidebook for painting the exterior of houses. (Rit has a great Color Formula Guide on their website.) The concept for this series of work is the idea that our living environment influences how we think and experience the world. This piece critiques the notion of customization in suburban subdivisions which creates an illusion of choice and individuality without threatening uniformity, a practice I believe extends to the residents themselves.

Jessica Todd, 8 Exterior Color Choices for the Countryside Subdivision

Jessica Todd, 8 Exterior Color Choices for the Countryside Subdivision (detail)

To complete the piece I also purchased an online dress pattern ($5.44), a clothing rack and hangers ($12.56) and shipping ($16.85) to mail the fabric to my mom back home in Virginia who lovingly helped me sew the dresses. The final piece turned out exactly as I had pictured it and seemed to have a big impact on the audience who viewed it later at my solo exhibition Home, which took place at the Kent State Stark campus through the month of September 2013.

Total purchase: $135.21
Ending Balance: $872.17

Selling Your Craft Online at Society for Contemporary Craft

I'm very excited to teach at Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh this Fall! Selling Your Craft Online will take place October 27 from 10am to 4pm. Registration is online here: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=23447  Tuition is $50 + a $5 Materials Fee.*

I will cover the basics of online marketplaces, product tips, photography, pricing, branding and marketing, packaging and shipping, custom orders and more! Participants will be provided with the tools to transform their creative products and ideas into online sales. 

This class is designed to guide creative makers through the A-Z process of selling online, from inception of the product to setting up shop to customer delivery. There will be a focus on the use of online marketplaces to facilitate sales, such as Etsy, DaWanda and 1000 Markets. Handouts, templates and digital files will guide students both during the workshop session and upon returning home so that everyone leaves able to set up and run an online store through to the final sale. The workshop will be presented in an interactive lecture style, with a combination of digital presentation, demonstrations and individual work time. Students are encouraged to bring a small sampling or photos/drawings of the products they plan to sell.

*Tuition: $50 Materials fee: $5, to be paid to the instructor on the day of the event Cancellations & Refunds:Workshop cancellations are decided three business days before the start date. If workshop must be cancelled due to insufficient enrollment, the entire class fee will be refunded by check, to your credit card or SCC account for future workshops. Refund Policy: Student refund requests must be made at least three business days before a class begins. There will be a $25 cancellation fee. No refunds will be given without three business days notice. Processing of refunds takes approximately three weeks.

ASM International Exhibition

ASM International, an organization for materials scientists and engineers working with metals, teamed with Kent State to produce a student art exhibition on display throughout the halls and conference rooms of their world headquarters in Materials Park, Ohio. I was happy to find out that my work had been selected for the show, which will be on display until December 2013. All of the selected works can be viewed on their website: http://www.asminternational.org/portal/site/www/about-asm/ksu/

Cecarelli & Sons (right) at the ASM International Headquarters in Materials Park, OH

At their beautiful campus, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and much more than an office building, one can't help but be inspired. The surrounding treetops and gardens pour in through giant walls of windows, becoming part of the contemporary, open-concept work environment with the perfect touch of mid-century pizzazz. The enormous latticework geodesic dome sits gracefully over top the building and mineral gardens, an iconic work of art that vibrates throughout the interior space. I hope that my casual snapshots have captured a bit of the experience, and I already have some great ideas for installation work that I plan to propose by the end of the summer. They are very open to bringing art into their space, something I believe many businesses would be wise to practice, as it makes for a creative, positive and inspirational work environment for all employees.

More about the building can be found here:  http://www.asminternational.org/portal/site/www/about-asm/materials-park/

from The MFA Guidebook for Studio Artists | Earning Extra Money: Student Art Sales

This post is taken from my crafthaus blog "The MFA Guidebook for Studio Artists" and was originally posted on May 28, 2013. To view the blog in its entirety along with reader comments, visit my Group on crafthaus, or join to stay updated: http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook

Student art sales are a great way to help support yourself while you’re working toward your MFA. Not only will you earn some extra cash, but you’ll also get your name out into your local community and better understand concepts of pricing, marketing and production. You’ll begin to see what sells and you’ll learn more about your customers and how to appeal to them. Even if you’re not planning to go into retail or production work, creating this type of work is an opportunity to improve your technical skills, explore the commercial side of art and help build a greater community that understands and appreciates art – something that benefits all of us.

If your discipline or area does not yet have an organization that sells student work, you can be the one to start it up! Universities offer students the opportunity to create their own student organizations – search your school’s website to find out how. It’s usually free and requires minimal information such as officer names, a mission statement and a minimum start-up membership. Gather your classmates and make it happen! It can be within your specific discipline (ceramics, glass, printmaking, etc.) or more general (crafts disciplines, all art, etc.). You’ll also need a bank account for your organization and a credit card reader if you plan to accept credit card payments (a great way to increase sales!).

For example, I am a part of the KSU Jewelry/Metals Student Co-op. Our group includes undergraduate and graduate students and has officers such as president, treasurer, PR and secretary. A portion of our sales go back to the Co-op and we vote to use those proceeds toward needs for the studio, such as books for our library, or for student travel, such as to this year’s SNAG conference in Toronto. The students keep the other portion of their sales as profit. In order to encourage participation in the running of the sale, we have it set up so that those who do not help out split sales 50/50 and those who do help out split sales 75/25. It’s a great incentive to make sure we have enough people on duty.

To set up your sale, find a venue at your university and contact the appropriate department well ahead of time to reserve the space. Create a sign-up list for members to cover shifts at the sale, including set-up and break-down. Decide on how you will display the work. Ours is very simple – cloth table coverings, wood boxes to hold the jewelry and a banner with our organization name. The Co-op purchases additional displays that we share as well as jewelry boxes in bulk that members buy at the reduced price.

To advertise, we use social media, flyers posted on campus and our university’s website and newspaper. You can also look to low-cost advertising opportunities within your community to drum up business. In time you might decide to bring your sale to other venues or to participate in outside events. For example, KSU Co-op participated in a holiday sale at the Akron Art Museum last December and this summer we will have a booth in the Kent Art and Wine Festival. These events do the advertising for you and bring in a larger audience.

It’s very important to have a system to keep track of inventory and sales. We have each student label their pieces with initials and a number. Mine, for example, would read “JMT01, JMT02,” etc. Then the student fills out and turns in a corresponding inventory sheet that looks like this:

Inventory Sheet				Initials: JMT
Date: 5/28		Name: Jessica Todd
Inventory Check IN	Inventory Check OUT	Inventory #	Description		Price	Sold
X		JMT01	Sterling silver ring with garnet, size 7		$60
X		JMT02	Sterling silver ring with peridot, size 6		$60	X

Etc.

The Co-op then keeps a Daily Sales Inventory Sheet for all participants (in alphabetical order) for each day of the sale. As sales are made, they are marked as “sold” on the individual’s inventory sheet (above) and then the inventory number and price are recorded on the Daily Sales. At the end of each sale day, the treasurer totals all of the sales and ensures that our cash box, checks and credit card charges match up. After the semester’s sales have finished, the work is inventoried out and the treasurer calculates and writes checks to the sellers.

Date: 5/28		Daily Sales Inventory Sheet						Location: Art Building
Seller: CAS		Seller: DSM			Seller: JMT			Seller: RSG
Item #	Price	Item #		Price	Item #	Price		Item #	Price
25	$40	11		$25	02	$60		06	$80
17	$26							18	$60
								09	$75
Total: $66		Total: $25			Total: $60			Total: $215
etc.
Total Cash at Start: $100			Total Cash at End: $125 Total Checks: $100 Total Credit Card Charges: $241				Daily Total Sales: $366

I would love to hear from readers on this one! How does your student organization run sales? Do you have any tips for advertising, structure, display or special events? What have you found to be successful or not so successful? Thanks for your input!

from The MFA Guidebook for Studio Artists | The Application Process, Part II: The Interview

This post is taken from my crafthaus blog "The MFA Guidebook for Studio Artists" and was originally posted on March 25, 2013. To view the blog in its entirety along with reader comments, visit my Group on crafthaus, or join to stay updated: http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook

THE APPLICATION PROCESS, PART II: THE INTERVIEW

You may have interviewed at your undergraduate institution or gone to some job interviews over the years, but chances are you've never done an interview quite like this. Your interview for an MFA program, and possibly assistantship or scholarship opportunities, is a really unique and important one.

First, why interview? Even if you've already been accepted it’s crucial that you have an interview before you decide, for both your sake and the program’s. The interview is where you will find out what can neither be expressed nor sensed on paper – whether or not that program is the right fit for you, and vice versa. Yes, it is primarily a time for the program’s faculty to get a sense of your preparedness but it is also an opportunity for you to feel out if you will be at your best there. As I discuss in one of my first articles, “Starting your Search” (http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/starting-...), it’s not just about getting into the biggest name school with the biggest name faculty, it’s also about feel. To quote myself, “In the end a graduate program is what you make of it, and you’re much more likely to make the most of an experience in which you feel comfortable, stimulated, encouraged and above all else, happy!” A conversation with a faculty member tells you a lot more about your potential experience than a website. And whenever feasible always plan a visit to interview in person with faculty, view the facilities and meet fellow graduate students.

So what should you expect? Begin by preparing yourself for the questions that may be asked:

• “Why do you want to attend graduate school?” This is pretty open-ended and seems innocent enough but it’s a big one. Reread your Statement of Intent/Purpose before the interview to refresh your memory. This answer needs to be better than, “because it would be fun,” or, “because I’m done with undergrad.” My article “So You’re Thinking About an MFA...” (http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/so-you-re...) has some good questions to consider when formulating this answer. If you’re coming directly from undergrad, they’re going to want to know if you’re really ready personally and artistically for this big step. If you've taken a few years off, they’re going to want to know what made you decide you were finally ready and the ways you've improved yourself, your skills or your portfolio during that time. Convince them that you've thought good and hard about it, you’re prepared and an MFA program is the only place you want to be.
• “Tell us about your work.” Be prepared to talk extensively about your work; this will likely be the bulk of the interview. Practice beforehand talking about your work in a clear, concise way. Have a family member or friend listen to your explanation – saying it out loud to another person is very different from saying it in your head. Reread your Artist Statement to get keywords and key phrases fresh in your mind. If you’re not confident about your Artist Statement, spend some time reworking it. I like this guide to writing an Artist Statement from Claremont Graduate University: http://www.cgu.edu/pages/7483.asp. Explain your processes as well as concepts and present your work in a fluid way so that discussion of one piece leads into the next.
• “What do you hope to achieve in/via graduate school?” Again, refer to your Statement of Intent. Brainstorm the ways you hope to grow in your artwork as well as professionally. Be clear about your objectives – Do you want to experiment with new media? With installation? With performance? Professionally, do you hope to teach? Do retail work? Show in galleries? If you’re not 100% sure, tell them that too. Being as upfront and honest as possible will ensure everyone is on the same page and there are no surprises later on as to what faculty are open to and expecting.

And some general tips:

• Don’t wait until the last minute. Schedule your interview well before decisions start getting made, which for Fall can be as early as February. Your application does not have to be complete. Contact faculty well before Thanksgiving break to find what works for them. Remember that nobody will be around during the three- to four-week winter break and the very beginning of the semester in January is typically a very busy time.
• Dress professionally. This is studio art so a three-piece suit may not be necessary but aim to look mature and professional. Just because you wear ripped jeans and a dirty t-shirt in the studio doesn't mean it’s appropriate for a graduate school interview. Your outfit can show your personality but also needs to inspire confidence in your competency.
• Bring your work. Along with a digital or physical portfolio, bring in actual work and even new/in-progress work that doesn't appear in your portfolio. Seeing work in person is a different experience and hopefully a better one, so make sure your work is ready for up-close inspection!
• Stay calm. Take a deep breath and try not to let your nerves get the best of you. Nobody is expecting you to be a perfectly articulate professional artist – if you were you wouldn't need graduate school! It’s okay to say, “I’m not sure exactly where this is headed but I’m excited to explore a new direction.”
• Stay positive. Let your enthusiasm for what you do shine through. An applicant who expresses great passion and self-motivation may beat out an applicant with a better portfolio but a blasé attitude. Talent only takes you so far and the faculty know that! Character plays a bigger role than you may think, especially when it comes to assistantships. The faculty are laying a lot on the line when accepting you into these small studio art programs – they need to know you can be trusted with the independence and responsibility.
• Be yourself. Don’t try to be the person you think they want you to be, or say the things you think they want to hear. It’s about finding the right fit for both parties. Sometimes people get so set on a certain program they change themselves or their expectations to make it work. I assure you this will only end in frustration and discontent down the line.

Additionally, prepare some questions to ask them! This will not only get you all of the information you need to make a decision, but it will also make you appear intelligent and invested. (Make sure to do your research first to avoid redundancy.) Some questions may be:

• What sets this program apart or makes it unique from other programs? (My favorite question!)
• What is the structure of the program/what classes will I be taking?
• Are you open to experimentation in ____ media or taking classes in ____ discipline?
• How long is the program?
• When will I have access to the studio? (weekly basis, over breaks, etc.)
• What sort of professional development is offered?
• What are some funding opportunities?
• For Teaching Assistantships, what classes would I be teaching?
• How would you recommend spending the next (7) months before the start of the program?

You should also meet with current grad students, privately – it’s the only way to get the real scoop. Keep in mind that some students may only have a negative experience because they chose the wrong place for them, so be sure to find out concretely why. Here are some questions you may consider:

• What made you choose this program over others and where else did you apply?
• Are you content in this program? Why or why not?
• Describe a typical day for you.
• Where do students typically live? What is the cost of living?
• How does the school or community help promote you professionally?
• What do you do for fun?

Overall, try not to get so caught up in selling yourself that you forget you are also shopping for a program. My professor, Kathleen Browne, describes it perfectly as a “three-year marriage” – both sides have to feel good for it to be right. I spend lots and lots and lots of hours in the studio and see Kathleen and especially my fellow grads lots and lots and lots... You get the idea. We’re human, we work long hours, we have our cranky days, but in the end I wake up looking forward to getting into the studio and working alongside them every day. We give each other feedback, we help each other photograph and set up shows and we provide each other with the moral support that’s needed to get through stressful days. From a professional standpoint, I know that I’ll be permitted and encouraged to do the type of work I want to do, and my program provides me with the experiences and resources needed to achieve my professional goals.

I have met and seen a lot of students (myself included) whose decisions changed drastically after a visit and interview. Make sure you take this vital step, all the while being true to yourself, before you make a final decision.

Below: Jessica Todd, Home (in situ), cotton, flour, water, 2013