Overcoming Anxiety about Making Art World Connections with Heather Beardsley (#160)

Heather Beardsley’s art has been influenced by extensive travel and residencies in diverse cultures. This started with her year in Vienna as a Fulbright Scholar and then continued for several years until the pandemic shut down her residency in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Like everyone else, Heather had to pivot upon returning to the U.S. She used the downtime to her advantage by getting organized and shaping her career path.

In our conversation in this episode of The Art Biz, you’ll hear how she managed to transform her social anxiety into opportunities—realizing that real growth could only happen when she overcame the urge to play it safe by sticking to open call entries.

Heather has learned to navigate the complex art world with intention while connecting with institutions and curators to propel her career.

She shares her experiences of the following:

• Securing exhibition fees, grants, and residencies while managing expectations.
• The importance of being organized and ready for opportunities.
• Using Microsoft OneNote to organize opportunities and deadlines.
• Building authentic relationships within the art world where so much can seem transactional.

You’ll also hear about Heather’s current solo show at the Chrysler Museum of Art and how it came about.

📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit artbizsuccess.com/beardsley-artworld-connections

⭐️ Connect with Heather and see more of her art: https://heatherbeardsley.com

✴️ COMING UP: THE MONEY PLAN

If you aren’t clear about where your money is coming from, I strongly encourage you to figure it out. It’s only with that clarity that you can plan properly for the future. I can help with that.

Soon after the release of this episode I’ll be leading The Money Plan artist success workshop. Seating at the live sessions of the workshop—where you can ask questions and interact with other artist-planners—will be limited, and there will also be a replay available. But if you want to attend live, you need to get on the interest list. You can hit pause right now and go to artbizsuccess.com/moneyplan to make sure you don’t miss it.

🎧 RELATED EPISODES

These episodes have exhibition venues as a primary focus:

• Putting Artists First in Curatorial Projects with Melissa Messina (ep. 136)
• A Married Life in Art: Sam Woolcott and Poe Dismuke (ep. 8)
• Portrait Project and Museum Exhibition with Lisa Kovvuri (ep. 11)

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.