Professional Portfolio

Professional Portfolio

What’s in the Portfolio • Cover letter • Images (carefully selected & properly labeled) • Artist Statement • Résumé • Additional materials (reviews, exhibition announcements, catalogs, 2 or 3 inkjet prints, etc.) • SASE KEEP IT SIMPLE -- AVOID BINDERS & FANCY PACKAGEING Professional Portfolio

Cover Letter • Simple, direct, on white or off-white 8 1/2” x 11” inch paper. Best if you (or a designer friend) can develop letterhead that includes • Name • Address • City, State, Zip, Country • Telephone • Email address • Web address Always use clean, easy-to-read fonts Professional Portfolio

Cover Letter • Should be letter-perfect -- one page maximum • Be addressed to a specific person • First paragraph describes why you are sending the packet -- if you’ve had previous contact, mention it • First paragraph should detail what’s enclosed in the packet • Second paragraph can list a few career high-points (recent shows, collections you’re in, etc.) Professional Portfolio

Cover Letter • Final paragraph asks for action (can be as simple as you hope they will consider your work and if they have any questions, please contact). • Indicate that you will be happy to send additional work and/or schedule a studio visit. Professional Portfolio

Images • 20 images is usually “standard” • Carefully select & properly label your images. Consider how you sequence them -- it can make a difference in how people perceive them. • Determine if the gallery wants a usb or hard copies (generally 4 up). Send what they prefer REMEMBER: BE CONSISTENT Professional Portfolio

Artist Statement • Should be letter-perfect -- one page maximum • On 8 1/2” x 11” white or off-white paper (should match cover letter). If you have letterhead, use it. • Make sure that Artist Statement enhances your work -- don’t make someone struggle to get your meaning. • Most people will only read your Artist Statement if they’ve already found you images to be interesting Professional Portfolio

Résumé • Should be letter-perfect • On 8 1/2” x 11” white or off-white paper (should match cover letter). If you have letterhead, use it. • Not more than three pages -- if you can’t fit everything on three pages, edit older items and use headings like “Selected Exhibitions,” and “Selected Bibliography.” • Most people will only read your résumé if they’ve already found you images and statement to be interesting Professional Portfolio

Additional Materials • You can add selected (positive) reviews. If group show, highlight mention of your work. • A few (recent) exhibition announcements • A recent catalog DON’T ADD TOO MUCH MATERIAL -- SAVE SOMETHING FOR FOLLOW-UP CONVERSATIONS Professional Portfolio

Envelopes & Labels • Outer: Use a plain envelop (bubble wrap padded). If you have letterhead, have some matching shipping labels printed that contain your return address. • Always type address that you’re sending packet to -- never handwritten. Professional Portfolio

Envelope & labels • SASE should be same as outer envelop but should be addressed to you (again, not hand written). • Fold so it fits easily in outer envelop • Postage should be sufficient for return of all material. If you only want part of your materials returned, put a note on SASE that clearly states what you want. Don’t make the gallery guess -- they might toss the whole thing. Professional Portfolio

Remember: • First impressions are important -- every detail says something about you • Gallery & museum staffs are small and very busy, they’ll sometimes screen a packet based on its overall look and a quick glance at printed images of your work. Professional Portfolio

Remember: • If your packet is sloppy, chances are you’ll be perceived as sloppy -- sloppy artists are not easy to work with • You can only become a “difficult” artists after you’ve developed demand for you and your work. Not good to try this act too early in a career -- it could bring about an untimely end… Professional Portfolio

Mailing lists • A Mailing list critical to professional career • Codes allow “breakouts” • Local art writers / critics, staff and directors of museums and galleries • General media: editors and calendar editors, art patrons, university professors, art teachers • Update each time used • “Address Correction Requested” Professional Portfolio

Building a ML • Guest book at your exhibitions. Add everyone who signs book to ML. • Name, address, city, state zip / email • Space for comments (disregard most) • Of course, use a computer for mailing lists (MS Office with Excel as List Manager or other software -- some available as freeware or Google .doc) Good to sync your phone and computer Professional Portfolio

Develop a Website w/ Goals in mind: Introduce yourself, your career, and your artwork Provide background information for media and researchers Develop a community of collectors, exhibitors, appreciators Build audiences for upcoming exhibitions Potentially create revenue Professional Portfolio

Website Obstacles Limited technical ability: You don’t have training in web building and you don’t have time to learn Financial limits: Hiring someone to make your site can potentially cost a great deal Professional Portfolio

Website Obstacles Saturation: the web and email systems are rife with people and businesses vying for attention -- how are you different? Time: All promotion takes time and your primary responsibility is your art. Professional Portfolio

Possible Website Solutions Barter with CD student to build your site. Offer to trade work or create new work specifically for the barter Be sure to look at examples of sites they’ve already designed Make sure they build an EASILY updated site Professional Portfolio

Possible Website Content SHOULD AT LEAST HAVE: Bio Examples of your work Up-to-date resume Artists statement Contact information Could also have: Media friendly (high-res) photos of selected pieces; archive of entire output Professional Portfolio

Website Considerations • Register a domain name. Becomes your permanent means of contact. You can mover all over world but people can always contact you through domain name (URL). See if your name is available using a WHOIS service. (appx. $25 yr. to register a name) http://domains.google Professional Portfolio

Web Hosting • You will need to find a service to host your site (your domain name will “point” to that host.) • 50 - 75MB of disk space • A half to 1GB of bandwidth per month • At least 2 POP email accounts • Web mail access to your email • Scripting languages like CGI for creating forms • Expect to pay $ 5 - 15 per month for hosting Professional Portfolio

Site Design • People visit sites with goals in mind -- meet their needs • Before you start design, get your content together and look at lots of sites • Accurate, informative content is ALWAYS more valuable than things that sparkle and flash. Professional Portfolio

Site Upkeep • Make sure you plan how you’ll do upkeep -- will you do it or your designer? • Get simple web software like Contribute or CoffeeCup which will allow you to edit your content in a word-processor-like environment. • Some hosts have content management software available Professional Portfolio

Professional Portfolio