Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation:
Interview of Nicole Chevalier, Program Director
This foundation based in Meriden, Connecticut is funding professional practice training via its Marketplace Empowerment for Artists (MEA) Program in the US on a national scale.
artdesigncafé | Creative Business & Entrepreneurship | Published 02 January 2010
Co-partner: Sculpture magazine (January/February 2009)
Professional practice issues often create the greatest challenges for artists. For a select few, resources are in place that enable the artist to concentrate on production in the studio. But for most, the practicalities of essentially running a small business—the communications, sales and marketing, financial administration and planning, as well as production—can be very challenging indeed. “Emerging” artists face the first hurdle, and “mid-career” artists face a definite second. Adding to the difficulty, many artists rightly feel they cannot talk about their practical challenges openly, as it may affect their careers, restricting public knowledge and professional learning.
Fortunately one American organization, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, is leading the path to support professional practice training on a national scale, and pooling this knowledge for the benefit of artists. This “empowerment,” like any professional resources and training in other fields, provides an important reference for interested artists not just in America, but internationally as well.
To learn more, R.J. Preece, interviewed Nicole Chevalier, Program Director of the Tremaine Foundation about their Marketplace Empowerment for Artists (MEA) Program.
R.J. Preece: I’ve interviewed over 300 artists working in various countries across the world, and I’d estimate over 90% are facing real professional practice challenges. Unfortunately, we often don’t read about this in print, or certainly not enough of it. How did the Tremaine Foundation come about deciding to fund professional practice training and learning?
Nicole Chevalier: Our board decided to start this in 2001. With a limited budget of about $300,000, we wanted to make a strong impact and contribute to “solving a problem” at a national level. We consulted with artists and other art professionals, and professional practice was identified as a key concern.
The lack of funding and support for professional practices for artists was also addressed in a Ford Foundation study. So our board decided to pursue the formation of the MEA program.
R.J. Preece: Was there complete support for this kind of programming in your information-gathering?
Nicole Chevalier: No. There was a lot of negative criticism from some institutions and from some older artists, those mainly above the age of 40. They felt it was “careerism,” that we weren’t helping the artists to focus on their “artistic practice,” and instead, we were aiming to make artists very commercial.
We thought this was a very interesting perspective, but we decided to work with people who felt differently. With our limited funding, we’ve focused on certain MFA programs and art organizations that we think will have the strongest impact and influence across the United States.
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