This workshop-structured course provides a practical overview of the working lives of practicing artists, exploring the visual art ecosystem that supports and platforms emerging artists.

Students will be exposed to the landscape of the visual arts, navigating non-profit art centers and commercial galleries; examining the roles of curators, critics, and art dealers; accessing alternative venues and institutional frameworks; application to foundations and residencies and the reiterating importance of the individual artist at the center of this ecosystem.

The course is oriented towards the practical, with the goal of developing presentation and communication skills. Guest speakers include leading curators, critics, gallerists and exhibiting artists of international renown. 2011's visiting artists were:

PATTY CHANG
Artist, Visiting Faculty/Photography, Video and Related Media, SVA
February 7, Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

ALLAN deSOUZA  Watch the video clip
Interdisciplinary Artist (Sculpture/Photo), Writer, Faculty/New Genres, SFAI
February 14, Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

CARA STARKE
Assistant Curator/Department of Media and Performance Art, MoMA
February 28, Riley Seminar Room, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

MARLENE McCARTY
Artist (drawing, installation), founding member of Gran Fury
March 7, Alfond Auditorium Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

MELISSA LEVIN  Watch the video clip
Director of Artist Residencies, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Residency (LMCC)
March 14, SMFA Mission Hill Building, 160 St. Alphonsus Street, Room C113

JULIO MORALES
Interdisciplinary Artist (Installation, Media, Audio), Co-Founder/Queens Nails Artist Space, Visiting Faculty/New Genres, SFAI
April 11, Riley Seminar Room, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

COCO FUSCO
Interdisciplinary Artist, Curator, Writer, Director/Intermedia Initiatives at Parsons
April 25, Riley Seminar Room, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Board of the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation has awarded the SMFA a $55,000 grant to support Professional Practices for Artists, a course that equips students from both undergraduate and graduate programs with the critical skills necessary to manage their careers as visual artists. This is the fourth grant awarded by the foundation in support of the course. Professional Practices for Artists was originally funded in 2002 as part of the Foundation's Marketplace Empowerment for Artists program, which seeks to empower artists with the tools to help them to succeed in their field.