Artist development: a case study

Poetica’s artist development has worked with two artists so far, neither named here: a painter, whose month is below, and a sculptor, whose work began with one public-art application.

The painter came to Poetica with decades of work, a first solo show a few months away, and no website. Four weeks later he had 69 works online and labelled, a story in his own words, a plan for the show, the press and the next applications, and every account in his own name.

Made with AI, directed by the artist.

Client: A painter preparing his first solo show
Service: Artist development
Length: Four weeks
Made with: Claude

Results at a glance

69worksOnline in six rooms, each with a label he wrote himself
10pitchesPress and radio, lined up from his town outward
14deadlinesResidencies and open calls, in his calendar with reminders
21postsPlanned and ready for Instagram
0accounts in Poetica’s nameThe site, the address and the tools are all his

The challenge

The work was strong. Almost nobody could see it: no website, two shows, both at graduate school, and a solo show coming with nothing to send ahead of it.

The gap was presentation and pipeline, not talent. When he read the first scope, it felt light to him. He asked for more: a plan for an international career.

The approach

One month, one artist, a fixed shape.

Questions before a pitch. The first meeting runs from a short deck that asks what he wants next: to sell, to show, residencies, travel, an audience.
One page of scope. What gets made, when it starts, and what he owes the work in return.
One review a week. A one-hour call every week, and two sessions in person, each somewhere new.
Homework by voice note or email. One question at a time.
One action per email. Each email asks for one thing.
His words stay his. Everything is built from what he says, edited and never rewritten. Nothing goes out in his name without his yes.
Made with AI. The working sites, the decks, the drafts and the calendar file are built with Claude.

“It forces me to take the work seriously and it forces him to take himself seriously.”

Saba Khalid, on why the month has a fixed shape

What we delivered

The website: 69 works in six rooms, built for phones, labelled, findable on Google, and sent as one link
The story: A full artist statement, a short and a long biography, and a CV, each in his words and cut to the lengths applications ask for
The show kit: A plan to the opening, ten pieces tracked from gallery text to installation photographs, ten questions for the gallery, and who to invite
Press: Ten press and radio pitches in order, each with what it needs from him
Instagram: The grid planned as one of his paintings, 21 posts ready, and a kit to keep it going
Shows and residencies: Three group shows before the opening, seven residencies by deadline, a spring list, and the letters drafted
Deadlines: Fourteen dates in his calendar, with reminders
The longer plan: Four stages toward an international career
The handover: His own folder, hosting, address, Claude and calendar, a manual, and one session in person

The ten press pitches, in order: his town first, then outward. Each piece gives the next a reason to run.

The site, in detail

Three directions, built as working sites so he could react to real pages. The one he kept: a white ground, his name stacked, no scrolling, every page the size of a phone screen.

The work hangs in rooms, one per series, one work at a time at its own proportions. His photographs are cropped, never altered, and the site opens on one of his drawings.

The home screen of the site: a drawing of a figure standing inside a circle, a triangle and a square, with the word Enter below. — The site he kept, as it is live: a white ground, six rooms, and the work doing the talking.

One room of the site: a single painting in charcoal and acrylic, white, black and red, with its label underneath. — The site he kept, as it is live: a white ground, six rooms, and the work doing the talking.

What it made possible

The month gave him the material, and the confidence, to write to galleries, residencies and editors himself.

One link for the whole body of work. Sixty-nine works, labelled and in order, that a gallery, a juror or a collector can open on a phone.
His own words, in writing. He drafted his full artist statement and the text for his show himself, and wrote the label for every work.
The confidence to write to different places. For every gallery, residency, group show and editor, what they ask for is ready: images, statement, biography and CV, cut to the lengths they want, with a letter drafted and a date to send it.
The pictures in his hands. He bought lights to photograph his own work.
A first show with a plan behind it. A timeline to the opening, a show kit with ten pieces tracked, ten questions for the gallery, and a list of who to invite.
A practice he runs himself. Every account is his, and his own Claude makes the changes.

The month, week by week

OneThe questions, a one-page scope, three directions built as working sites, both biographies and the CV drafted, the first full mockup
TwoThe direction set. His own photographs in. The first handover deck: site, show, press, Instagram, group shows, residencies and the bigger plan
ThreeA call through the deck, with his notes recorded slide by slide. His statement and his show text in
FourEvery label filled from his list of works. The site opens on his drawing. The rooms made simpler. A preview link to share, search and sharing set up, the handover manual, and the handover itself

The handover

The month ends with the artist running everything himself. Nothing waits on Poetica.

His folder. The whole site, on his own laptop.
His hosting. His own Netlify account. Every change after is the same move: drag the folder in.
His address. Pointed at his site once, at GoDaddy. Never touched again.
His own Claude. It makes the edits, drafts his letters and keeps his dates. He decides what goes live.
His calendar. Every deadline already in it, with reminders.
A manual he keeps, and one session in person where he does every click.

His folder goes to Netlify every time. His address points at Netlify once.

The last page of the manual asks one thing: does he want to keep working together?

Another way in

Not every artist wants a month on day one. For a sculptor with a public sculpture call ten days away, the work starts smaller, and he decides how far to go.

1One application, done with him.The letter, the concept, how the piece bolts down, photos from three angles, one clean PDF.
2The fix.His existing site repaired, not replaced. The bio edited in his words, the CV cleaned, every press piece listed, a works list, and a year of public-art calls in one calendar.
3The month.The full service: the story, the site, professional photographs, a target list, three applications sent and one press pitch.

Why start small: the application is the proof. If he is chosen, that is the news. If not, everything is ready for the next call.

How Poetica works

i don’t scale. i go deep with a few, then hand them the practice and leave.