Book Description

Chin-tao Wu offers a provocative contribution to the debate on public culture in Britain and America as she details the various ways in which business values and the free-market ethos have come to permeate the sphere of the visual arts since the 1980s.

From Absolut Vodka's sponsorship of student art shows to BMW's logo on the banners advertising major art exhibitions, corporate sponsorship and business involvement in the visual arts have become increasingly common features of our cultural lives. Chin-tao Wu's book is the first concerted attempt to detail the various ways in which business values and the free-market ethos have come to permeate the sphere of the visual arts since the 1980s.It analyzes the role of government in injecting the principles of the free market into public arts agencies—in particular the Arts Council in Great Britain and the National Endowment for the Arts in the USA. It looks at the corporate take-over of art museums, highlighting the ways in which cultural capital can thereby be garnered by business elites; and it considers the ways in which corporations have succeeded in integrating themselves into the infrastructure of the art world itself by showcasing contemporary art in their own corporate premises.AUTHORBIO Chin-tao Wu specializes in contemporary art and culture, and has contributed to New Left Review and Kunst und Politik: Jahrbuch der Guernica-Gesellschaft. She is an Honorary Research Fellow at University College London and teaches at Nanhua University in Taiwan. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Interesting but flawed
This is an interesting study, as far as it goes. Certainly, there is a lot of good information about which corporations are funding art, where they fund it, and how. If you want to know which corporations fund art, how much they fund, where they do so, this is the book for you. The book contains lots of specifics, tables, statistics, examples of exhibits and color plates of many individual art works.

The problem is that the book assumes that corporate and other private funding of art is a new phenomenon, and assumes this is by definition a bad thing. But is it? Considered in the context of the history of Western art, and even, one might add, arts in Asia and in various empires of eras gone by, wealthy benefactors have been a mainstay of the literary and fine arts, to speak somewhat hyperbolically, almost from the moment arts were invented.

Shakespeare was privately funded. So was Rembrandt. So were the Dutch masters. So was Michelangelo. So were most other Renaissance artists, in fact. Remember the Medicis? To pretend, therefore, that "neo-conservatives" are a sudden, new and unwelcome scourge of the art market is ridiculous, and taken entirely out of the context of art history.

Naturally, there have also always been conflicts of interest. Someone who funds something will want to have some control, after all. That is human nature. But like the conflicts this book points out, the arts of bygone eras also reflect such conflicts, and we nevertheless think them masterful.

By their very nature, the royalty, peers, merchants--and all other wealthy benefactors of literary and fine arts through the ages--were conservatives, too. The arts, come what may, have always survived, as they will no doubt continue to do in the future. To do that, they need benefactors. And in all ages, the arts have turned to those with the most money, for support. Such are the facts of life.

--Alyssa A. Lappen ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

This volume brings together two decades of research into the process of commercialization of the folk crafts of Thailand: the conditions of its emergence, the parties involved in its development, the changes in the processes and organization of production which accompany it, and the transformations in appearance and meaning which the products undergo as a result of their commercialization. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Inside the Minds: The Business of Museums is an authoritative, insider’s perspective on the ins and outs of operating a museum and the future of the industry, on a global scale.Featuring Executive Directors representing some of the world’s leading museums, this book provides a broad, yet comprehensive overview of both the current and future shape of the industry. Discussing financial issues such as managing budgets, acquiring funding and implementing blockbuster exhibitions, as well as artistic matters like developing and changing the content and placement of exhibitions, authors raise critical points around the business and offer indispensable advice for success. From the capabilities and characteristics of the successful museum director to the experts’ own definitions of exhibitions that engage audiences, effective marketing strategies that boost attendance and profit, and meaningful vision statements that serve the museum’s ideals as well as the public’s interests, authors explore all facets of the business - beginning to end. From the processes involved in choosing and employing the right people, to attending to the details that transform a museum visit into a memorable experience, these visionaries articulate the finer points around museums now, and what will hold true into the future.Topics range from university to children’s museums and traverse the art, history and culture of diverse regions and communities.The niches represented and the breadth of perspectives presented provide readers with valuable insight and expose them to the inner workings of some of today’s great minds as experts offer up their thoughts regarding an endlessly demanding and highly rewarding industry. ... Read more

Book Description

Citizens, nonprofit organizations and local public officials—in increasing numbers—are using the arts and culture as vehicles to improve their downtowns, as well as to enhance general economic conditions within their communities. Public officials especially are learning that they can plant the seeds of urban renewal and, at the same time, promote their city’s culture and arts. This not only renews their neighborhoods and downtowns, but also attracts tourists and private investment. A new eclectic economic development model has evolved and is beginning to work in a number of politically, economically, racially and culturally diverse communities throughout America.

From Atlanta and Reno to Philadelphia and Seattle, this work includes numerous case studies that demonstrate the ways in which cities and towns are now using the arts to stimulate both downtown and neighborhood revitalization. The future of the arts in cities is also examined. Five appendices are included, as well: "Cities with Arts, Cultural, and/or Entertainment Districts in the United States,""Regional Resource Directory," "National Resource Directory," "National Directory of State Art Agencies," and "National Directory of Regional Arts Organizations." ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An impressive, scholarly, in-depth biography
Hugh Lane: 1875-1915 by journalist Robert O'Byrne is an impressive, scholarly, in-depth biography of British art dealer and patron Hugh Lane, who earned his way from poverty to fame and respect as a specialist in the great art of the old masters. His work in the creation of public art galleries in South Africa and the Municipal Gallery of Ireland earned him lasting prestige and some controversy, until his unfortunate death on the Lusitania when it was sunk by a Germans in 1915. Hugh Lane: 1875-1915 is the fascinating life-story presentation of a man who lived, worked, and devoted himself to the trading of art. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

This book has been written to help you become more skilled at the art of selling your art. It is a workbook, a book to write in.It will guide you through the process of learning how to sell your art and how to make money doing it!

The making of art and the selling of art are essentially different. For most of us, artmaking is intensely personal and private. Only when we are finished are we willing to share what we have done. Selling art is, on the other hand, a social activity in which we need to interact with the world outside our studios.This book provides a vocabulary and structure for that interaction.

When you have finished doing the exercises in this book, you will have a personalized, step-by-step marketing and action plan for selling your work. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An Invaluable Resource
I loved this workbook...excellent ideas in a painless, creative and fun format!!

Hard work but worthwhile
It seems that many of us who are artists are content to languish undiscovered, to deluge our relatives with gorgeous handmade cards and crafts, and/or to feel that we're really not good enough and motivated enough to sell our work - after all, we'd have been discovered if it was THAT good.This book will require you to answer questions and use a calculator, but once you've finished it you will have a marketing plan for your work - and you will feel that your work deserves it.You are neither too good for selling, nor not-good enough for it either.You can do it. ... Read more

Book Description

The white cube — it’s a vision of the gallery museum that has dominated thinking and practice in the art world for decades. Beyond the Box: Diverging Curatorial Practices is a collection of essays by leading Canadian and international curators and artists that explores regions of practice outside this "cube," delving into contemporary challenges to traditional ideas about art and curating.

With four main topics of inquiry — Publications, New Media, Biennials, and Art Museums Today — Beyond the Box captures groundbreaking thinking and writing from some of the world’s top curator’s and artists. It exposes the passion, creativity, and determination behind successes such as the publications of the Hoopoe-Curatorial, and installations like The Universal Lab, as well as critical commentary documenting the collapse of the 2000 São Paulo Biennial.

The third in a series of books about curatorship published by the Banff Centre Press in association with the Walter Phillps Gallery and the Banff International Curatorial Institute, Beyond the Box will be a touchstone for artists and curators alike. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is a directory of the best craft fairs, guides, promoters, and craft galleries! Includes a beginner's guide to craft fairs and art shows. Learn how to turn your craftsmanship into a full or part-time business. Includes the following and more:

Tips on how to sell your creations direct to the public at craft fairs and art shows. Learn the best booth display for all weather use that draws people in to look and buy your work.

A list of over 500 of the best craft fairs and art shows in the U. S. with attendance information.

Addresses of the best craft fair guides in the country, with contact information and area covered. When you subscribe to a guide that covers your area, you can find the smaller shows close to your home.

A list of over 100 show promoters around the country who promote multiple shows, and the number of shows they produce. Often, if you are accepted into one of their shows, you are automatically invited to all of them.

A list of 1300 top craft galleries around the country that are looking for new, contemporary crafts to sell. If you want to stay home and make things for wholesale, these stores will keep you busy. These are not just gift shops, but stores where American-made crafts are showcased.

With this book you will have plenty of addresses of places where you can sell your craft products.The rest is up to you.In the crafts world you can work as hard or as little as you want. The amount of money you make depends on how hard you work.The harder you work, the more you make.You are your own boss! ... Read more

Book Description

A huge collection of tips by and for artists and craftspeople to help you sell what you make!If you want to make money with your crafts, these invaluable solutions will save you time and money.Includes hundreds of tips about how to find craft fairs, how to get into them, and how to survive them and make money. Also covered is doing your own photography, making your own display and anchoring it, and traveling to shows by road or air.

Suggestions for designing your trade show booth and marketing your crafts to craft galleries and other wholesale markets.

Tips for selling on the internet, putting your crafts on a web catalog, making your own website, and selling on eBay.

Advice for pricing, planning, bookkeeping, selling, advertising, promotion, packaging, copyright, health, computers, taxes, sales reps, etc. 56 photographs and screen shots. ... Read more