Coaching for Artists

Coaching goal for artists

Coaching for artists involves multiple aspects of artistic life.  Popular goals include managing relationships with agents or galleries through creating scheduled contacts and follow-ups, or designing a weekly process that includes exploratory activities such as morning pages or a way to find a balance between commercial and purely artistic endeavors.  Coaching is also used to support an artist’s commitment to work steadily on projects that require persistence over time so that these ongoing projects stay on-track even when the artist’s attention is drawn to new ideas.    Many artists say that the one thing they did not learn in art school was how to manage time and organize themselves for ongoing goals or to build business relationships, and of course these skills are essential for surviving as an artist today.  Coaching can be a wonderful asset to the artist seeking support in these areas.  Artists say that the support of coaching facilitates focus and increases energy, and of course their art benefits exponentially.

Enhancing your creative energy with coaching

Artists often come for coaching because:

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• They have a sense that they could be doing more “PR” to be seen and share their art with a wider audience.  They know that networking and business relationships are important, but they tend to put these things on the back burner.  They find themselves with wonderful art, and yet they crave a wider audience with which to share it.   Dr. Chloe can help you to organize and make a plan to attend your networking events, follow up with contacts, send mailings if appropriate, return phone calls to interested parties, or other things that you feel you should be doing.

• They want assistance in clarifying their long term artistic goals, such as whether they want to focus on a particular aspect of their field or branch out into related areas, or explore careers in teaching within their area of expertise.

• They feel their art and creativity would benefit from a daily structure, such as committing to write in a journal for a certain amount of time each day, creating archives to organize their existing body of work, or researching opportunities in areas they want to explore.

• They need help managing the demands of a growing career, such as creating a schedule to ensure that commercial projects are completed in a timely manner or finding ways to balance projects that are primarily for profit with projects that are primarily for artistic fulfillment.

The coaching process for artists

​Each artist is different, but Dr. Chloe has a general structure that helps most artists to quickly attain a sense of progress and clarity about their work.  The process below can be tailored to your needs.

Step one: Setting the goals

Many artist arrive with a list of what they would like to improve. If you are already aware of your goals, Dr. Chloe will help you to attain them. If you would like clarification in determining your goals, Dr. Chloe will be happy to explore them with you. Many artists find that a therapeutic setting makes it easy to identify and discuss areas they would like to improve, such as time management and organizational skills, planning for long-term artistic or career goals, and creating as well as adhering to a daily routine that supports their art.

Step two: Working towards the goal

After the goals are set, you will work with Dr. Chloe to attain them. Depending on the goal, this may involve creating plans or schedules designed to improve organization, review and discussion of daily activities to create structure and increase visibility, or exercises to explore your creativity.

This process often involves frequent refinement of the goals or discussion of how to overcome obstacles as they arise. Coaching helps you to stay focused and keep setbacks in perspective, while celebrating victories in order to maintain motivation and reinforce positive new habits.

This phase can be accomplished during in-person office visits, on the phone, over Skype, or some combination of all these methods. Dr. Chloe recognizes that professionals have full and busy lives, and she is able to work with your schedule. Dr. Chloe is available for quick phone calls between sessions when clients just need a quick boost or want a sounding board as they implement new strategies that arise from their coaching sessions.

Step three: Rest and re-evaluation

Many clients find it helpful to take a period of rest after 2-3 months of coaching. Dr. Chloe encourages this as a way to keep the work feeling fresh and dynamic. After making gains through coaching, it is often helpful to take a month or so and enjoy the benefits of the work you have done. Periods of rest also allow you to gain perspective and begin to think about the next steps you would like to take. When you are ready to return, Dr. Chloe will be there to help again.

To learn more about coaching with Dr. Chloe, call or schedule a consultation.