Drawn

My good friend Chris Tyrell has a passion for the arts that is truly inspiring. He was in fact one of the people behind getting the Performing Arts Lodge here in Vancouver, a retirement home specifically for former performing artists (previously).

On the heels of his 60th birthday, Chris has published his first book, “Artist Survival Skills: How to Make a Living as a Canadian Visual Artist.” He explains about the book:

This book has been developed for two reasons.  One: Success in the visual arts, no matter how you define it, comes more readily to artists who manage their careers professionally but Canadian visual artists have few resources to guide their professional development. And two: There is a particular knowledge deficit in the community of Canadian visual artists concerning the importance and techniques of marketing and sales.

Whereas there a many worthwhile books for entrepreneurs on starting and growing a small business, this book looks at key components of small business theory and discusses them in the context of a creative skills-based small business—the self-employed Canadian visual artist or crafts person. It was produced in order to motivate and assist Canadian visual artists and crafts persons seeking to increase the percentage of their income that comes from their artistic practice.

It launches this week, Thursday September 11th at Vancouver’s Alliance for Arts 7 Culture, 938 Howe Street, 5:00 – 7:00 pm (MAP). You can purchase the book here, or in any OPUS store, or get an autographed copy at the launch this Thursday. (Click on “ChrisTube” on his site to watch a few clips from his speech to the Assembly of BC Arts Council this summer. His site is Flash, so I can’t link to an actual page.)

Here’s a an article about Chris and his book from the local weekly, and here’s a link to Chris’ blog.