Artists-in-Business Program

Artists-in-Business Program
Name	Artists-in-Business Program
Formation	1980s
Type	Fellowship program
Headquarters	New York City
Region served	United States
Leader title	Director

Artists-in-Business Program The Artists-in-Business Program is a professional development initiative connecting visual artists with corporate, philanthropic, and civic institutions to foster collaborations between creators and industry. The program has interfaced with museums, foundations, and universities to support artists' business skills, project implementation, and market navigation through residencies, fellowships, and mentorships. It has engaged galleries, cultural centers, and municipal arts agencies to place artist-led projects in public and private contexts.

Overview

The program places visual artists into partnerships with entities such as Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Louvre, National Gallery of Art (United States), Smithsonian Institution, Studio Museum in Harlem, New Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Getty Center, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Institute of Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Franklin Furnace, Dia Art Foundation, Public Art Fund, Creative Time, CalArts, Rhode Island School of Design, Yale School of Art, Columbia University School of the Arts, Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Cooper Union, University of California, Los Angeles School of the Arts, New York University, Bard College, Swarthmore College, Harvard University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, University of Texas at Austin, University of California, Berkeley, California Institute of the Arts, Sotheby's Institute of Art, and Royal College of Art to integrate studio practice with institutional strategy.

History and Development

Founded in the late 20th century, the initiative emerged amid dialogues involving National Endowment for the Arts, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Knight Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Lannan Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, NEA Arts Journalism Institute, New York State Council on the Arts, California Arts Council, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Boston Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Canada Council for the Arts, and municipal cultural offices. Early partnerships referenced models from Artists Space, Dia Art Foundation, and The Kitchen, with influence from artists and curators associated with Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Marina Abramović, Yayoi Kusama, Louise Bourgeois, Anish Kapoor, Ai Weiwei, Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Kara Walker, Glenn Ligon, Kehinde Wiley, Kerry James Marshall, Tauba Auerbach, Shirin Neshat, Sherrie Levine, Richard Serra, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Bridget Riley, David Hockney, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Anselm Kiefer, Paul McCarthy, Matthew Barney, Marina Abramović, Olafur Eliasson, Tino Sehgal, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Thomas Hirschhorn informing programmatic thinking.

Program Structure and Curriculum

Curricula combine artist business training with project-based residencies that mirror programs at EY, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, Accenture, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Google Arts & Culture, Microsoft Philanthropies, Adobe Foundation, Salesforce.org, Bloomberg Philanthropies, IKEA Foundation, Samsung Arts and Culture, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Apple Inc., Facebook (Meta Platforms), Amazon (company), TED Conferences, SXSW, Venice Biennale, Documenta, Armory Show, Frieze Art Fair, Art Basel, Biennale of Sydney, São Paulo Art Biennial, Rotterdam International Film Festival, Helsinki Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Broadway, Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera, Aperture Foundation, Artforum, Art in America, Frieze (magazine), The New Yorker, The New York Times Arts section, The Guardian Arts, ARTnews, Hyperallergic for workshops in marketing, negotiation, contracts, intellectual property, exhibition design, fundraising, grant writing, audience development, and curatorial collaboration.

Participant Selection and Eligibility

Selection panels have included representatives from National Endowment for the Arts, Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Soros Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Lannan Foundation, Knight Foundation, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Rauschenberg Foundation, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Studio Museum in Harlem, Harvard University, Yale University, Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, Columbia University, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum, New Museum, Dia Art Foundation, Public Art Fund, Creative Time, Artists Space, The Kitchen, Fluxus Movement, Insertions into site-specific practice, and curators from Tate Modern, MoMA PS1, Guggenheim Bilbao, Stedelijk Museum, Kunsthalle Basel, Serpentine Galleries, Hayward Gallery, and Hamburger Bahnhof.

Outcomes and Impact

Alumni and program projects have entered collections at Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Walker Art Center, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Musée d'Orsay, Centre Pompidou, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Hammer Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, New Museum, SFMOMA, National Gallery of Art (United States), Victoria and Albert Museum, Royal Academy of Arts, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, National Museum of China, Uffizi Gallery, Prado Museum, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Museo Tamayo, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, MAXXI, and public commissions for High Line (New York City), Millennium Park, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Storm King Art Center, Battery Park City, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Battery Park, Zuccotti Park, DUMBO (Brooklyn), Times Square, Union Square, Manhattan, La Défense, Pitt River Museum, Piazza del Duomo, Milan, Plaza de Cibeles.

Partnerships and Funding

Funding models blend support from private foundations such as Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Knight Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Lannan Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and corporate philanthropy from JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Google, Microsoft, Bloomberg Philanthropies, IKEA Foundation, Samsung, Sony, Apple, Amazon, along with support from municipal arts councils including New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, San Francisco Arts Commission, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, and federal partners like National Endowment for the Arts.

Notable Alumni and Projects

Former participants have included artists whose profiles intersect with institutions and personalities such as Ai Weiwei, Yayoi Kusama, Marina Abramović, Cindy Sherman, Kehinde Wiley, Kerry James Marshall, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Richard Serra, Olafur Eliasson, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tino Sehgal, Shirin Neshat, Tauba Auerbach, Matthew Barney, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Tracey Emin, Gerhard Richter, Wangechi Mutu, Jordan Casteel, Mickalene Thomas, Kehinde Wiley, Theaster Gates, Darren Bader, Swoon (artist), Shepard Fairey, JR (artist), Mark Bradford, Julie Mehretu, Kara Walker, Glenn Ligon, Nan Goldin, Wolfgang Tillmans, Cai Guo-Qiang, Do Ho Suh, El Anatsui, Anya Gallaccio, Sterling Ruby, Nari Ward, Kiki Smith, Rashid Johnson, Alicja Kwade, Jessie Reyez, Shahzia Sikander, Guerrilla Girls, Allora and Calzadilla, and collaborative commissions for events including Venice Biennale, Documenta, Art Basel, Frieze Art Fair, Armory Show, Whitney Biennial, Biennale of Sydney, São Paulo Art Biennial, Toronto Biennial of Art, Liverpool Biennial, and public programs on High Line (New York City), Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Millennium Park.

Category:Cultural programs