The Art Biz – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Art Biz

Alyson Stanfield

Arts

Frequency: 1 episode/13d. Total Eps: 276

Looking for art career inspiration and ideas while you're working in the studio or schlepping your art across the country? Alyson Stanfield helps you be a more productive artist, a more empowered artist, and a more successful artist.

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https://artbizsuccess.com/community
262 shares
https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/
207 shares
https://artbizsuccess.com/price-your-art
199 shares

https://www.instagram.com/alysonstanfield
16 shares

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Score global : 58%

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The Strategic Artist: Zero Debt Art Degrees with Stephanie Brown (247)

Episode 247

Thursday, November 6, 2025 • Duration 36:53

Too many artists graduate from art school with crushing debt and then spend years figuring out how to make money while trying to maintain a studio practice. Stephanie Brown did the opposite. She graduated from a private art school debt-free, secured a fully funded MFA, and has been treating her art career like a business from day one.

In this conversation with host Alyson Stanfield, Stephanie breaks down exactly how she did it, and why being strategic about money doesn't make you any less of an artist.

🔦 HIGHLIGHTS

02:00 Why interactive art transforms viewers into participants and creates lasting memory points—and how Stephanie intentionally studied education theory to understand this

06:40 How she graduated from a private art school (SCAD) debt-free by maximizing scholarships and strategically taking general education classes at community college

09:40 Why she only applied to fully funded MFA programs and what made University of Michigan's program worth it

16:30 The best advice Stephanie received about graduate school: only go when you know what you want to say to the world as an artist

23:10 How watching her mother's creative side hustles shaped her belief that artists can make money from their work

24:40 The rules she set for herself (one residency, two exhibitions per year) to ensure she could always say "I'm an exhibiting artist"

31:10 Why working from home during the pandemic was the unlock that gave Stephanie energy and time for serious studio practice

33:20 The transferable skills from her art practice (managing budgets up to $50,000) that landed her higher-paying jobs in project management and business operations

🚀 YOUR ACTION

Create your own non-negotiable parameters for your art practice. Stephanie's are at least one residency and two exhibitions per year.

What would your rules be?

🎧 RELATED EPISODES

She Knows Exactly How Much Her Art Income Will be with Kelly Pelfrey (162)

Being an Artist with Geoffrey Gorman (124)

Starting Your Art Career (173)

📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/debt-free-brown

⭐️ Connect with Stephanie and see more of her art: https://stephaniebphotos.com

🔶 Does your art business need a boost or a refresh? Please see my comprehensive art-marketing program, Essentials for Artist Success 🔶 full of tools, strategies, and process you need to establish your professionalism and increase your visibility. For those with beginning and emerging art careers and those who need to approach their business with more thought and intention.

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~

This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here's how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/

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Are You Undermining Your Art's Value? (246)

Episode 246

Thursday, October 30, 2025 • Duration 14:38

Your art doesn't exist in a vacuum. Where and how you show your work shapes how people perceive its value before they even look closely at the piece itself. The venue, the lighting, the labels, the other work nearby—all of it sends signals about whether your art should be taken seriously.

In this episode of The Art Biz, host Alyson Stanfield explores what falls within your control and what doesn't, and why understanding that difference can transform how collectors see you and your work.

She encourages you to vet opportunities before committing, establish non-negotiables to establish for yourself, and move strategically toward increasingly prestigious venues rather than staying comfortable with familiar options. Whether you're just starting out or you've been showing for years, you'll learn how to raise your standards and make choices that honor the work you've put into your art.

HIGHLIGHTS

00:30 A gallery story that reveals how presentation can undermine even the most exquisite artwork

02:50 Joshua Bell's subway experiment and what it reveals about context over content

04:20 What you can't control after committing: organizers' behavior, placement, promotion, and who else is in the show

06:00 The power of vetting opportunities before you say yes: research methods and setting non-negotiables

09:00 Moving strategically to increasingly prestigious venues rather than staying comfortable

11:40 Being selective even when starting out: choosing the best option available at your career stage

🚀 YOUR ACTION

Audit your current opportunities through this lens. For each place you're showing or planning to show, ask yourself:

Does this venue's reputation support my prices and goals?

Will being here make collectors take me more seriously?

What can I control about how my work is presented?

Remove Barriers to Buying Your Art (237)

Episode 237

Thursday, August 21, 2025 • Duration 12:07

host: Alyson Stanfield When someone is ready to buy your art, the last thing you want to do is make them go on a treasure hunt. Every extra click, unanswered question, or missing price is a barrier that can cost you the sale. In this solo episode, I talk about how you can take charge of the buying process—because while you can't control the economy or trends, you can control how easy it is for people to pay you. Key Ideas

Collectors don't just buy art—they buy into the artist. Relationships matter, but clarity in the buying process is non-negotiable.

Three keys to a smooth sales experience: Clarity, Ease, and Trust.

Why your homepage isn't enough—and how credit lines, prices, and details create clarity.

How multiple payment options and clear agreements make buying easier.

Why trust depends on fast responses, transparent policies, and consistent follow-through.

A challenge for you: Audit your own buyer's journey and fix one barrier this week.

Highlights

00:00 Someone discovers your art on Instagram—what happens next? 02:00 Barriers in the buying process and why they matter 04:00 The first key: Clarity (and why your homepage is not the best destination) 05:00 The importance of credit lines for every finished piece 06:00 Pep talk: Don't make people work harder to give you money 06:20 The second key: Ease—payment options and professional process 07:00 Stories about payment plans gone wrong and how to protect yourself 08:00 Why seamless transactions signal professionalism and build trust 08:20 The third key: Trust—buyers need to feel safe and confident 09:00 Follow-through, transparency, and consistent post-sale communication 09:30 The bigger picture: Trust and relationships over time create collectors 09:50 Your action step—audit your own buyer's journey 10:00 Workshop invitation and how this step fits into the larger journey 11:20 Closing reminders: You can't control the economy, but you can control how easy it is to buy your art Mentioned (235) (236) (232) 📖 To read more and see featured artists visit 📥 ⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes. ~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~ This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here's how ~~~~>

How to Guarantee that People Remember You with Skip Hill (#147)

Episode 147

Thursday, April 20, 2023 • Duration 55:57

My utter bliss is to help artists make business systems that streamline their lives so they can spend more time in the studio. So when Skip Hill said he needed a system for following up with his collectors and important relationships, I knew I wanted to help.

In this episode of The Art Biz, I walk Skip through the steps to create a plan for nurturing his relationships.

We go through these steps to create his plan:

What do you want to happen?
By when does it need to happen? Or … How frequently does it need to happen?
What do you need to have/acquire/learn to make that happen? And/Or what tools and technology will you use for the process?
Who do you need to enlist to help?
What are the exact steps needed to make this system hum?

The steps in that last question provides the fuel. Miss a step, and your system crashes.

To read the exact steps we created for Skip, see images, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/skip-hill-systems

Sponsored by The PEOPLE PLAN: A Success Workshop to Establish Strategic Connections for Your Art Biz. https://artbizsuccess.com/peopleplan

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Remember The Many Opportunities We Have Because We're Online with Barbara Muir (#146)

Episode 146

Thursday, April 13, 2023 • Duration 37:02

Before the internet, artists were completely dependent on others to show and sell their work. We need to take a moment every now and then to be grateful for having the world at our fingertips. For being able to instantly send images of our art out into the world. For friends around the globe we would never have met 30 years ago.

In this episode, I talk with artist Barbara Muir, who is unabashedly happy about being online. She reminds us of all the good things that happen because we are so connected. Key topics:

A brief rundown of the opportunities that have come Barbara's way through her blog.
Commitment to a blogging habit—now boasting more than 3,000 entries.
Her practice of making a daily list of 6 things.
The sweet ritual of leaving nightly letters to her husband.

To see images, full show notes, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/muir-online-podcast

Want to make sure you stay connected online and off? Check out The PEOPLE PLAN: A Success Workshop to Establish Strategic Connections for Your Art Biz. https://artbizsuccess.com/peopleplan

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Gaining Marketing Skills Quickly by Leading a Creativity Challenge with Kristen O'Neill (#145)

Thursday, March 23, 2023 • Duration 47:14

In this episode of The Art Biz, I'm joined by Kristen O'Neill, a team member of mine and an accomplished artist who recently created a 30-day daily art lesson challenge for her online followers. But in the end, it may have been more of a challenge for her than it was for the participants. Kristen and I discuss what she hoped to get from this challenge, how she organized it, how much of it was planned ahead, and what her workflow was like—including all of the platforms she used to share the content—and most importantly, what she would do differently if she were to do it again.

First posted: artbizsuccess .com /challenge -oneill -podcast

Highlights

Details of Kristen's 30-Day Art Challenge and what she hoped to get out of it. (1:29)
How Kristen shared the challenge while honoring her email list expectations. (6:10)
Creating and organizing a workflow that worked all month long. (10:42)
The time commitment and unexpected challenges behind the challenge. (16:35)
Lessons learned from the challenges of this challenge. (22:25)

How We Run Our Art Documentary Group and What We Watch (#144)

Episode 144

Thursday, March 16, 2023 • Duration 22:00

With nobody going anywhere in the spring of 2020, I contacted artist friends Lisa Call and Janice McDonald to see if they wanted to gather regularly to discuss art documentaries. Our little "club," such as it is, was in business.

To date, we have met 57 times to discuss the art documentaries together. It's important that we are reminded we're part of something bigger than ourselves and what goes on behind the closed doors of our studios.

In this solo episode I talk about why we do this as a group, where you can find art documentaries, how we stay organized, why it's important to diversify our selections, and how our conversations work. At the end I mention some of my favorite films.

Read the "almost" transcript, find all of the links, and leave a comment

Highlights

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed was nominated for an Oscar this year. (1:24)

We need to be reminded that we're part of a global art world. (2:57)

What art history has taught me. (3:42)

Why do this in a group? (4:52)

Where to find art documentaries. (5:38)

Why Kanopy is our top resource for art documentaries. (7:19)

Our 2 lists for art documentaries. (9:24)

Why diversity is important to us. (11:16)

How our regular conversations work. (13:14)

Good v. Bad documentaries—there is always something to be learned. (15:17)

Some recommended art documentaries to start with. (17:19)

Proactively Planning Your Art Legacy with Heather K. Powers (#143)

Thursday, March 2, 2023 • Duration 41:02

Four years ago on a beautiful January day in Colorado, I attended an art destruction party. Two artists were slowing down in their production and wanted to ensure that subpar work wasn't left for family to deal with. Nor did they want their names associated with that work. Although I've been imploring artists for decades to get rid of work they think isn't of the highest quality, it was still difficult to smash that first pot and tear that first watercolor.

In this episode of The Art Biz I talk with Heather K. Powers, an artist and professional organizer. She and I wanted to start a dialogue about planning for your legacy. It's a tough conversation because it means confronting your mortality. This conversation is especially important for artists, who make things that take up physical space. How do you categorize those things? What kind of records need to be kept? And what, if anything, should be destroyed, reworked, or donated. These are difficult questions and will vary from artist to artist, but it is such an important part of planning your art legacy. My conversation with Heather can help you get started.

First posted: artbizsuccess.com/death-powers-podcast

Highlights

Normalizing conversations about your death and legacy. (2:10)
Heather's coaching process includes getting more comfortable talking about death. (6:48)
What do you value in your legacy? How can artists better prepare their legacy for after death? (10:28)
Finding the value of clutter requires understanding and compassion. (15:27)
Destroying the artwork that you don't want to be known for. (19:19)
Define the value of each level of your work so you can better process it. (24:55)
Tools and resources to help document your art. (32:32)

This Week's Action

Your assignment this week is to start thinking about your legacy. Eventually you will need to prioritize the tasks necessary, but you can't do it all at once. Take one of these steps: Sign up for Artwork Archive, update your inventory, finally recycle that work you don't want to show up under your name, have a conversation with your family about your wishes, or declutter a space.

Activate Your Marketing for a Bigger Audience (#142)

Episode 142

Thursday, February 23, 2023 • Duration 18:09

The vast majority of the marketing we do is passive. We send emails, post to social media, and broadcast podcast episodes. Then we wait and hope for positive results.

For better results, activate your marketing by thinking of all the ways you can communicate on a personal level. Yes, active marketing requires more work, but I promise you'll get better results and enjoy it more.

In this solo episode, I walk you through how you can activate your marketing for 5 art business scenarios.

Read the "almost" transcript, find links, see featured artists and leave a comment

Highlights

Personal note about your kindness the last couple of weeks. (0:00)
Your list is more than people who have opted in for your emails. (3:04)
Ensure you're not wasting time on social media. (5:11)
Action: Create a reliable content calendar for a framework that provides direction. (6:36)
Improve exhibition and sales venues. (7:09)
Action: Make a spreadsheet to track potential venues. (7:30)
Receive more benefit from your exhibitions. (8:33)
Boost relations with your galleries. (11:03)
Do you teach? Fill your classes and workshops. (14:06)
We need both passive and active marketing. (15:38)
Please email me your questions and concerns: alyson@artbizsuccess.com (16:13)

Mentioned

Grow Your List on-demand learning program at Art Biz Success

Creating a Content Calendar short $30 workshop at Art Biz Success

Create Opportunities on-demand learning program at Art Biz Success

Worrying About the Economy with Elaine Luttrull (#141)

Thursday, February 16, 2023 • Duration 39:59

We've spent many months worried about inflation and a possible recession that may not ever happen. It would be terrific if we didn't have to concern ourselves with such things, but the economy affects everyone's business in one way or another.

Today's guest on The Art Biz is Elaine Grogan Luttrull of Minerva Financial Arts, a company devoted to building financial literacy and empowerment in creative individuals through education and coaching. We recorded this episode several months ago when the economic landscape seemed a little bleaker than it does now. This is a lesson in economics and how your art business is affected by the larger economy. We define and discuss inflation, recession, the Consumer Price Index, and Gross Domestic Product. We talk about your revenue mix, why selling lower-priced items might not be the way to go right now, bundling, and raising your rates and prices.

First posted: artbizsuccess .com /economy -luttrull -podcast

Highlights

Defining inflation and its effect on every aspect of pricing. (1:50)
What exactly is a recession and what role do rising interest rates play? (5:35)
The impact of these economic factors on artists. (12:48)
Combating uncertainty with effective business strategies. (15:32)