New 4-week Substack course starting August 17th: Finding Your Place in the art world(s)

Hey everyone,

I'm excited to share something new.

Starting Monday August 17th I'm launching a 4-week course on Substack called Find Your Place. It's for paid subscribers and it's the most structured professional development content I've built outside of Monday Masterclass.

Here's what it's about.

Most artists spend years trying to navigate an art world that doesn't match the territory they're actually in. Trying to fit into the fine art gallery world when their work belongs somewhere else entirely. Or measuring themselves against artists in completely different ecosystems and wondering why nothing is working.

There isn't one art world. There are many. And finding the one that actually fits your work changes everything.

Here's what the four weeks look like:

Week 1: The art world is not one place

We map all the major ecosystems. Fine art galleries, institutional, community-based, craft and textile, plein air, illustration, digital, street art, regional. You'll start to see which ones actually match your work and which ones you've been chasing because you thought you were supposed to.

Week 2: Know your work (really know it)

Most artists can describe their work. Very few actually understand it. This week we go deep on what you make, what it's really about, what themes keep showing up whether you intend them to or not, and who your actual audience is versus your imagined audience.

Week 3: Where do you actually fit

We take what you know about your work and map it to the ecosystems from week one. This is where things click. We talk about the mismatch problem, how to research comparable artists, and how to set goals that actually belong to the art world you're in.

Week 4: Your roadmap

You leave this week with a written document. Where you are right now. Where you want to be in twelve months. Specific next steps with dates. What you're letting go of. Who you're sharing it with.

Each week has teaching, questions to sit with, homework, and a worksheet. You can answer in the comments or work through it on your own. Both are fine.

Go at your own pace.

Each post drops on Monday but there's no pressure to keep up in real time. You can work through all four weeks whenever it works for you. Sit with a week longer if you need to. Come back to the worksheets months from now when something new clicks.

What I can tell you is this: something will shift. I've taught this material to hundreds of artists and it always does. Maybe not dramatically. Sometimes just a quiet click of recognition. But you will come out of these four weeks with a foundation to build from. A clearer picture of your trajectory in the art world. A more focused path forward.

That's not a promise I make lightly. It's what I've watched happen every time.

This is for paid Substack subscribers.

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Paid subscriptions are $10 a month or $80 a year. That's four weeks of real curriculum, worksheets, and ongoing access to everything I publish behind the paywall going forward.

If you're already a paid subscriber you're all set. The first post goes out Monday August 17th.

If you're on the free tier or not yet subscribed this is a great reason to upgrade. Subscribe or upgrade at shoeboxarts.substack.com

And this is just the beginning.

Find Your Place is the first course in what I'm building on Substack. Each one draws from curriculum I've developed and taught through Monday Masterclass. Here's what's coming:

The Studio Visit — How to ask for one, who to ask, what to do when they say yes, and how to turn one visit into a real relationship over time. You leave with a target list, an email template, and a six-month plan.

Pricing Your Work — Not a formula. A real framework for understanding your market, your costs, your value, and how to talk about money without apologizing for it. Including how to say the price out loud and hold it when someone pushes back.

How To Get Invited To Shows — Not open calls. Not submitting to juried exhibitions. How to actually get invited. How to build the relationships that lead to exhibition opportunities.

Building Confidence as an Artist — Imposter syndrome, rejection, the voice that says your work isn't ready yet. Where that voice comes from and how to keep making work anyway.

All of it is coming to Substack for paid subscribers. $10 a month or $80 a year gets you everything.

A little context on why I built this.

Find Your Place was one of the most popular Monday Masterclass months I've taught. Artists kept telling me it shifted something fundamental for them. Not just about tactics or submission strategies but about how they see themselves and their work in relation to the art world.

I wanted more people to have access to it. Putting it on Substack felt like the right way to do that.

See you Monday August 17th.

shoeboxarts.com | shoeboxarts.substack.com | @shoeboxarts.la

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