Q&A with Alyson Stanfield: meet Alyson Stanfield, Art Business News' marketing columnist and founder of ArtBizCoach.com

Art Business News, July, 2006 by Susanne Casgar

Q. Tell us about yourself and how you went about starting ArtBizCoach.com.

I worked as a curator and educator in art museums for 10 years in the Midwest. I had reached the point where I had to go where the jobs are if I wanted to move up the ladder, but it became increasingly more important to be able to choose where I lived. I selected Colorado. Not only did I have friends here, but it had always been a second home. So, I moved to Colorado in the summer of 2001 and started an art consulting business. I freely admit that I knew 'zip' about starting a business. I thought knowing art would be good enough. Ha! And then 9/11 happened and everything looked bleak. Something else was going on, though. The artists whom I had befriended and counseled as part of my museum jobs kept in touch. They were seeking advice. Because the museum was no longer paying my salary, I had to consider some sort of remuneration. I seriously considered representing artists, but decided that I could do best by them by teaching them how to better represent themselves. ArtBizCoach.com was born in early 2002. It was named with the help of an early newsletter subscriber: sculptor Hilary Pfeifer of Portland, OR.

My art-marketing consulting started as a Web-based business because I was in a new place. I didn't know the art scene here very well, but I knew the Internet, and I knew how to build Web sites. I also knew how to write. Everything grew from the weekly e-newsletter. I made it up as I went along: individual consulting, online classes, e-books and workshops. They are all vital tools for building my relationships with artists, galleries and art organizations.

Q. You have a degree in art history. Who is your favorite artist, and why?

That's like asking a mother to choose her favorite child, but I'll take a stab at it. I love Constantin Brancusi for his restraint. His sculptures are so poetic. Henri Matisse had an aesthetic that I can relate to: color, joy, life. What more could one want in art? Among more contemporary artists, I can't get enough of Agnes Martin, Ellsworth Kelly and Beverly Semmes. I'm also drawn to things as diverse as Persian glass and miniatures, ancient South American textiles and contemporary ceramics.

Almost any artist can delight, perplex or intrigue me. I was recently blown away by the Diego Rivera murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Even if you don't agree with his politics, you have to admire an artist who attempts to use his art for a cause greater than himself.

Q. Was there any one person in your past that helped shape your career?

Not one. There were many, many. My mother enrolled me in every art class available. My father supported me as an art history major. Dr. Susan Caldwell was invaluable in my early studies at the University of Oklahoma. David L. Boren (now president of the University of Oklahoma) was the person from whom I learned the most about dealing with people. I was his assistant in the U.S. Senate just before I entered graduate school. I had no idea at the time, but I could have never learned from books what I learned by observing him in action. Jean Hagman (formerly with the Oklahoma City Museum of Art) was without a doubt the best museum director I've worked for and I've worked for an embarrassingly large number of them. She taught me to value the artists in the community as a vital part of the museum's mission.

Q. What could emerging artists do to take themselves to the next level?

Get out of their studios and meet more people. Start a mailing list and use it. Talk about art and listen to others talk about art. Write about art, especially their own art. Don't be afraid to discover what their art means to them. Read about art and read about business--not just from art texts, but from the masters of the business world. Oh, yes, and read my newsletter each week.

Q. You organized the first Conference on Art in Oklahoma to provide a statewide forum for artists. Tell us about it.

My goal was to encourage critical writing and thinking about art in Oklahoma, and to document what was going on. There is so much going on in the art "underground" in places like Oklahoma. My fear was that it would be lost in time. Since I was trained as a historian, I took it upon myself to encourage a deeper appreciation of art in Oklahoma.

I think if I were doing it today, it would result in something that combined an artist-in-residence program (with businesses) and an Internet portal. It was the converted who were present at the conference. Outreach--getting outside of our worlds--is imperative for lasting change.

The conference is something I would have liked to continue, but I left Oklahoma soon after it occurred. To my knowledge, it was one of a kind.

Q. What has been your best experience in this business?

I love to go to work every day. Who could ask for a better experience than that? I only work with artists who are energetic and motivated. I refuse to work with people who complain, make excuses or blame others. Those boundaries make almost everything I do enjoyable.