What if an artist treated her project like a project, her business like a business, and became the CEO? https://clarkhulingsfund.org/finalists/vanessa-diaz/ (Vanessa Diaz) is an interdisciplinary artist specializing in sculpture and site-specific installations created from discarded furniture. She reimagines architectural pieces to distort conventional perceptions of how rooms and physical spaces should be used. She is also a 2015 CHF Business Accelerator Grant Recipient. The Clark Hulings Fund is funding and supporting her work “Possibility of an Exit” – an immersive installation that re-contextualizes a house impacted by natural disaster in the upper half of a 5,000 sq. ft. room provided by ArtsUP!
Neil Ramsay the head of ArtsUp! says the artist is the “CEO of the project” – specifically that the artist – in this case, Vanessa – is coming in and designing the whole environment. We found that idea so intriguing that we devoted almost the entire show to it. Topics include:
Scaling an artist’s business at the pivotal career moment.
What does it mean to be the CEO of an art project?
The path to being a self-sustaining artist.
The bottom line business impact of an art project.
Creative control as the CEO.
Collaboration as the CEO.
Collaboration and branding.
Installation art in particular.

For more information on Vanessa Diaz, visit http://vdiazart.com/ (vdiazart.com), and be sure to check out http://www.artsupconcepts.com/ (ArtsUP!) as well