Three hour meeting bundles start at $700.
Start on a new journey today.
Professional mentoring for arts organizations and artists
Serious Play, located in Santa Fe, NM, is a transformative consultancy, mentoring, and creative coaching service designed by Ivan Barnett for creatives, artists, and gallery owners seeking to elevate their artistic careers while maintaining a balance between artistic integrity and commercial success. Lift your creativity through play. Serious Play is owned and led by Ivan Barnett, a visionary with over five decades of experience in the art world, they offer a unique blend of creative mentorship, strategic business insights, and personalized guidance tailored to each client’s needs.
“Play is the exultation of the possible.”
— Martin Buber
Meet Serious Play’s founder and leader Ivan Barnett
Ivan Barnett, born in Pennsylvania, is an esteemed artist, former gallery owner, and arts consultant based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. With over five decades of experience, Ivan has become a significant figure in the art world, merging creativity with strategic business expertise helping artists and galleries. Influenced by a family of creatives, he developed a lifelong passion for the arts.
“Be yourself.”
— Ivan Barnett
Organizations that Ivan Barnett
Has Collaborated With
Serious Play Consulting
and Creative Coaching Services
Truly nothing has changed in the minds and brains of artists over time immemorial. You want to make and do what you are feeling, what’s peaking your creative curiosity and interest. “’Truth be told,’ most of us as artists want to be lost in the creative process rather than in the business side of things. You will do your most brilliant and personal work, by not focusing on ‘sales.'” –Ivan Barnett. Yet all artists carry this burden, famous or not so famous, and all career levels in between. We are all in great company from Van Gogh to Dali and Warhol. Money still does make the world go round. Let’s work together to initiate new passion and newfound curiosity in your studio life with Serious Play.
“People forget that play can be serious.”
— David Hockney
Consulting for Businesses
Strategic Support for Sustainable Growth
Serious Play’s consulting for art organizations provides a structured, customized approach to supporting galleries, museums, and nonprofits achieve their objectives. We specialize in helping emerging and mid career professionals. Art organizations face unique challenges, from navigating the intricacies of the art market to building sustainable practices that balance creativity with financial success. As your consultant, Ivan Barnett, I work closely with your organization’s leadership, offering expertise, strategic insights, and actionable solutions tailored to your organization’s mission, challenges, and aspirations.
Creative Coaching for Artists
A Path to Personal and Professional Growth
Serious Play’s one-on-one mentoring and creative coaching for artists is a unique, highly personalized approach to developing both the artistic and business sides of an artist’s career. In this format, an artist works closely with me. I have a passion to see that early and mid career artists are able to attain the next level of their career. I provide dedicated, disciplined guidance tailored to your unique vision, challenges, and goals. The aim of Serious Play coaching is not only to help artists improve their creative skills but also to build a sustainable career, develop business acumen, and foster personal growth.
Serious Play Case Studies
These case studies show previous projects Ivan Barnett worked on with an artist as well as from organizational perspectives. They are a breakout of objectives and challenges undertaken to achieve solutions and results. These showed a significant change in the artist and organization on completion of the collaboration. The conclusions are specific to the case study alone and not in general. They show Barnett’s working ability to collaborate, motivate, and transform an individual or an organization.
Claire Kahn: A Carefully Curated Discovery
The incredible value of having a world exclusive of an artist’s works for a gallery shows how the artist’s pieces were leveraged for selling through multiple exhibitions. In this study, Ivan took an educated risk on Claire Kahn and promoted her as the second most profitable artist at Patina, driving people to come to the destination to only collect Kahn’s artworks from there.
The Tension of Opposites Where Barnett Connected the Dots
This case study demonstrates how all the strategic planning came together, the artists, the photography, the opera opening, the jewelry when the gallery had their ground breaking opening of their historic exhibition, The Tension of Opposites. The synergy was a real testament to Ivan being able to connect the dots for this blockbuster.
Patina … Opening a Gallery that Defied the Odds
Patina Gallery beat incredible financial odds over the course of 25 years. The gallery was able to pivot and leverage operations, vision, and astute planning to weather many life-altering storms during that time and achieve global success.
Serious Play Client Testimonials
Thank you for Ivan for your gift in support of the American Art department’s craft jewelry acquisitions. Your gift supports our efforts to acquire extraordinary works and cements our place in the uppermost echelon of encyclopedic institutions with such vibrant and growing collections.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
I am writing to express my warmest thanks—on behalf of The Nature Conservancy and the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute for your support of our Picnic for Earth exhibition. The funds raised at the live auction will go a long way in supporting the missions of both organizations, which translates into work that has a positive impact for the communities of Northern New Mexico.
The Nature Conservancy
We feel incredibly lucky to know extraordinary people like you. To celebrate our anniversary and show our gratitude, Peter and the Atelier Zobel team made a special pin just for you. Without your support, we couldn’t do what we love. Thank you Ivan for over 21 years of partnership, friendship, and inspiration. We are deeply grateful for the memories, special moments, and continued encouragement you’ve given us.
Peter Schmid, Goldsmith
Ivan, an artist himself, conveys sensitivity and respect for the gallery’s artists. When Ivan curates, he may juxtapose an idea that costs $100 with something that costs $10,000–but there is always a throughline between the two. He finds the throughline with people and with ideas, too.
Ivy Ross, USA President of & Head of Design for Products at Google
Serious Play Muse-Letter
New Mexico at Risk: What Happens When the Arts Are Undervalued
Entrance to Gustave Bauman’s Home and Studio on the old Santa Fe Trail, 2024. Image by Ivan Barnett “The arts are not a luxury. They are as fundamental to our humanity as language, love, and shelter.”—American Poet, former Chairman of…
THE ROMANCE THAT NEVER ENDS By Ivan Barnett
Patina Model re-enacting Madame Butterfly for photo shoot. Image, Peter Ogilvie “Opera is love, hate, death. It is very important. With a little makeup, you can become another person. The opera is something fake, that, little by little, on stage,…
Cut the Noise. Get the Answers.
Lost souls, Finding faith finally, Santa Fe, 2021. Image by Ivan Barnett “The role of the artist is to not look away.”— Akira Kurosawa Why Ivan Barnett Isn’t Just Another “Art Coach” or Creative Consultant The internet is flooded with…
