The Art Biz

You worked hard to get your art on those walls. So when only a handful of people show up to the opening, it stings. In this episode, Alyson Stanfield looks at the most common reasons your supporters stayed home — and what you can do differently before your next show. In this episode: Why the 5-10 days before a show are too late to fix most attendance problems How a cold list can cost you the peopl...

Host Alyson Stanfield makes the case that your best salespeople are already in your life, just waiting to be asked to help. This episode isn't just for artists with collectors. If anyone has ever responded enthusiastically to your work, it applies to you. Alyson reveals: Who counts as a potential advocate Why these people genuinely want to help Why the relationship has to come first How to make it...

There are many ways for artists to make money, but more income sources don't always lead to more income. In this episode, host Alyson Stanfield looks at the difference between an income source and an income stream—and why that distinction matters when you're deciding what belongs in your art business. You'll also hear about: Why adding a new income source can mean building a separate business The...

In this episode of The Art Biz , host Alyson Stanfield makes the case that research is not an academic exercise. And it's not separate from your art practice, but part of it. She encourages you to think of it as leading with curiosity, which strengthens the work and builds confidence. Alyson draws on her background as an art historian and her own current investigation into timelines to show what t...

Every artist wants to know "how much time?" How much time on the business side, how much time making the work, and how long before any of it pays off. In this episode of The Art Biz host Alyson Stanfield gives straight answers to the two questions that matter — including a number you might not want to hear — and offer a better question to ask yourself instead. She covers: Why "how much time?" is t...

Making a living from your art takes more than passion and talent. In this solo episode, Alyson Stanfield walks through the real considerations — from committing to your studio practice to making friends with marketing — for artists who are serious about turning their practice into a livelihood. It starts with a question worth considering: is this really for you? In this episode, Alyson covers: Why...

Venues aren't looking for artists who need them, they're looking for artists who are ready. Host Alyson Stanfield introduces the attraction method: a way of building genuine relationships with venues long before you ever make an ask. For alternative venues, the timeline from first contact to a yes can be weeks instead of years. In this episode, Alyson covers: Why readiness is more than finished wo...

You don't need a gallery to put your work in front of people. You don't need to wait for the next juried show application just for the promise to compete with a hoard of other artists. In this episode of The Art Biz , host Alyson Stanfield makes the case that waiting for gallery representation — or cycling through the same juried shows — keeps artists from the kind of visibility they could be crea...

In this solo episode of The Art Biz , host Alyson Stanfield explores why collaboration is often the missing piece in an artist's growth. While working alone feels easier, it can quietly limit what's possible. This episode makes the case for thinking bigger by asking a simple but powerful question: Who else belongs in your work? Alyson shares: Two powerful examples of artist collaborations and how...

Artist Meredith Nemirov joins host Alyson Stanfield to walk through how she built a rare sold-out show — not by luck, but by design. Starting with a short proposal to a national nonprofit before she ever approached her gallery, Meredith assembled six collaborators, two opening nights, and a donation structure that gave everyone a reason to say yes. Meredith reveals: Why she approached a national n...

The daily work of running an art business always feels urgent. The strategic work doesn't. So it waits. But postponing that deeper evaluation isn't okay. In this solo episode, host Alyson Stanfield names five specific costs that accumulate when the strategic work keeps getting pushed to next month, next quarter, next year. In this episode: Why tactical delays and strategic delays are two different...

My Art Business Assessment — Used with Every Client 50% In this solo episode of The Art Biz , host Alyson Stanfield introduces the 3-zone framework she uses with every private client to assess where an art business actually stands. It's the same structure at the heart of the Art Business Reset workshop, and this episode is your chance to walk through it on your own. Alyson covers: The question she...

Most artists didn't design their art business — they drifted into it. In this solo episode, Art Biz host Alyson Stanfield invites you to slow down long enough to ask a question most artists never take time to ask: if you were starting fresh today, would you build it this way? In this episode, Alyson covers: Why most artists are running a business they drifted into rather than designed — and why th...

Being busy is boring. In episode 258 of The Art Biz, host Alyson Stanfield makes the case that most artists are so deep in execution mode that they never step back to evaluate, redirect, or ask whether any of it is actually working. This episode draws a clear line between working IN your art business and working ON it, and explains why both matter, but one gets almost all of the attention. IN THIS...

Selling products — giclées, pillows, aprons, notebooks — made sense when you started. But if you've been asking how to sell more original art and not getting traction, something may need to shift. Host Alyson Stanfield draws on her background as a museum curator and educator to explore what actually gets in the way and what to do about it. In this episode: Why the pivot to products is understandab...

Artist and tax advisor Hannah Cole knows firsthand how shame can poison an artist's relationship with money. When her dad's accountant asked "When are you gonna get a real job?" instead of helping her understand quarterly taxes, she experienced the dismissal that makes so many artists avoid financial conversations altogether. In this episode, host Alyson Stanfield and Hannah explore why artists de...

Daniel Sipe and Karlë Woods didn't set out to start an arts organization. They just wanted to talk to artists during the pandemic. Four years later, Lights Out has produced 95 artist documentaries, thrown 18 popup exhibitions across Maine, and built a funding model that includes everything from $10 monthly donors to six-figure state contracts. Their story, shared with host Alyson Stanfield, offers...

Damien Davis is a visual artist and writer who questions the art world's power structures from an artist's perspective. In this conversation with host Alyson Stanfield, he exposes the gatekeeping mechanisms—from application fees to institutional approval—that keep artists competing for artificially scarce opportunities instead of recognizing the abundance they could create together. Damien reveals...

Host Alyson Stanfield reveals an uncomfortable truth in this solo episode: the problem isn't that you don't know enough. The real challenge is building the confidence to act on what you already know. After 23 years of teaching artists, Alyson has realized she's been contributing to information overwhelm when what artists actually need are practices that build steady confidence. In this episode, yo...

host: Alyson Stanfield In this coaching-style episode, host Alyson Stanfield coaches Ebony Iman Dallas through the challenges of building a sustainable public art career while navigating motherhood, a regional market, and the fear of rejection. Ebony makes 90% of her income from public art but struggles with systems, marketing that highlights events instead of her work, and waiting for opportuniti...

What happens when you realize the way you've been working isn't sustainable? When you've built something successful but it's costing you sleep, peace of mind, and the very things you set out to protect? In this solo episode, host Alyson Stanfield gets really vulnerable with a question most artists face at some point: Who am I if I change the way I've always done things? It's about the pressure to...

host: Alyson Stanfield In 2020, Dawn Trimble was laid off from her interior design job during the pandemic while navigating a divorce—and she felt relief. That moment became a turning point. Within months of painting full-time, she launched her first collection, which sold out in days and matched her corporate paycheck. Dawn talks about the practical steps she took to build momentum, what she brou...

host: Alyson Stanfield Alicia Bailey and Melinda Laz are part of a four-artist collaborative group in Denver that's been working together for years because it's made them better artists. In this conversation, they share the practical realities of collaboration: the systems that keep things organized, the communication that prevents problems, and the trust that makes it all possible. If you've ever...

In part one of this conversation (episode 247), Stephanie Brown shared how she strategically funded her education and built her early career foundation. Now it's time to talk about what happens next: the messy, real, day-to-day work of sustaining an art practice. Stephanie breaks down her actual income streams with host Alyson Stanfield—sharing her five-year vision for gallery representation and e...

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 brea...