What are the actual paths to making it as an artist today?

There are essentially two paths. First: do the basics — own your website, gather emails, run marketing campaigns, market yourself consistently on social media, tell your story. Second: do in-person shows and fairs. In the US you can do 30-40 per year; in Europe you have many arts and crafts fairs and town shows available. If you do enough shows and capture emails at all of them and foster those relationships, you can build a business that way. But those are really the only paths. The fairy tale of being discovered or a gallery making you famous just doesn’t happen.

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Asked by synthesized from teaching · Answered by Patrick · Art Business Webinar · 2026-06-05