New Virtual Art Business and Art History Classes in June

In May I offered a short series of four online art business classes at affordable rates. These classes were quite well received so I am offering a second installment of professional development programming and now also offering art history. You can learn more about my teaching experience on my Speaking and Teaching page, and learn more about my personal background on my About page.

You can register for classes by clicking the button at the bottom of this page and filling out this simple registration form. Please note that all classes will be conducted live via Zoom. Students should be comfortable with this free teleconferencing platform. Students will receive Zoom meeting details in a direct email after they have paid their class fee(s) using Paypal or Venmo.

Thank you!

-Michael

Professional Development Course Listing

Two Day Workshop: Publicizing Your Artwork
Saturday, June 6, 1:00pm-2:00pm
Sunday, June 7, 1:00pm-2:00pm

Artists often have a difficult time publicizing their own work. In this two day workshop, Michael will review key methods to earn publicity for your art and exhibitions. He will discuss traditional means of publicity like the press release and also give detailed advice on utilizing Facebook and Instagram to grow your following.

Included:

• 1 hour live lecture via Zoom each day.

• A resource sheet distributed after class.

• Students can submit questions before, during, or after class.

Class Fee: $50

Making The Most of Juried Exhibitions
Saturday, June 6, 3:00pm-3:30pm

Juried exhibitions provide increasingly important venues for artists to share their work with new audiences. From local art associations to nationally competitive calls, Michael will break down how to strategize and select work for application and how to make the most of being featured in such shows.

Included:

• 30 minute live lecture via Zoom.

• A resource sheet distributed after class.

• Students can submit questions before, during, or after class.

Class Fee: $15

The Appraisal Basics
Sunday, June 7, 3:00pm - 3:30pm

Art appraisal is an important means to learn more about the background and value of one’s collection. While most people are familiar with the “appraisals” of programs like Antiques Roadshow, this short crash course will detail the when, why, and how of professional appraisal practice and teach how collectors can go about securing appropriate valuations for their artworks. This is ideal for individuals who own artworks and aren’t sure how to start the appraisal process.

Included: 

• 30 minute live Zoom lecture.

• Resource sheet distributed after class.

• Students can submit questions before, during, or after class.

Class Fee: $15

Artists’ Professional Development Discussion Group
Monday, June 8, 6:00pm - 7:00pm

In this engaging question and answer session, Michael will take questions from attendees and moderate a conversation in the group on the topics that interest them most. This can range from how to prepare your artwork, to how to interact with galleries, to how to apply to exhibitions. Nothing is off topic!

Included:

• 1 hour live Zoom Q&A session.

Class Fee: $10

Art History Course Listing

Looking at composition
SAturday, June 6, 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Composition is one of the foundational elements of all visual art, and describes the underlying structure of all your favorite images. Using examples from art history, Michael will talk more about the aspects of composition and detail the qualities which make a strong composition. This class is intended to help those interested in art develop a keener visual sense, and will also aid artists in improving their own compositions.

Included: 

• 1 hour live Zoom lecture.

• Students may ask questions during lecture.

Class Fee: $20

Looking at New York Nights
Sunday, June 7, 6:00pm - 7:00pm

New York City has long provided inspiration for visual artists. In this one hour class, Michael will explore the ways in which visual artists have drawn on the unique quality of New York at night to create evocative, engaging, and even mysterious works of art. Artists like John Sloan, Martin Lewis, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keefe, and Faith Ringgold will be discussed.

Included: 

• 1 hour live Zoom lecture.

• Students may ask questions during lecture.

Class Fee: $20

Policies

• All course fees are due in advance of the class. Cancellations must occur 48 hours prior to the class start time for class fee to be refunded. Buyer is responsible for any fees resulting from a refund.

• Course fees may be paid via PayPal or Venmo, students will receive payment details after submitting their registration request.

• Classes are open to all and students of all backgrounds are welcome. Class times are Eastern Standard Time.

• Students must be a minimum of 18 years old and should have a good working understanding of the Zoom platform. Michael is not able to provide one on one instruction on how to use Zoom. 

• The content presented in all listed courses is the sole property of Michael Rose, lectures and related course materials may not be recorded or distributed by participants.

Questions

Questions are welcome in advance of classes, to learn more about any of the offerings here, please email Michael at michael@michaelrosefineart.com.

Join Me for Special Online Classes May 2nd and 3rd

Back in January, I began researching and planning how I might be able to offer some of my course material online to reach a wider range of students. I have had many requests for online instruction over the years and have been considering the best mode to share my expertise with students. This idea has clearly taken on a new relevance and I’ve decided to move forward with four short classes to offer unique online educational offerings with affordable rates. Should these classes be well received I will be offering more professional development and art history programming online. You can learn more about my teaching experience on my Speaking and Teaching page, and learn more about my personal background on my About page.

You can register for classes by clicking the button at the bottom of this page and filling out this simple registration form. Please note that all classes will be conducted live via Zoom. Students should be comfortable with this free teleconferencing platform. Students will receive Zoom meeting details in a direct email from Michael after they have paid their class fee(s) using Paypal or Venmo.

Thank you!

-Michael

Course Listing

Pricing Your Artwork
Saturday, May 2, 1:00pm

Pricing art is a challenge for many artists. In this live 1 hour lecture, attendees will learn more about best methods to develop a comprehensive pricing strategy for their work from gallerist and appraiser Michael Rose. Michael will address issues that are relevant to artists working in a variety of media, styles, and techniques.

Included:

• 1 hour live lecture via Zoom.

• A resource sheet distributed after class.

• Students can submit questions before or after class.

Class Fee: $25

Pitching Your Artwork to Galleries
Sunday, May 3, 1:00pm

One of the most frequent questions artists ask is “how do I get gallery representation?”. In this live 1 hour lecture gallerist Michael Rose will share strategies artists can use to make their work more appealing to galleries and talk about how best to navigate the sometimes complicated application process to gain professional representation for fine art.

Included:

• 1 hour live lecture via Zoom.

• A resource sheet distributed after class.

• Students can submit questions before or after class.

Class Fee: $25

Preparing The Back of Your Artwork
Saturday, May 2, 3:00pm

While artists spend most of their energy on the surface of the work they are creating, the back of two dimensional works is often just as important as the front. In this quick 30 minute crash course, gallerist and appraiser Michael Rose will outline best practices artists can use while preparing their work in order to finish their pieces in a professional manner. Labeling, framing preparation, and other important details will be discussed.

Included:

• 30 minute live Zoom lecture.

• Resource sheet distributed after class.

Class Fee: $15

Public Speaking for Artists
Sunday, May 3, 3:00pm 

Many artists find the public component of their work challenging. In this quick 30 minute crash course, gallerist and speaker Michael Rose will share strategies artists can use to improve their public speaking performance in venues such as opening receptions and studio visits. The goal of this course will be to make artists feel more at ease with the basics of public speaking.

Included: 

• 30 minute live Zoom lecture.

• Resource sheet distributed after class.

Class Fee: $15

Policies

• All course fees are due in advance of the class. Cancellations must occur 48 hours prior to the class start time for class fee to be refunded. Buyer is responsible for any fees resulting from a refund.

• Course fees may be paid via PayPal or Venmo, students will receive payment details after submitting their registration request.

• Students must be a minimum of 18 years old and should have a good working understanding of the Zoom platform. Michael is not able to provide one on one instruction on how to use Zoom. 

• The content presented in all listed courses is the sole property of Michael Rose, lectures and related course materials may not be recorded or distributed by participants.

Questions

Questions are welcome in advance of classes, to learn more about any of the offerings here, please email michael at michael@michaelrosefineart.com.

Join Me for Gallery Night Providence July 18!

I would like to invite you to join me for Gallery Night Providence on Thursday, July 18 where I will be the Celebrity Guide for the 5:30pm trolley tour of four galleries in Providence.

This is a free, fun way to get introduced to art spaces you might not otherwise visit and learn more about the artwork on view and the artists who made it. My tour will conclude by 7:30pm.

Our stops will be:

1. City Hall Gallery featuring: Invasive Beauty: New Works by May Babcock and Rebecca Volynsky

2. BankRI Gallery featuring: Paintings by Abba Cudney

3. Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts featuring: Time Zero and Beyond and Hold Up The Hood by Francis Crisafio

4. Gallery Z featuring: European and American Landscapes: Exploring Color, Form, and Light

Gallery Night is free program held on the third Thursday of each month, which allows visitors to park for free at Regency Plaza Apartments (entrance to the parking lot is on Greene Street) and then take guided tours to participating galleries around town.

Seating is limited and reservations are not available unless you make a $10 donation, so do arrive early if you’d like to join my tour. If you have any questions, please email me.

*The header image for this post is Abba Cudney’s Dirty Dishes, which will be on view at BankRI Gallery.

Hope to see you July 18 at 5:30pm!

-Michael

Why Teach Art History?

I recently finished teaching my first session of a new eight week lecture style class I developed for the Providence Art Club: Art History & Appreciation. I proposed the class because I genuinely believe that a good grounding in the basic history of art can go a long way in helping individuals to develop better connoisseurship skills. It was the first time such a class was offered at the Club and I hoped it would garner enough interest to get the ten or so students needed to run it. Nearly forty students signed up. Over eight weeks, and nearly 300 slides, we covered everything from the Cave Paintings of Lascaux to the use of art in Beyoncé and Jay-Z's new music video. It was a great experience for me as a teacher. And a great reminder to me of the incredible value of art history.

Regularly ranked as one of the least useful, least marketable, least valuable college majors, art history is often used as shorthand for a wasteful course of study. Mocked even by then President Barack Obama, who in 2014 reminded an audience that you can often make more money from a career in a skilled trade than as an art historian. Art historians are portrayed as alternatively icy, stodgy, and elitist in the popular culture. In spite of the negativity surrounding the discipline, it still draws in students at all levels. But what value does it actually have?

Still from the 2003 film Mona Lisa Smile, about a professor who uses art history to challenge her students assumptions at the conservative Wellesley College of the 1950s, starring Julia Roberts.

The study of works of art is not just about determining whether a painting is by Bruegel or Bacon. First and foremost, art history has power to create empathy and lead to a better understanding of and appreciation for cultures, traditions, and beliefs other than one's own. Art history also builds remarkable analytical and writing skills, born out of the thoughtful consideration of the historical context for a work and paired with a dedicated examination of the object in question. Additionally, studying artworks builds the skills needed to critically process the ever-broadening flow of visual media that comes with contemporary life. In short, studying art history enables closer looking and deeper thinking.

They say that "history is another country", and that although there may be vague commonalities between historic cultures and today's world, it can be difficult for modern audiences to ever truly understand the motivations, attitudes, and values of people living in England during the sixteenth century, or in France during the eighteenth. But through looking at, and deeply examining, the exacting portraits of Tudor courtiers or the lush paintings of the French Rococo it might be possible to gain a better footing in these foreign worlds. And in the process to also hopefully learn something about abuse of power, or despotism, or revolution. More than the rote collecting of facts or points of view, art history stokes continued curiosity about the subjects, techniques, philosophies, and personalities that have shaped visual culture and history. It enables viewers to explore and question the world around them, and to do so with a critical eye.

Teaching Art History & Appreciation reminded me of all the reasons I love this discipline. The skills developed through looking at works of art are easily transferred to the examination of other media. Honing one's eye on great works of art cultivates stronger cross-disciplinary understanding of architecture, film, and design. Talking students through the history of art helped me to better develop my own capacity to see these and other connections, to understand them, and to share them passionately and accessibly with my students.

One of my favorite quotes about education is attributed to Plutarch and goes something like "The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled." In teaching Art History & Appreciation, I had a great opportunity to reflect on the capacity of art history to motivate curiosity and connoisseurship in contemporary viewers and collectors. By walking my students through the history of art, I think and hope that I inspired a better appreciation for the rich complexities of the artworks of the past as well as a better ability to read and understand artworks of the present. At the end of the last class one of my students came up and said that the course had "lit a spark" in her and inspired a more keen interest in art history. I guess then, according to Plutarch at least, I did a decent job.

I'm looking forward to teach Art History & Appreciation again in the future, and am currently writing the syllabus for a followup class on Modern and Contemporary Art. For more information on my teaching projects, visit my Speaking & Teaching page.