Art Problems

Katie Hargrave is a visual artist and associate professor at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, where she's lived and worked for twelve years. This is the second episode in a series on artists building careers outside city centers.Katie talks about what that has required: virtual studio visits that now feel more natural to her than in-person ones, a social media presence built on sharing other people's work without an obvious ask, and getting really good at logistics. She and her longtime collaborator Meredith Laura Lynn work six hours apart by car, and Katie explains how that distance has shaped their partnership for the better. She also talks about why being direct early in a relationship makes everything that follows easier.Katie Hargrave is represented in exhibitions across the Southeast and beyond, including recent shows at the Hunter Museum of American Art, the Knoxville Museum of Art, and Granary Arts. She often collaborates with artist Meredith Laura Lynn.Relevant links:Katie Hargrave: katiehargrave.comMeredith Laura Lynn: meredithlauralynn.com

with Constance McBride, figurative ceramic sculptor, curator, and co-founder of The Hook ExperimentConstance McBride came back to art at 47 after 25 years in the corporate world, eventually joining Netvvrk in 2021. Four years later, health reasons pulled her away from the membership. What happened next is the kind of story Paddy doesn't always get to tell: a former member building something real. Now based in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Constance is co-running The Hook Experiment, a nonprofit gallery and performance space in Oxford, PA, where artists can show large-scale installation and experimental work free from commercial pressure. The space hosts group shows and open calls, rents to outside organizations, and recently completed its first international juried exhibition. It's a 501(c)(3) now, with a board, an executive director, and a calendar that includes performance, sound events, and more. In this conversation, Constance and Paddy talk about how the skills she built inside Netvvrk showed up when she wasn't even looking for them, how artist-run organizations can be structured to protect studio time, and what it looks like to build infrastructure for your own community when the existing options don't fit. Constance McBride is a figurative ceramic sculptor and installation artist based in Chester County, Pennsylvania. She is a co-founder and board member of The Hook Experiment. Find Constance's work at constancemcbride.com or follow her on Instagram at @constancemcbride_art. Find The Hook Experiment at thehookexperiment.org or on Instagram at @hookexperiment. Questions? Email support@netvvrk.com. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Crystal Hartman has been a Netvvrk member since we launched in 2021 — long enough to know exactly how she uses it, and what it's actually done for her practice. She joins me today to talk about what it looks like to run a studio with your values front and center: finding community after relocating to a new city, using Netvvrk as a resource library rather than a fixed routine, and how learning to articulate what she needed led directly to getting the keys to an experimental exhibition space in her town.Crystal Hartman (b. 1983, Durango, Colorado, USA) is a multimedia artist based in Urbana, Illinois. Her work has been exhibited at the CCCB, Barcelona; National Palace of Culture, Sofia; BMOCA, Boulder; Arvada Center for the Arts; and Denver International Airport. Her work appears globally in arts and literary publications, as album art through independent labels, and on book covers published by Oxford University Press and A5 Publishing, Madrid. In addition to her studio and curatorial practices, she teaches workshops on Light and Alternative Photographic Processes each spring through the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign at The Farms: An Allerton Folk School.Free Info Session: How to Get on a Museum's Radar - Tuesday, April 28th at 7pm EST. Register here.Website: https://www.crystalhartman.com/

The art world has no HR department. There's no employer to set up health insurance, no emergency fund, no retirement plan. If you’re a freelance artist, that means you’re on your own. Today's guest, Yancey Strickler, co-founder of Kickstarter and founder of Metalabel, thinks that can change with a new business designation called the A-Corp. The A-Corp is Strickler’s answer to that problem: a new business structure built specifically for artists that comes with legal protection, fair ways to share ownership with collaborators, and eventually, a path to group health insurance. It’s currently a bill before the Colorado Senate — and if it passes, Colorado becomes the template for the rest of the country. Strickler walks me through how it works and makes the case that we’re only at the very beginning of something much bigger.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ RELATED LINKS Artist Corporations Metalabel The Creative Independent TED Talk: Forget Hustle Culture. Behold the Artist Corporation New Creative Era podcast — Yancey's podcast with Joshua Citarella Artist Corporations: New Podcast and Early Traction — the episode where Yancey first laid out the A-Corp in detail

What does it feel like to work professionally as an artist for 23 years but still feel like you're treading water? In this episode of Art Problems, I speak with Boston-based artist Yuko Oda about joining Netvvrk just over a year ago after graduating from RISD in 2002 and spending two decades feeling confused about her trajectory. She was saying yes to everything, spreading herself too thin, and missing opportunities she should have seized—like a group show in Tokyo where she wasn't happy with the work she submitted. In just over a year, Yuko sold her first major piece directly to a collector, secured a three-piece commission for a downtown Boston high-rise, exhibited work in Rome that she calls her best art experience ever, and learned to set boundaries that protect her momentum. We talk about overcoming hesitation to invest in yourself, how accountability groups helped navigate everything from invoices to artist-consultant contract splits, and what it feels like to finally know where you are on your career path instead of floating like a bubble. Free Info Session: How to Become a Biennial Artist - Wednesday, February 25th at 7pm EST Register here. Yuko Oda: Website: https://www.yukooda.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yukooda75 Education: Rhode Island School of Design (RISD): https://www.risd.edu Institutions Mentioned: UMass Lowell: https://www.uml.edu Harvard Entomology Club: https://hmnh.harvard.edu New York Institute of Technology: https://www.nyit.edu Grants & Programs: Guggenheim Fellowship: https://www.gf.org Artists Mentioned (Commission Advice): Laura Fayer: https://www.laurafayer.com/ Adria Arch: https://www.adriaarch.com/ John Laustsen: https://www.jonlaustsen.com/ Mary Lynn Burke: https://www.marylynnburke.com/ Kristin Cronic: https://www.kristinraecronic.com/ Kristi Kun https://www.kristykun.com/

What does it feel like to return to your art practice after a 25-year break? In this episode of Art Problems, I speak with visual artist Shae Nadine about navigating an art world that had completely transformed in her absence. When Shae joined Netvvrk two years ago, she was figuring out basics like digital documentation and artist statements. But through accountability groups and community support, she went from feeling lost to landing a NYSCA grant, a SuCasa residency, and curating a four-month public art exhibition in Chicago. This conversation gets into the unglamorous parts of building an art career—like why Shae's accountability group toasts their rejections, how to know when you're actually ready to apply for major grants, and why sometimes the best thing you can do for your relationship is stop asking your partner to read your artist statement. If you've ever felt like an outsider in the art world, I recommend listening to Shae’s story. Links: Free Info Session: How to Become a Biennial Artist - Wednesday, February 25th at 7pm EST Register here. Shae Nadine || SubtleFlux: Website, Instagram Grants & Programs Mentioned: NYSCA (New York State Council on the Arts): https://arts.ny.gov Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC): https://lmcc.net Sukasa Grant: https://www.skowhegan.org/sukasa Manhattan Graphics Center: https://www.manhattangraphicscenter.org Pollack-Krasner Foundation: https://pkf.org Guggenheim Fellowship: https://www.gf.org Resources: Powerhouse Arts (mentioned in episode): https://powerhousearts.org Westbeth Artists Housing: https://westbeth.org

80% of artists struggle with the same problem: getting seen by curators, gallerists, and collectors. And solving this problem is like slaying a multiheaded Hydra—the tasks are endless.In this episode, we talk about how to conquer the Hydra. I break down the reasons artists get stuck, even when they're working hard. You'll learn why the order you tackle things matters more than the tasks themselves, and how one overwhelmed member went from "30 things to do, doing none of them" to making real progress in six months.I'm also announcing the Netvvrk Navigator—a new assessment tool I built with artist William Powhida that shows you exactly where you are in your career and what to work on next. Plus, a special offer for the first 10 annual members that's only available once.If you've been working hard without seeing results, this episode will show you exactly what to do next.

In this episode, Paddy talks with art market analyst Tim Schneider about the New Visions Report 2025, a survey of over 1,000 visual artists about their working conditions. They discuss why even successful artists struggle with money, what separates artists who advance in their careers from those who don't, and the business practices that matter most. Tim shares insights from two decades covering the art market about networking, professional systems, and why the infrastructure around your art practice is just as important as the work itself.

This week I'm extending a conversation I started in my revived Hyperallergic column: do you need a proper studio space to get studio visits? The answer is no—if you handle it properly. But the real question isn't about your space. It's how to network effectively so visits actually happen. I break down the exact timing strategy for outreach, why most networking fails in the follow-through, and how to structure emails that make it easy for people to say yes. The biggest reason artist emails don't get responses isn't disinterest—it's that the email didn't make it easy to respond. I cover four principles that change that and walk through a real scenario showing how to think strategically about follow-up. Want the exact framework? Join me for my free webinar Monday, November 24th at 7 PM EST. RELEVANT LINKS: Hyperallergic: Do I Need a Studio? Free Webinar Sign Up: How to Get Studio Visits Without Reading Minds

This week on the Art Problems podcast interview series "Inside Netvvrk", I'm talking with Brent Showalter, a multidisciplinary artist whose brilliantly colored paintings and photographs transform layered compositions of color and shape into vibrating surfaces. Brent runs multiple businesses and brings that same strategic mindset to his art practice. In doing so, he's able to devote more time to his art. We talk about how his accountability group helped him finally organize his entire archive, and what it takes to feel confident when opportunity knocks—whether that's the director of the Guggenheim walking into your studio or an Instagram comment from a curator. Brent also shares how that casual comment turned into a curated opportunity in 24 hours—because he had everything ready to go. If you've been wondering whether Netvvrk is worth the investment, this conversation will help. It shows what happens when you stop reinventing the wheel and start using the tools that already work.

This week I'm launching 'Inside Netvvrk,' a new interview series with Netvvrk members. First up is Laurie Frick, a data artist and one of Netvvrk's founding members. In this conversation, we talked about what it's really like to invest in your career when you're already mid-career. Laurie doesn't sugarcoat it: Netvvrk isn't cheap, and you need to treat your career like it's worth investing in. But she also shares what changed when she made that commitment—going from feeling stuck in public art commissions to now having four galleries and selling all the work she makes. We talk about the small group of artists who transformed each other's fellowship applications into something extraordinary, what it takes to actually be vulnerable with other artists, and why a community on Zoom can be just as real as painters meeting in a bar. If you've ever wondered whether coaching or community membership is worth the investment—especially if you're already established—this conversation shows what happens when you stop going it alone.

Eric Shiner, President of Powerhouse Arts joins the podcast to give artists the skinny on this new organization. This 170,000 square-foot nonprofit in Brooklyn's Gowanus neighborhood is fast becoming one of the most significant resources for artists in New York City. Eric walks me through Powerhouse's seven fabrication workshops (ceramics, printmaking, textiles, wood, metal, and more), their artist subsidy program that makes these resources financially accessible, and their new artist residency program. We also talk about how Powerhouse is expanding into exhibitions and performing arts with affordable ticket prices, and why they're supporting Fall of Freedom—a nationwide protest defending creative expression. If you've been struggling to find affordable fabrication space or access to specialized equipment, this conversation will give you tangible options and genuine hope. Relevant Links: Powerhouse Arts Fall of Freedom

This week we’re talking about how health events affect the lives of artists. Sculptor John Powers joins me as we share our experiences - his traumatic hand injury and subsequent cancer diagnosis, and my own recent double mastectomy. We dig into the specific challenges artists face when medical crises threaten the tools of our trade, how we navigate the US healthcare system, and the mental strategies that help us maintain morale when everything feels out of control. We also explore the practical realities: phantom limb pain, nerve regeneration, the importance of finding the right surgeon, and how artistic skills - like explaining complex ideas and self-entertaining in solitude - translate surprisingly well to being a patient. Medical crises are one of the top reasons artists in our community need to step back from their work, yet we rarely discuss how to navigate them. This podcast fills that need. Relevant Links: John Powers NYU Langone Health Weill Cornell Medicine Columbia Presbyterian