Collected Wisdom: The Artist's Field Guide
30+ years of gathered knowledge — organized into 53 guides for every stage of a professional art career.
I've been a professional artist for over 30 years. I've been supporting artists since college — running critique groups, mentorship sessions, community conversations, solo show cohorts. And for most of that time I watched artists get stuck in the same places over and over again.
Not because they lacked talent. Because nobody told them certain basic things.
How to price work. How to write a grant. What goes in a contract. How to approach a gallery cold. How to survive a solo show. How to keep making work when everything feels hard.
Nobody taught us this stuff.
So I became a research fanatic. I read every professional development book I could find. Went to the workshops, the bootcamps, the panel discussions. Got the newsletters. Read the art magazines and newspapers. Followed the coaching accounts. Asked 10 people the same question and got 10 different answers — then figured out what was actually true.
I'm also an art historian. I see the bigger picture across multiple art worlds — the gallery world, alternative spaces, the fair world, the community art world, the online art world. What works in one doesn't always work in another. These guides reflect all of that.
I've been gathering this stuff for over 15 years running Shoebox Arts alongside hundreds of artists. I finally wrote it all down.
53 guides. 500+ pages. Organized into 8 topic areas so you can go straight to what you need, right when you need it. Not someday. Tonight. When you're staring at a grant application or trying to figure out what to charge or wondering how to respond to that gallery email.
This is not one person's opinions. It's genuinely collected — from every source, every art world, every conversation — synthesized into something you can actually use.
WHAT'S INSIDE:
Starting Your Practice — Just Starting Out · Artist After 60 · Career Progression · Studio Practice · Time Management · Mental Health
Your Professional Identity — Artist Statements · Bios and CVs · Photography · Website · Portfolios · Press Materials · Leave-Behinds
Getting Your Work Seen — Exhibition Proposals · Alternative Spaces · Gallery Representation · Gallery Cold Outreach · Working with Galleries · Residencies · Art Fairs
Your Solo Show — Solo Show Guide · Solo Show Checklist · Exhibition Anatomy · PR for Your Show · Art Sales
Money, Business and Legal — Pricing · Selling · Budget · Taxes · Contracts · Insurance · Licenses · Licensing · Commissions · Grants
Visibility and Marketing — Instagram · Newsletters · Facebook · Social Media · Accessibility · Beyond Social Media · PR
Community, Practice and Accountability — Critique Group · Studio Visits · Networking · Artist Community · Accountability · Organization · Studio Practice
Advanced Career — Working with Galleries · Commission Work · Teaching as Income · Art and AI · Estate Planning
Plus: The Collected Wisdom Introduction — the Shoebox Arts manifesto and the full collected wisdom list I've been building for over 15 years.
PRICING BLOCK:
The Complete Library
53 guides. 500+ pages. Instant download. Yours to keep.
$55
WANT MORE THAN THE GUIDES?
The Shoebox Arts 3-month membership includes the complete library plus 200+ videos, live weekly Zoom programming, and a real community of artists figuring it out together.
$347 for 3 months. Use code Spring20 for 20% off.
There are many different ways of doing everything. Take what fits. Leave what doesn't. These guides are here when you need them. ~Kristine Schomaker, Shoebox Arts
