Date: Tuesday January 9th, 6-8 PM
Location: Fischman Gallery, 133 N Commerce Street, Johnson City, TN
This class will serve artists looking to answer calls for entries, as well as those who want to place their work in galleries for sale. Katie will offer her best advice about how to avoid some of the traps and missteps that artists often face when trying to show their work in these contexts. If last year is any indication, the conversations will be lively and engaging! We’re excited to be hosted this year by Fishman Galleries in downtown Johnson City—the perfect context for this kind of conversation!
Spend an evening with colleagues, learning from a professional curator and gallery manager. Katie has over 9 years of experience in museums and galleries and will provide some tips from the inside that will help you make sure your work gets noticed. The staff from Fischman Gallery is likely to chime in, too. This class will provide an overview of great artist statements, portfolios, and submissions, as well as touching on some of the extra steps that artists can take to go from a mediocre submission to one that grabs attention. Don’t miss this chance to network and learn!
INSTRUCTOR BIO
Cecilia K. “Katie” Edwards is originally from King, North Carolina, but has lived in Kingsport for many years. She studied Art History and Museum Management at Salem College before pursuing her Masters Degree in Curating at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. While living in London, Edwards interned with the National Portrait Gallery as a curatorial assistant, curated a virtual exhibition of Dutch and Flemish paintings with a small team at the National Gallery, and was co-curator of an exhibition at Somerset House – one of London’s top art destinations. Also during that time, Edwards’ own artwork was featured on BBC when she digitally painted a portrait of actor Stephen Mangan.
Edwards has previously worked in two galleries in Kingsport and has had her work shown in several galleries in Tennessee and North Carolina. In 2017, she completed her first cover for local author David Oaks’ Force in the Mountains, and was published as an illustrator for her first children’s book, D is for Darcy: Not Dyslexia in 2019. Since then, she has been published again as the illustrator for A is for Anthony: Not ADHD and Winter Break at the Beach. Her artistic obsessions include comic and narrative artwork, digital landscape design for virtual environments, and animation. She is currently in the process of illustrating a fourth children’s book. She left her position of Curator of Fine and Decorative Art at William King Museum of Art in Abingdon, Virginia to pursue art as a full-time illustrator with the Passage Press.
The Arts@Work Series supports entrepreneurial creatives and makers who wish to develop their professional business skills. Topics include introductions to business strategy, marketing, communication, pricing, and client relations. The Arts@Work professional development series is curated to meet the particular needs of small creative businesses that combine artistry, imagination, and technology.
This workshop is offered free of admission thanks for a generous grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission. The honorarium for this workshop was funded by an Arts Build Community grant from the TAC.
