Here's to the unsung heros of the art industry

It occurs to me that while our artists, sculptors and gallerists get exhibitions, postcards with their names on it, feature articles and ego pats a plenty, there are many individuals who have worked equally hard that go without recognition and sometimes without even a thank you.  These hard working folks are the writers, designers, installers, marketing agents and the like who often toil into the night and are behind the scenes of artistic fame and fortune.

Thanks to all of you who put it "out there" every day.

Comments

[casey shain]

ah, screw the little people. i call 'em Step Stools...
JUST KIDDING, lol. nice words! i'll be moving upfront someday!

[Mark Randall Kilburn]

Interesting subject here. I can only speak for myself.
I work 50 hours a week in Greenwich at an Iron shop. I teach on Sunday in Brooklyn, to pay for studio space, and I make my metal sculptures in my "free" time. I get in juried shows with my name on cards about twice a year, I have donated to
Griffin Hospital and have a donation at an auction in Shelton as we speak. I have been on the east coast 26 months and have had three exhibitions in Manhattan. I have worked my ass off to get as far as I have.
I suggest the "UNSUNGS" start tooting their own horns a little bit and get involved.
Go to openings and instead of partying,
make the art scene " what you do".
No doubt there are other ways but I will not comprimise my integrity to get ahead.

[casey shain]

MRK: Not to be disrespectful, but I think you completely missed the point about Lisa's column today. The unsung heroes she is talking about are the support teams behind the art shows, the people setting them up, the ad designers that help get the word out, the people that make the art world go 'round and 'round, not the artists, like me, that aren't quite well-known yet in art circles.

I'm sure you work hard to do what you do, but your inference that the rest of us are 'partying' and not taking our art seriously is, frankly, rude and presumptuous. Personally, i put every penny of my very meager, and unsteady, freelance income into my art. I don't have time to party, I don't have time to market my art at the moment. I am too busy WORKING on my art. I'm happy you've had some success with your work, but your 'holier than thou' attitude is the reason I rarely go to art events, which seem to be full of people like you. As far as I'm concerned, the world needs more humble artists working their hearts off on their art, not pushy 'i'm better than you are and i deserve it more than you do' art types working their butts off to make a name for themselves.

[Mark Randall Kilburn]

Casey,
Nice to meet you!!

OF COURSE I am rude and presumptuous. I dont always spell well either. And, I use a PC and not a MAC.

If my description does not apply to you, why would you respond to it? My whole point in my earlier post was if people are working that hard and not being reconized, rewarded or otherwise properly compensated then maybe they should shift gears and move down a different path. I have toiled for 35 years in an unsung fashion making others wealthy. I am still paying my dues. It never ends, then you die. I understand that not everyone can or wants to be on the front line or in the spotlight. To quote Sailboat John back in 82' " I want it All"

[casey shain]

I responded because Lisa is my friend and you completely missed the message she so eloquently posted. You've missed it again just now. She is talking about the people that ENJOY being behind the scenes. That's why they do. They don't ask for kudos or the spotlight, ever. Somehow I suspect that is a completely foreign concept to you. I help a friend occasionally setting up flowers for weddings. We are behind-the-scenes people that make sure everything looks great for the bride and groom and guests. I'll straighten out a place setting if the caterers were rushed. I'll dust a fireplace mantle if the owner didn't have time. I'll do jobs other than what I'm being paid for, to make sure the event is as good as it can be. I am a graphic designer, and have done ads for artists/galleries for publications for free if the client can't afford to pay me but i believe in them. I don't do it to be noticed, I don't do it for the thanks. I do it because it's the right thing to do and I'm able to.

And thanks for reinforcing my opinion of many in the 'art world' as being rude and presumptuous. i don't even know what to say about your PC vs Mac comment. I suppose it's a riff on a TV commercial, but having been on a mac since my first Apple II in '85 or so, you don't know what you're missing, but i suspect you don't care either.

So enjoy your success when you inevitably achieve it. I'm you will let us all know about it as loudly as you can.

[lisa]

Gentlemen,
Thank you for your comments. Some years ago I had dinner with a fairly well known artist (We are not talking Damien Hirst fame here but this artist had his share of shows in NYC and sales etc...) At that time he suddenly said to me "I don't know how or why you do it. The work you do is amazing to me. You work so hard for your clients and yet you rarely get any spotlight for it. I don't know that I could always work behind the scenes."

That is probably the sentiment of most artists. They seek fame and fortune and yet despite changes in the art market, attitudes, bad reviews etc...They are compelled to continue on. To me artists are amazing people. It takes bravery to put ones work out there for critique, review and sale. Art, for the true artist, is something they MUST do, not something they choose to do. To part with a creation must be like selling ones own child. I guess however there are those artists who are "closet artists" and create only for themselves never wanting to exhibit or show their work.

I am indeed a behind the scenes gal. My satisfaction comes from a job well done, from creating a great piece of graphic design or from smithing a decent written article. Mostly I receive satisfaction from the appreciation and good word of mouth I receive from my clients. After all, the creative and marketing that I do is the thrust of my business and therefore it is the job that is most important to me.

I do also know others... installers, gallery assistants, agents, graphic designers and more that also work very hard behind the scenes. They also live, eat and breathe art and/or music...photography, theater... whatever. To assume they are "partying" rather than collecting accolades is harsh, Mark. Perhaps they like to work behind the scenes. Perhaps they have another agenda or dream. Perhaps they do hope for fame. What these people want I can not say but I did want to honor the work they are doing because everyone.... EVERYONE likes an occasional "Thank you."

[kyler m]

i can't believe i'm about to say this, but i agree with everybody on this highly conflicting, hilariously intense page of comments.

mark.
of course you are rude and presumptuous, and i've overlooked your poor spelling more and more. i'll tell you, i'm a mac guy myself, but all the more power to your pc. i really think that when it comes to something such as computers, we're entering utterly subjective and worthlessly argumentative ground. we may as well debate religion. you also are quite a trumpet.

i agree with these things, with a smirk.

but all of that is okay, because i love your cynical sense of quasi-humor, and i am more than willing to accept your quirks, whatever they may be.

i agree, if the little guys want the recognition, they've really got to get a bit of horn tootery going on. how else do those recognized artists and anybodys do it? they toot.

now casey,
that of course does not mean that everybody need be quite the foghorn that many artists can be. i know that i, personally, like to work behind the scenes and watch with apprehension as the pieces that i've personally arranged fall into place.

that is what really brings me pleasure. music, technology...all of the things that have little preference for scatter-brained or lineally thought, left brain or right, math or the humanities. i like all of the gray area, and again, i love to watch my creations as they are created. the, to quote the famous gilbert boro, process. golly.

of course, the idea of any hard working designers and/or writers and/or artists whiling away their time partying is insane and not even worthy of comment. get it right, we spend all of our time posting comments on blogs. ;p

lisa.
you get the idea. artists need to do art in the same way that they need to wear clothes; that is, if they don't, s/he and everyone around him/her will find them to be ridiculous and quite possibly fundamentally disturbed.

and hell yes, power to the closet artists, the unsung heroes, the egomaniacs, the trumpets, the macs, the pcs, and everyone else. we're all fuckin' quacks and we can spend time elsewhere arguing over the petty details of our individual insanities.

we can all agree; "sugar is sweet."

KM