.ART

Published to mark .ART’s 8th anniversary, this new resource is built for artists navigating today’s evolving creative landscape.

As .ART celebrates eight years of supporting creative professionals online, we’re releasing a new resource designed to meet the real-world needs of artists today: the ARTIST HANDBOOK by .ART. Developed with input from experts and the wider .ART community, the handbook offers clear, structured guidance across the core areas of artistic practice—from personal branding to contracts, pricing, funding, and digital presence.

Whether you’re writing your first artist statement, figuring out how to price your work, applying for a grant, or exploring how Web3 and digital ownership might fit into your practice, this book is intended to help you move forward with more clarity and confidence.

“Your work, artists, is made of the stuff you don’t know how to do, and you find a way to make your failings work for you.” — Jerry Saltz, Pulitzer Prize–winning art critic, New York Magazine (as quoted in the ARTIST HANDBOOK by .ART)

What’s Inside

The ARTIST HANDBOOK is divided into four sections that reflect different stages of creative growth: identity, infrastructure, expansion, and sustainability. Each chapter combines expert insights with artist perspectives and case studies.

Part 1: Building Your Artistic Identity
This section focuses on questions artists often ask early in their careers: How do I find my voice? What should my statement say? Do I really need a website? It offers frameworks for clarifying your style, writing your bio and artist statement, and creating a basic online presence.

Part 2: Professional Foundations & Practical Tools
Here you’ll find guidance on pricing strategies, contracts, copyright, licensing, and pitching. Legal advisor Anna Fischer breaks down key terms and risks artists should understand when working with galleries or entering digital markets.

Part 3: Expanding Your Practice
This section explores residencies, grant opportunities, and ways to grow your audience or income. Funding consultant Lara Monro shares practical strategies for writing successful grant applications and improving access. Cultural strategist Arthur Steiner brings a global lens to artist support networks, and writer/editor Paddy Johnson reflects on what artists need to thrive in both physical and digital spaces—drawing from her 25-year career writing for publications like The New York Times, New York Magazine, and The Economist.

Part 4: All Things Healing
Chapters on sustainability and the healing power of art offer support for artists looking to make their practice more thoughtful, grounded, and socially aware. Both were written by curator and writer Daria Kravchuk, who also contributed guidance throughout the handbook on creative purpose, building healthy routines, and reflecting on the role of art in personal and collective wellbeing.

A Community-Based Publication

The visual content of the book was sourced through a HUG.art open call and features work by artists from South Africa, Turkey, Argentina, Italy, and more. The result is a publication that’s not only useful but reflective of the diversity of the global creative network .ART supports.

Alongside practical advice, the handbook also includes commentary from widely respected voices in the arts—such as Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Jerry Saltz and writer/editor Paddy Johnson, whose 25-year career includes contributions to The New York Times, New York Magazine, and The Economist.

Who It’s For

This book was made for artists looking to make their practice more sustainable—whether you’re just beginning or recalibrating mid-career. It doesn’t assume you already know how things work. Instead, it offers structure, examples, and next steps you can adapt to your own goals.

Proceeds from the Handbook support the Healing Power of Art Initiative, which funds fellowships for future art therapists at The George Washington University.

The ARTIST HANDBOOK by .ART is available now on Amazon.