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Muse-letter
By Ivan Barnett, Serious Play “If only larger would guarantee success…nothing is forever.” Image IVAN BARNETT “There’s an enormous delta between idea and execution.” — Steve Jobs Coleman McCormick As an artist and former gallery creative director, I’ve learned the hard truth: great ideas don’t keep a practice alive—great decisions do. Across five decades, I’ve […]
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Muse-letter Archives
Are We There Yet? Taming the Last 10 Percent
by Ivan Barnett, Serious Play “Greatness is always measured by doing more.” Image and Words by Ivan Barnett. Every meaningful project has a strange, hard-to-name stretch near the end. The bones are there, the thing “works,” and yet you know…
Against the Quiet: Why Salon 1033
By Ivan Barnett “Isolation can be a double edged sword.” Amish Stable Detail. Image Ivan Barnett “A good artist should be isolated. If he isn’t isolated, something is wrong.” — Orson Welles goodreads.com I’ve spent five decades in that paradox.…
Beyond Taste: Managing a Sustainable Art Practice
By Ivan Barnett, Serious Play “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail,” Ben Franklin. Santa Fe’s barrio. Image Ivan Barnett. “Vision without systems thinking ends up painting lovely pictures of the future with no deep understanding of…
Keeping the Artist in You
By Ivan Barnett Ivan age 3, “always observing and staying in the moment.” 1950. Image Isa Barnett. “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” — Pablo Picasso When I read…
Is Your Story Compelling Enough?
By Ivan Barnett, Serious Play “Hold onto your story for dear life.” Claire Kahn Studio. Image Ivan Barnett. “Story is the bridge between intention and value, the path a work takes from the maker’s hand to another life.” — Ivan…
Rigor & Curiosity
By Ivan Barnett “Being Curious Is Essential to Having a Great Career,” Santa Fe Window. Image Ivan Barnett “Kids grow up with innate curiosity. It’s the hardwired instinct that permits us to walk, talk and survive long before we get…
How Perfectionism in the Studio Can Be Our Worst Enemy
By Ivan Barnett Image by Ivan Barnett. “Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be your best. Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the…
The End of the Blockbuster: What AI Means for the Fine Arts
By Ivan Barnett, Serious Play “Technology Has To Start Somewhere.” Image by Ivan Barnett. “No amount of skill-full invention can replace the essential element of imagination.”—Edward Hopper, American Painter. AI is here to stay. Whether we embrace it or not,…
The Self-Taught Artist’s Path: Challenges and Opportunities
The Seine and the Eiffel Tower in the Sunset, 1910 – Henri Rousseau – WikiArt.org “I am not an academic; I am self-taught. Some things can only be learned by doing.” — Louise Bourgeois In my decades of work as…
When Asking for Help Becomes the Hardest Act of Creativity
By Ivan Barnett “When You Notice Cracks in Your Business Model, Don’t Wait to Fix Them.” Santa Fe, NM. Ivan Barnett Image. “True strength is not shown in what we can do alone, but in knowing when to lean into…
Staying Great: The Real Work of a Gallery
“Every Detail Matters in your Gallery. Its your Taste the Collectors are Purchasing.” Mennonite Scholars. Image by Ivan Barnett “Falling in love is easy. Staying in love is much harder.”—Ivan Barnett Opening a gallery is exhilarating: new walls, new artists,…
Great Art Is Not Subjective
Less Is More. Abstraction. Isa Barnett. “Great art is not subjective—there is a historical and structural truth to what elevates a work to being unforgettable.”—Ivan Barnett I say this with conviction after decades of observing galleries, mentoring artists, living alongside…
So Now What? This Summer’s Collectors and Tourists Didn’t Show
“Action is the Foundational Key to All Success.” Arthur Ashe. Image by Ivan Barnett. “Denial is the most predictable of all human responses.” — The Matrix A Season of Quiet Doors This summer was supposed to tell a different story.…
Public Art: The Invisible Economy That Could Transform Your Career
Frida on the Camino Real, Santa Fe, NM. Image Ivan Barnett. “Public art is the most democratic of art forms—it belongs to everyone yet demands the highest standard from its maker.” –Ivan Barnett Before I ever knew what public art…
Marketing and PR Are Two Different Words that Live Side by Side to One Another
Andy Goldsworthy is brilliant when combining PR & Marketing “Marketing is what you pay for; PR is what you pray for.” — Unknown Understanding the Difference: Marketing vs. PR in the Arts In the world of creative careers and gallery…
