Testimonials

"I entered the APT program not really knowing what to expect but thinking it was the right time for me to concentrate on the business side of my art. What I received was a wealth of timely and essential information and knowledge that would have taken years to collect, all in an effort to help me become more successful. An unexpected gift was being in the company of other artists and the lasting friendships that I have formed.  I highly recommend this program for any committed artist in the New England area. It gives you a thoughtful base in which to evaluate your art, your purpose, and your future."

- Pamela Bearor-Amiralian, Toolbox 2011

"I cannot rave enough about the APT program. The nine months I was enrolled in the program made me feel more alive and awake and whole as an artist than I could have ever imagined. The Toolbox program touches on about every single facet of an artist's life. The program asks the artist to take a good look at the work, relationships, marketing, mindset and all kinds of diverse dynamics that feed into an artist's reality.

The organization of the program is based on years of experience and artist feedback - the program director is incredibly open to feedback and really listens and responds! As a result, the program is run absolutely mindfully and participating artists are treated with great respect and concern for their needs. The program features a wide range of teachers who are all well seasoned and have a load to impart. Participants will definitely have chances to bring their questions and concerns to a diverse, competent team of professionals. Finally, one of the great gifts of the program are the peer groups. Here artists get to work with other artists on their own progress through great creative explorations, discussions and hands on action.

These months were definitely one of the most invigorating, inspiring months of my career. And the good news is: it is not over! Alumni continue to be invited to lectures, workshops and reviews, keeping alive a supportive networking system of great integrity and educational treasures.

- Ulrike Brahmst, Toolbox 2011 www.ulibrahmst.com

"The APT program was extremely helpful to me as a working artist!   For so long I had tried to figure out on my own the next steps needed to ramp up my art career...a lonely and time consuming process with mixed results.  The APT structure, regular sessions with experts on all aspects of being a professional artist as well as the peer group component, was critical to helping me clarify and accomplish several of my professional goals including a new portfolio and marketing plan.  I look forward to participating in the ongoing Fellows Program to keep up my momentum and move my art career forward."

- Kathy Parkinson, Toolbox 2011 www.kparkinson.com

“Five years after graduating from the first class of APT'ers I still find myself using the information given out every day in my art/business. However, it is the friendships I've made and connections within the art world, that have been the most valuable."

- Aimee Empey, Toolbox '06 www.papergownsandglory.com

"The Artists Professional Toolbox changed my life, helping me to uncover and articulate my passion—using creativity to raise awareness of global water issues with public participation art. Having been a studio artist for many years and finding gallery representation unrewarding, I felt confused about my direction when I started APT in 2007. In APT, I acquired the skills not only to take care of business, but also to look deeply within and find my path."

- Christine Destrempes, Toolbox ’08 
www.destrempes.com

"These last eight months have sped by at an astonishing rate, and filled me with a wealth of skills and information. I know I have lots of company when I say that the Toolbox program has had a major impact in several areas of my career. First, our small peer group has been, and continues to be a strong nurturing source of support and encouragement in my business development (the most neglected area of many artists lives). Toolbox program sessions have motivated me to organized my office (no small task!), hone my financial goals, and improve my oral, visual and written presentation skills - writing is no longer the painful chore it once was! The immediate results are not only that galleries and consultants are starting to contact me, but I am able to close sales more consistently. Currently, thanks to last Saturday’s Portfolio Reviews, I am refining my portfolio presentation, with immediate plans to contact specific galleries, art consultants and curators. For the longer term, time is set aside for archiving, donating and storing art work, tax and estate planning. Thank you, Arts & Business Council, for all your hard work in putting and keeping the program together. I look forward to seeing it flourish for many years."

- Patricia Burson, Toolbox’09 
http://bursonstudios.com

All of the things that have happened in the past year are a direct result of APT and I wouldn’t have known how to do any of this on my own: 1. Made a branding statement
 2. Redesigned my website, letterhead, business cards and email newsletter to reflect that branding statement. 
3. Started a bimonthly newsletter to about 300 of my contacts and added a link in my website for people to sign up.
 4. I keep four goal lists hanging in my studio-- 1 week goals, 1 month goals, 1 year goals, and long term goals -- and I look at them frequently.
 5. I am much more proactive about pursuing sales of pieces, grants and career related aspects because I feel new found confidence in handling that side of things
.  6. My art sales last year were the highest of my career in part because of a big show but also because I marketed that show much more aggressively due to the Toolbox
  7. I purchased a live / work artist condo this January and that was one of the first goals I wrote down during those very first days of the Toolbox – “solidify my living and working situation” and it came true!
  8. I’m planning my first Open studio and with the network of Toolbox-ers available, I asked another artist about how she accepted credit cards at her last function and I’m setting up to do it myself as well.

All in all, the Toolbox has reinvigorated my career in obvious ways and also in a subtle shifting towards believing again that this career can be fulfilling in both a personal and financial way. I’m actually very glad I didn’t go to grad school and instead participated in the Toolbox.

- Jason Brockert, Toolbox ’06 
www.jasonbrockert.com