This page has been created for art professionals to gain more knowledge to advance their careers. On this page you’ll find dozens of opportunities and resources for artists. Most of them are either free or low cost and available to artists around the world. I invite you to bookmark this page and visit often.
The function of this page is to offer resources not readily available and those that will lead you to many more resources. Some categories may include and not limited to: Assorted Calls For Artists; Selected Art Groups and Organizations; Resources to Locate Interior Designers; Resources for Safe Use of Art Materials; Funding Resources, Grants and Fellowships; Public Art Programs; Publicity Opportunities; Free Educational Resources for Creativity and Business; Free Books, Email Newsletters and Other Publications; and Assorted Apps, Tools, and More.
Disclaimer: Please note, we do our best to periodically check the current status and accuracy of resources in this database; however, please realize the nature of the offerings and fees may change. Thank you.
Funding Resources, Grants, Fellowships
CERF+ Help for Craft Artists
CERF+ offers emergency assistance is available to established artists working in a craft discipline. It defines craft as “the creation of original objects through the skillful manipulation of materials. These materials were traditionally considered to be clay, fiber, metal, wood, or glass. However, today’s artist working in a craft discipline may also employ concrete, plastic, synthetic fibers, recycled materials and other non-traditional materials, and may self-identify as a maker, designer, potter, ceramicist, mixed media artist, etc. CERF+ broadly defines eligible artists to be inclusive of all materials-based artists regardless of whether they use ‘craft’ to describe themselves.” For more information visit cerfplus.org
CERF+ invites craft artists to Zoom “Office Hours with Nina”, Monday through Friday. Nina will be available to help you navigate the complex web of funding opportunities, federal regulations, and deadlines related to the $2.3 trillion federal aid package in the CARES Act. For details go here.
Financial Aid
Launched by four inspiring leaders of the Ford, Rockefeller, Rasmuson, and Prudential Foundations United States Artists gives five $50,000 fellowships annually to the most compelling artists working and living in the United States, in all disciplines, at every stage of their career. To date, it has given over $22 million to more than 500 artists. For more information go here.
Artists Fellowships Visual Aid
Visual Aid encourages San Francisco Bay Area artists with life-threatening diseases to continue their creative work. Grants take the form of vouchers for art supplies. Other assistance is also available. Contact information: Visual Aid, 57 Post St, Ste. 905, San Francisco, CA 94104. Phone: (415) 777-8242. Email: julie@visualaid.org. Website: www.visualaid.org
Creative Capital
Creative Capital has awarded $40 million to 642 groundbreaking artists nationwide. The organization supports innovative and adventurous artists across the country through funding, counsel and career development services. “Our pioneering approach—inspired by venture-capital principles—helps artists working in all creative disciplines realize their visions and build sustainable practices.” Its Professional Development workshops have empowered nearly 12,000 creative minds to strengthen their careers and enrich their communities. For more information go here.
The Alex J. Ettl Grant
This is a prize of $7,800 for a figurative or realist sculptor who has demonstrated a commitment to sculpting and outstanding ability in his or her body of work. The Grant includes an unrestricted $5,000 cash award, a half-page ad in Fine Art Connoisseur magazine and a quarter page ad in Sculpture Review magazine. For more information go here.
$5,000 for Work in Bas Relief
The Dexter Jones Award, an unrestricted prize of $5,000, is presented annually to a sculptor for an outstanding work of sculpture in bas-relief. Applicants must be sculptors born between 1979-2000. All applicants must be citizens of or residents in the United States with a social security number. The grant is awarded without regard to sex, ethnicity or religion. The use of figurative or realist sculpture is of greatest interest. Find out how to apply here.
Gottlieb Foundation
This foundation offers funding for painters, printmakers and sculptors, who have been working for at least 10 years. It helps them if they have recently undergone an unforeseen catastrophic event such as a fire, flood, or medical emergency. Learn more about the emergency grant.
Legal Assistance
Legal resources in the U.S. can be found on the New York Foundation for the Arts website: nyfa.org/
Read Funding Resources and Grants for Individual Artists.
Free Books, Email Newsletters and Other Publications
Receive Art World News from Hyperallergetic
Staying informed about what’s happening in the art world is a huge challenge. So, when I receive the email newsletter from Hyperallergetic, I know I’ll get a quick exciting overview. Based in Brooklyn, NY, Hyperallergetic goes beyond your traditional art magazine to give you the latest in art events and trends worldwide. Hyperallergic lives up to its description as “a forum for serious, playful, and radical thinking about art in the world today.” Check it out here and start your free daily or weekly subscription: hyperallergic.com.
Free Guide to Help Artists Help Vets
Arts Deployed is a guide for arts organizations and artists interested in bringing creative arts programming to military and Veteran communities, their caregivers, and families. Published by Americans for the Arts, Center for Arts and Culture, and Arts & Health Alliance, it offers a step-by-step guidelines for how artists and local arts agencies can make arts and military connections.
Free Subscription Resource for Realist Artists
If you are a representational artist or you are an art enthusiast who wants to increase your knowledge in this area you must subscribe to Fine Art Today, a free weekly email newsletter, from the publishers of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. You’ll have access to useful art stories, the latest trends, upcoming art shows, top artists, and more. You can also subscribe to their free Plein Air Today, a weekly plein air art newsletter; Streamline Art Video,- art instruction and training from the world’s top artists; and PleinAir Salon, a bi-monthly competition and showcase of the nation’s best painters. To begin receiving your free subscriptions go here.
Top 200 Collectors
Every year ARTnews publishes its Top 200 Collectors edition. You don’t need to be subscriber to find out the collectors’ names, locations, and what they collect and more information about them in linked articles. For the day’s top stories in the art world sign up for ARTnews free newsletters: Breakfast With ARTnews or ARTnews Today. Also follow ARTnews on Twitter @ARTnewsmag and Instagram @artnewsmag for updates throughout the day as they report it from around the art world. Have any news yourself? Comments, art dealings, tips, scandals, and/or love letters? Send them to them and they may include it. Start your free subscriptions here.
Excellent In-Depth Article on Self-Taught Artists
There are many facets, information and subsets of Self-Taught and the artists who create it. In this article you’ll learn about them. You’ll also find links to additional websites for further knowledge about this fascinating genre of art. If you’ve ever wondered what really is self-taught art and what does it mean to be a self-taught artist go here.
The Art Story Foundation provides a wealth of information in hundreds of pages on its website and lives up to its goal “to explore modern art in a fresh and clear way” and its mission “to sort through all the noise of the art world and shed light on modern and contemporary art.” Its topic pages are meant to be an analysis “that would convince the most ardent skeptic in the value of the particular artist, movement, or idea.” Visit its website. You can also follow The Art Story Foundation on Facebook and Twitter.
Free Ebook for Plein Air Artists
The ArtistsNetwork offers a free eBook of plein air painting techniques for artists who subscribe to Artist Daily eNewsletter. Receive free eBook plus eNewsletters on plein air painting tips and more. Go here.
Free Videos From Old Masters Academy
In this free online course you will learn Old Masters’ oil painting methods, skills and knowledge used during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. As a free subscriber, you will also receive additional bonus videos, art articles, and valuable offers from the Old Masters Academy. This resource will show you how to paint like the Old Masters using modern materials. You can also obtain unlimited personal support from Academy tutors. Visit its website.
Learn Art Techniques of Famous Artists
Corey D’Augustine presents videos in which he provides step-by-step methods and techniques of a range of artists from Pablo Picasso to Yayoi Kusam. Corey D’Augustine is a conservator of modern and contemporary art and a technical art historian. He is the principal conservator at Corey D’Augustine Conservation and regularly works for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum among other clients. Corey lectures on art history and art conservation at New York University, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Pratt Institute, and the Museum of Modern Art. He is a specialist in American and European Post-war art and his research interests include 20th century painting materials and the conservation of monochrome paintings. Visit this website to watch his videos.
Museum Credit for Educators
Bank Street’s Leadership in Museum Education Master’s Program is designed for working educators. Attend classes in New York City one weekend per month and apply what you learn directly to your work. For more information go here.
Watercolour World
Watercolour World is a free online database of 80,000 images of international documentary watercolor paintings created before 1900, many of which have never been photographed before. The U.K. based charity project works with private and public collections from around the world to build this free online resource.
Read Online Resources for Artists to Expand Your Creative and Business Skills.
Learn About SEO for Free
There’s so much out there about SEO and it’s not always trustworthy, it’s often scattered and outdated. Worst of all it’s often contradictory. If you want to learn all about SEO, you can subscribe to Yoast, the experts in SEO. Visit their blog or even take one of their free courses for beginners, ranging from SEO copywriting to technical SEO.
Highbrow Offers Art Courses via Email – $5 a month. First 30 days free.
Highbrow offers courses related to different genres and movements as well as informational courses specific to contemporary artists. The way it works: You receive one lesson via email daily for 10 days. Each course requires 5 minutes reading a day. Check out the art courses here.
Winsor & Newton Offers Free Instructional Videos
Winsor Newton has a Masterclass – Learning Tools for Artists. Watch free videos here. Also watch a range of videos on new products, painting tips, techniques and materials in different mediums, terminology, and more. Visit their Youtube channel.
Coursera Offers Free Online Art Courses
Courses are taught by professors from many top universities, organizations and art institutions, like the Museum of Modern Art. Many specializations are fee-based, but even these courses can be audited for FREE. Web Design for Everybody (Basics of Web Development and Coding) Specialization is offered at a fee. Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes, and projects. Visit Coursera.org
View Art Online
Smithsonian Open Access is now inviting you to download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s images right now, without asking. With new platforms and tools, you have easier access to nearly 3 million 2D and 3D digital items from our collections—with many more to come. This includes images and data from across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo. For more information and to download images go here.
Art Activities you can do from home go here.
Virtual Museum Tours, Performances, and Tutorials to Keep You (and Your Kids) Entertained at Home go here.
There are now 2,500 Museums You Can Now Visit Virtually
In this article you’ll find 12 selections of world-class museums and galleries that are now offering virtual tours and online collections. Go here.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
#MetAnywhere features videos, 360-degree tours, publications, and educational resources, and popular activities like #MetSketch on its social media channels. It recently added live and interactive programming, performances, and conversations with curators, educators, and artists, and will provide an opportunity for the global digital community to share important stories and the power of art and culture through the lens of The Met collection. Follow the Met on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Download Images from Museum Websites for Free
Metropolitan Museum of Art: Open Access initiative makes more than 375,000 hi-resolution images of public-domain works from the collection, all of which can be downloaded, shared, and remixed for free and unrestricted use.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art: LACMA made 20,000 of its image holdings available for free download in an online library.
Whitney Museum of American Art: The museum has expanded its online database to around 21,000 images, available from A-Z for free download.
Rijksmuseum: This museum has made 125,000 Dutch masterpieces — including Rembrandt, Vermeer and Durer — available for you to download for free.
National Gallery: It has placed 25,000 high-quality digital images of the museum’s works of art for free download.
Paris Musees: This museum has placed 300,000 public domain pictures on its website.
More Resources for Images from Museums, Galleries and Private Collections
Read the copyright rules on each website.
Google Art Project: You can browse and download more than 250,000 works of art from over 250 museums.
Art.sy: This website contains images from the world’s leading galleries, museums, private collections, foundations, and artist estates from New York to London, Paris to Shanghai, Johannesburg to São Paulo…
Wikipedia: This free online website offers a plethora of images and information about artists throughout history.
Open Culture: Explore 1,100 Works of Art by Georgia O’Keeffe.
Residencies
The Alliance of Artists Communities’ Residency Directory
This Valuable Resource Guide contains leads to artists’ communities, colonies, retreats, workspaces, and studio collectives. In this comprehensive online guide you’ll find residencies in urban and rural areas, serving one artist at a time or dozens of artists. Helpful to visual artists, writers, composers, choreographers, scholars, filmmakers, community artists, architects, and more. To find this resource go here.
Stonecreek Farm
Stonecreek Farm provides a haven from interruption for one artist to become deeply involved in their work. It invites artists needing a time to concentrate, experiment, prepare and nurture their work. At Stonecreek Farm, nature is the center of it all, so the work must reflect this in some manner. Applications will be juried by a panel of art professionals. There may be follow-up questions about your application and we will contact you with those. Visit its website.
Selected Art Groups and Organizations
Artist Resources & Opportunities Group
The purpose of this group on Facebook is “to share art resources and opportunities related to the working artist!” It currently has more than 3,800 members. Check it out here.
Wildlife Artists
The Wildlife Art Society a leading art society in the UK, whose mission is the promotion of the wildlife art genre while also providing a focus for the interests of all wildlife artists, painters, sculptors and photographers whether they are professional, serious amateur or leisure artists.
International Organization of Conservation Artists
Artists for Conservation.org A Canadian based international non-profit that represents 500 artists from 30 countries, in the nature/wildlife art genre, who are committed to conservation. Apply to become a member here.
Photographers for Conservation
This U.S. based non-profit organization advances environmental and cultural conservation through ethical photography. Learn more here. Apply for membership here.
Ocean Artists Society
This organization was founded by the well-known environmental artist Wyland and “uses ocean art to inspire people around the world to a greater awareness of our need to preserve our natural world.” The site features artworks, member artists, and the Endangered Species online magazine. Learn more here. You can also join the group on Facebook: facebook.com/Ocean-Artists-Society
Portrait Society of America
The Portrait Society was founded in 1998 as a national non-profit organization formed to increase aesthetic and technical knowledge of the practicing portrait artist, artist’s representatives, art students, the aspiring amateur, and the general public. The purpose of the Portrait Society portraitsociety.org is “to foster and enhance and understanding of the practice, techniques and applications of traditional fine art portraiture and figurative works.
EcoArt Gallery
TCC teaneckcreek.org/ecoart-gallery in Teaneck, New Jersey, is unique in its commitment to communicating the history and ecology of the park through ecological and artistic endeavors. Its signature EcoArt installations build on a community model that emphasizes the natural synergy between the arts, the environment, and education. Artists may submit applications for exhibitions through the website.
Senior Artist Initiative
SAI is a nonprofit organization that assists artists in understanding the need for and processes involved in organizing their life’s work. “We educate artists about the process of documenting and inventorying their work, legal issues pertaining to their art, estates, and artists rights.” For more information visit its website.
ART CART
ART CART is a project launched by RCAC with locations in NYC and Washington DC. Known as ‘an education in hope’ “ART CART provides aging artists with direct, hands-on support and guidance to manage and preserve their life’s work, and by providing students with an inter-generational, educational experience and mentorship in the preservation of artistic legacy. It is establishing a replicable methodology and a comprehensive toolkit for implementation in other communities throughout the U.S For more information visit the RCAC website.
Read Selling Your Art to Interior Designers and Art Consultants
Resources to Locate Interior Designers
The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) is a community of U.S. professionals in this robust field. On its website you’ll find 50 pages of interior designers with a description of their specialties and their locations. Go to its website here and click the box “Find A Designer” and you’ll find 50 pages of interior designers.
Houzz is a website and online community about architecture, interior design and decorating, landscape design and home improvement. There are more than 176,000 interior designers and decorators on its website. Each listing comes with detailed information about the designer. To find interior designers go here.
Public Art Programs
NYC Parks Dept.
Hundreds of artists have exhibited their works in New York City parks, demonstrating an astonishing array of styles, forms, materials and conceptions. Their works range from steel constructions to installations made from an assortment of organic biodegradable media. These public installations have helped launch many careers for emerging artists. Visit this page on their website for guidelines and submission requirements.
Publicity Opportunities
Artists Share Your Story About Art and Healing
Do you use art individually or through a nonprofit art program to help others heal? Has art helped you cope with an emotional, psychological or physical challenge? Do you have a desire to share your story about art and healing to inspire others and raise awareness about the healing power of art? If so, The Healing Power of ART & ARTISTS wants you to share your story about art & healing to its huge international audience. Artists worldwide are invited to participate. Selected stories and artwork will be published on The Healing Power of ART & ARTISTS website. Visit the website.
Art Reviews for Artists
A 300-word Art Review written by Renee Phillips, Director & Curator, Manhattan Arts International, NYC, NY. It will be written about your art for your own use and also published on The Healing Power of ART & ARTISTS website and and promoted extensively and frequently on social media.
Visit this page to learn more about Renee’s Reviews For Artists
Assorted Apps, Tools, and More
Order Prints of Your Art
Add another income stream to your art business by selling prints of your art and sell directly to your customers. With Whitewall you can choose from Canvas Prints, Acrylic Photo Prints, Metal Prints, Framed Prints, and Photo Books. Museum-grade and a variety of sizes. Receive them within days. Simply upload your own image (in JPG or TIF format). Learn more about Whitewall here.
“Empowering the World to Design”
See the picture above that shows a painting above the couch? I created this in a few minutes using canva.com. You can create social media image posts, and lots of cool images. It’s free and easy to do. Simply choose the desired template, drag or download your image (or select from theirs), set the text, and you’re done. Then save it as a PDF or JPEG! You’ll be amazed at all the tools the site has to offer. Check out their design tutorials, articles and tips. Canva.com
Create Videos using Lumen5
When I decided to launch a YouTube channel to promote artists, I had no patience for getting special equipment or learning the steps. I was delighted to discover Lumen5.com, where I set up a free account and within an hour I had created my first of many slide show videos complete with music. Just let the Lumen5 artificial intelligence system help you turn a blog post or rss feed into an amazing professional looking video that will get you rave reviews on social media. Your videos will also get you a much higher SEO on your blog or website. Take the Lumen5 tour here: lumen5.com/#tour.
Online International Directory of Art Workshops & Retreats
This Online Resource Guide for Global Art Events includes Art Workshops, Art Tours, Art Retreats, Art Holidays & Vacations, Art Courses & Classes, Art Fairs & Festivals, and more. Searchable by medium, location and dates. Visit this directory here.
How to Convert PDF file to MP3
Did you know you could listen to PDF files? Find the PDF file which you wish to covert and open it on your computer with Adobe Reader. Find the the “View” tab and hover to the “Read out” option. Check the “Activate Read out Loud” option. Now select the text which you wish to convert.
Opportunity to Make A Positive Difference with Your Art
The Healing Power of ART & ARTISTS has created a Resource Directory of Nonprofit organizations and art programs specifically designed to help individuals, communities and the environment using art as a powerful catalyst. You’ll find dozens of these resources here.
Organize Your Time Digitally
There’s a free app that will help you called Todoist. You can manage tasks and projects anywhere with this app online as well as offline and across 15+ platforms. Check it out here.
Artists Who Want to Help Charities/Nonprofits & Movements
Find Organizations with Art Programs – Seeking Artists
The Healing Power of ART & ARTISTS website lists more than 70 non-profit organizations that help others through Art programs on our Art & Healing Resource Directory.
Art+Feminism Events
Art+Feminism is a campaign improving coverage of women artists and the arts on Wikipedia. At these events you learn how to edit Wikipedia. Find an Art+Feminism event near you artandfeminism.org/
Idealist Connects You to Charities
A valuable resource organization you can use is Idealist. It connects people, organizations, and resources. You can receive a listing of which types of organizations you wish to help. You can select by geographic region.
Find Charities
You can also find lists of charities at: www.charitynavigator.org
Resources & Calls for Artists
NLAPW ~ Women Artists
The National League of American Pen Women is an organization lives up to its mission “to support and promote creative excellence and professional standards among women in the arts.” They offer calls for artists and membership opportunities and invite you to submit your work for publication in the Pen Woman and on the NLAPW website. There is no limit to how often you may submit. For more information go here.
Equity Gallery, NYC, NY ~ No Deadline
Artists Equity is a non-profit organization founded in 1947 by artists and art patrons with the mission to promote opportunities for artists. It’s Equity Gallery has open calls for exhibition proposals open to all artists, curators and collectives. Proposals for solo exhibitions and group exhibitions are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. “We are looking for critically-engaged projects that are well-conceptualized and well-researched.” For more information go here.
NIH Establishes The Relationship Between Creativity and Healing
On the U.S. National Institute of Health’s (NIH) website, according to the extensive research publication “The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health: A Review of Current Literature” by Heather L. Stuckey, DEd and Jeremy Nobel, MD, “Engagement with creative activities has the potential to contribute toward reducing stress and depression and can serve as a vehicle for alleviating the burden of chronic disease.” They also stated, “Through creativity and imagination, we find our identity and our reservoir of healing. The more we understand the relationship between creative expression and healing, the more we will discover the healing power of the arts.”
CNN Claims Creativity Combats Stress
In her article “A creative life is a healthy life”, on the CNN website, Amanda Enayati explains, “The link between creativity and better mental and physical health is well established by research. Creating helps make people happier, less anxious, more resilient and better equipped to problem-solve in the face of hardship. Studies say that the stress of work is consuming many of us. And that stress can lead to weight gain, elevated glucose levels, upper-respiratory infections and cardiovascular disease.”
“Mastering Creativity” by James Clear
James Clear agrees. He is a writer about behavioral psychology, habit formation, and performance improvement. His work has been covered by dozens of major media outlets like TIME, Entrepreneur, and Forbes. He offers a free guide in a PDF format titled “Mastering Creativity”. In the 36-page guide he includes snippets of anecdotes about the creative habits of some of the greatest artists, musicians, and writers such as Pablo Picasso, Franz Kafka, and Dr. Seuss. He offers suggestions on how to overcome the mental blocks that all artists face, and how to make creative thinking a habit. You can also subscribe to his email newsletter from his website.
We Are All Creative Species
Everyone has the ability to be creative. We just often forget how easy, automatic and natural the creative process was when we were children. You can express creativity in many different ways — whether it is developing a new method of organizing your life, creating a new recipe of your own, or doodling with a sharpie marker. In his TED talk, “You’re a Lot More Creative than You Think,” internationally renowned fine artist John Paul Caponigro reminds us “The human being is a creative species… You don’t have to be Michelangelo to draw. You just have to give yourself permission to do it.”
More Help for Artists
The Materials Information and Technical Resources for Artists
Some art materials are toxic and cause illness. You want to be sure the art materials you’re using are safe. MITRA is an online resource inspired by the work of the late Mark Gottsegen who organized and implemented the Artist Materials Information Education Network, otherwise known as AMIEN. Mark was able to bring together materials experts from the industry, art conservators, and scientists in an effort to make the most up-to-date knowledge regarding artists’ materials readily available. Visit MITRA. There’s an online forum where you can search for and post questions.
You should also read Are Your Art Materials Making You Sick?
The FLAG Art Foundation
Founded in 2008 by art patron Glenn Fuhrman, FLAG Art Foundation is a Manhattan-based, non-profit exhibition space that encourages the appreciation of contemporary art among a diverse audience. FLAG presents four to six exhibitions a year that include artworks by international established and emerging artists, borrowed from a variety of sources. FLAG invites a broad range of creative individuals to curate exhibitions and works in-depth with artists to provide curatorial support and a platform to realize their own solo exhibitions. For more information visit its website.
A.I.R. National Artists Program – No fee
The National Artists Program is a greatly anticipated feature of A.I.R.’s programming. Founded in 1981 as one of A.I.R.’s initiatives to create space for self-identifying women artists; through the national expansion of A.I.R.’s feminist mission in providing a platform that counters the mainstream. During the program, artists will exhibit annually in a curated group show and can apply without fees to juried exhibitions. There is no fee to apply. For more information go here.
Gallery for Senior Artists
The goal of the Carter Burden Gallery is “to create a dialogue with the arts community supporting our belief that older, lesser-known artists must not be overlooked due to age or decreased marketability in the current art scene. We demonstrate the transformative nature of art; the work we exhibit is vibrant, cutting-edge and important regardless of the artist’s age.” To learn more visit carterburdengallery.org
Read Valuable Art Organizations for Artists