Resources for creative folks

Downloadable Worksheets

  • Accountability Questions for Artists

    Have you been asked to participate in an exhibition, performance, artist talk, panel discussion, award jury, classroom visit, charity auction, or other opportunity? Feeling unsure about whether to say yes or no? Here are seven questions designed to help you make a confident decision that’s appropriate for where you’re at right now.

  • Unstick Yourself Exercise
    Are you at an impasse with a particular creative project? Are you looking at this website because you’re feeling stuck and need help RIGHT NOW? Here’s an exercise that might bring you a little breathing room and momentum.

Help Desk

  • Help Desk
    From 2012 to 2017, I wrote over 100 installments of an arts-advice column that demystified practices for artists, writers, curators, arts admins, and the general public. The column was originally published on DailyServing.com, which sadly no longer exists; but the columns from 2012 to 2014 are still archived at San Francisco’s KQED.org.

Arts Research

  • Americans for the Arts - Social Impact Explorer
    A fun, fact-filled tool for exploring thirty-nine different domains in which artists make an impact, from civic dialogue and public welfare to housing, technology, and the environment. Lots of surprises here!

  • Seeing Visual Artists
    In 2021, with the support of the Andy Warhol Foundation, I conducted the first city-wide research project to examine the conditions of artists’ lives in the pandemic. This paper synthesizes data from Portland’s visual artists with research on art, culture, and economics to explore complex interactions within an art ecosystem.

Inspiration &
How-to

Channeling your energy effectively in 2025 and beyond:

  • Full Catastrophe Living
    Jon Kabat-Zinn’s groundbreaking work in mind-body approaches to counteract stress, reduce anxiety, and be more in touch with the strength that already resides in ourselves. Hot tip: the author’s warmth and wry humor really come through in the audiobook.

  • Acting with Power: Why We Are More Powerful Than We Believe
    What does it mean to be powerful? Deborah Gruenfeld has investigated this topic for over twenty years, and her wisdom is distilled into this insightful volume. If you’ve ever felt disempowered, this book has the potential to change your life.

Inspiration:

  • The Energy of Money
    Money is one of the trickiest career aspects to navigate; for artists, sometimes it seems like our only choices are to be “paid in exposure” or to “just sell out.” In this book, Dr. Maria Nemeth, founder of the Academy for Coaching Excellence, outlines a simple way to build a successful relationship to money so that you can thrive.

  • Big Magic
    Novelist Elizabeth Gilbert’s funny, unflinching look at the ins and outs of leading a creative life, and the situations in which you might find yourself: “Perfectionism is just fear in fancy shoes and a mink coat, pretending to be elegant when actually it’s just terrified.” Ouch! Thank you!

  • The Artist’s Way
    The first time I had Julia Cameron’s classic self-help book in my hands, I read three pages and promptly dismissed it as hippie nonsense. Fifteen years later I bought a copy and diligently followed the exercises for twelve weeks to great effect. All I can say now is: It works if you work it.

How to:

  • Art/Work
    A sanity-saving career handbook for the visual arts professional. Authors Heather Darcy Bhandari and Jonathan Melber walk you through working with galleries, licensing, marketing, organization, taxes, and so much more.

  • How to Write About Contemporary Art
    Gilda Williams’s essential guide to writing exhibition reviews, gallery guides, museum websites, academic essays, and catalog texts. If you write about art (or want to start), this book is your companion.

  • The Byline Bible
    Within a mere five assignments, Susan Shapiro will teach you how to write and sell creative nonfiction essays and op-eds. Shapiro’s advice is clear, direct, and wise.