I began teaching in Continuing
Studies at Emily Carr University shortly after my book, Artist Survival Skills, came out. I had picked up a Continuing
Studies calendar to see if there was a course that I might take and noticed that
the listing for a course called The
Business of Art showed the teacher was TBA (to be announced).
I contacted the University to offer
my services for what I thought would be one semester, assuming the regular
teacher was on leave, but I have taught the course every semester since. I am
only in the classroom for six hours a week for two months each semester, but my
course is a compulsory part of three certificate programs so normally, there
are twenty students in each of my two classes.
My challenge with the class is to
make it relevant to a diverse range of students. Some students have
considerable experience while others have none, and they work in vast range of
media. Some make product swhile others provide services; some are mature and
some are very young; most are female. I would say that the average age is
fourty-ish.
Sometimes the interaction can go in
surprising directions. In the recent past, one of my students was very
confrontational in class and submitted illiterate assignments. When I asked for
an appointment to discuss how we could work together to make sure that the
student did not fail, I was refused so I asked my supervisors for advice.
That led to a meeting between my
supervisors and the student and that, in turn, led to the R.C.M.P. calling me
to ask if I had ever discussed guns, owned a gun, referenced Columbine or
student-slaughters or if I had threatened the student. It was the most shocking
and unexpected outcome imaginable even though the University had advised me the
call was coming and not to worry. That student was removed from the class and
our class was relocated for the duration of the term.
The more common experience, however,
is overwhelmingly positive. Every term there students who make it exciting for
me to go to every class. This summer, however, was outstanding. Amongst the
registrants were two
students (a couple) from Switzerland who were inspiring, three delightful
lawyers, a highly energetic and thoroughly engaging and hard-working University
administrator and an equally appealing financial industry executive, a
frustrated engineer/entrepreneur and several international students possessed
of an incredible work ethic and many others—too many to mention here.
The
high percentage of professionals in my class is yet another outcome of the baby
boom. The front edge of the boom is sixty-six this year and my course is
heavily populated with retirees and eventual retirees seeking to establish new
careers in retirement or to return to a passion postponed. Coincidently, this
summer I had half the normal number of registrants allowing me to get more
deeply into conversations with this great cohort during the course.
Part
of my course concerns the professional of curators and my course material includes
quotes from curators of whom I asked the question: “If you could address the
graduating class of Emily Carr, what is the most important think they should
know, in your opinion, from the entirety of your professional experience?” At
the end of one section of my course this summer, a student who really inspired
me asked if we could get together and when we did, she asked me the same
question. Here is what I told her.
Know
exactly what you want from being an artist. Be it money, public awareness (“fame”)
or curatorial respect or all three or degrees of each—know exactly what you
want from your career. To that add talent and that is half of what you need.
The
other half is one of four things: an incredible work ethic, a balanced and
appreciated extroverted personality, significant business acumen (an
entrepreneurial orientation) or genius. Talent + one of these four qualities =
success no matter how you define it.
