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4 Simple Steps to Fund Your Art

Creating art is incredibly fulfilling, but let's be real—it can also be a financial rollercoaster. Many artists struggle to make a living solely from their craft and often find themselves seeking additional sources of income.

But fear not! Our mission at HUG is to empower artists like you to become successful creative entrepreneurs who can thrive both artistically and financially. So today, we’re going to show you - in 4 simple steps - how to fund your art in 2024.

Let’s dive in!

#1: Build a community

One of the most under utilized strategies in finding your thousand true fans is maintaining and building community through small (yet simple!) actions.

Your best customers aren’t necessarily your friends or your parents. They’re people who are not only HAPPY to pay for your art regardless of price, but also look forward to hearing from you!

One of the most important ways to build community is to stay in touch through a newsletter with your collectors, write personal notes, and even provide surprise and delight experiences.

For example, artist and illustrator Mumbot recently partnered with Denim Coffee to sell custom-designed bags of coffee beans, where 20 of them included a golden ticket that could be redeemed for a free digital collectible. This resulted in a secondary wave of social activations — first with people being excited about receiving their coffee and then another of people being excited about winning a prize.

Beyond all of this, remember that a simple connection of reaching out, saying hello, and sharing gratitude can go a long way — like this custom packaging we received from Jackson Alves that contained calligraphy he had gifted us. (Needless to say, our entire team is now full of Jackson fans for life!)

#2: Diversify your income

Whether its licensing your artwork, offering commissions, or selling your work both physically and digitally - HUG has tons of resources on how to diversify your income as an artist.

HUG Artist Profiles are an incredible tool to organize all of your work in one place, and also to make yourself open to commission requests.

By embracing diversified revenue streams, you can reach a broader audience and generate income even outside the traditional gallery or exhibition model.

Always remember to adapt these strategies to suit your specific artistic style and goals, so you can be well on your way of establishing a more sustainable and prosperous career as an artist.

#3: Apply for artist grants

Artist residencies and grants may be viewed as nice-to-have’s. Little do we know that they are essential catalysts that fuel creativity, promote artistic growth, and provide vital support for pursuing artistic endeavors.

Further, once you’ve put in the effort to apply for one grant, you can often reuse the same material to apply for others as well, saving you both time and effort. Do not underestimate the impact these opportunities can have in providing artists with the time, space, resources, and financial backing necessary to bring your visions to life.

#4: Understand your finances

Understanding your finances is crucial for artists seeking to fund their work effectively. By gaining insight into your financial situation, you can make informed decisions about budgeting, pricing your art, and allocating resources towards projects.

Most importantly, especially when it comes to taxes, you may have the potential to save a significant sum of money. Knowing how to manage your taxes is all part and parcel of you learning how to track expenses, identify potential sources of income, and manage your cash flow more efficiently. All of this ladders up to providing greater stability and sustainability to your artistic pursuits.

Closing thoughts

At the end of the day, building a successful art career takes time and dedication, but with persistence and hard work, you can achieve your goals and make a living doing what you love.

All of this starts with taking small simple steps. Let us know which one you will be incorporating into your practice in 2024!

Artist Grants & Opportunities

HUG-exclusive

• 🤖 Seeking AI art for a gallery in Pennsylvania, USA! Colonna Contemporary is seeking 5 artists experimenting with AI in their practice to be featured monthly as part of their emerging voices series. Learn more and submit here.

• 👾 Calling creative coders with an affinity for Visual Poetry Atelier is seeking 6-10 code-based generative artists to create a long-form generative art series that will contribute to the ongoing narrative of Visual Poetry. Learn more and submit here.

• 🧘 Art in support of mental health Simuka Africa Youth Association invites artists to join this open call to be promoted on Simuka Africa’s social media to help reduce youth suicide, global depression and other mental health issues. Learn more and submit here.

• 🖼️ Win a $500 award for showcasing your digital and physical art with RealNifty RealNifty is looking for women artists to sell digital and physical artwork through their platform. Learn more and submit here.

• 💰 HUG is offering $500 USD grants to two artists each month in exchange for unminted artwork to raffle off to our community. Learn more and meet all our HUG Visionaries here.

Other Opportunities

• Win up to 15,000 CHF and visibility for your work by participating in The Arab Bank of Switzerland’s Art Prize contest. Learn more here.

This Week’s Art Drops

Did you know that these are just 8 of hundreds of art drops on HUG? Get a full list of this week’s art drops from HUG here.