Too many artists graduate from art school with crushing debt and then spend years figuring out how to make money while trying to maintain a studio practice. Stephanie Brown did the opposite. She graduated from a private art school debt-free, secured a fully funded MFA, and has been treating her art career like a business from day one.

In this conversation with host Alyson Stanfield, Stephanie breaks down exactly how she did it, and why being strategic about money doesn't make you any less of an artist.

🔦 HIGHLIGHTS

02:00 Why interactive art transforms viewers into participants and creates lasting memory points—and how Stephanie intentionally studied education theory to understand this

06:40 How she graduated from a private art school (SCAD) debt-free by maximizing scholarships and strategically taking general education classes at community college

09:40 Why she only applied to fully funded MFA programs and what made University of Michigan's program worth it

16:30 The best advice Stephanie received about graduate school: only go when you know what you want to say to the world as an artist

23:10 How watching her mother's creative side hustles shaped her belief that artists can make money from their work

24:40 The rules she set for herself (one residency, two exhibitions per year) to ensure she could always say "I'm an exhibiting artist"

31:10 Why working from home during the pandemic was the unlock that gave Stephanie energy and time for serious studio practice

33:20 The transferable skills from her art practice (managing budgets up to $50,000) that landed her higher-paying jobs in project management and business operations

🚀 YOUR ACTION

Create your own non-negotiable parameters for your art practice. Stephanie's are at least one residency and two exhibitions per year.

What would your rules be?

🎧 RELATED EPISODES

She Knows Exactly How Much Her Art Income Will be with Kelly Pelfrey (162)

Being an Artist with Geoffrey Gorman (124)

Starting Your Art Career (173)

📖 To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/debt-free-brown

⭐️ Connect with Stephanie and see more of her art: https://stephaniebphotos.com

🔶 Does your art business need a boost or a refresh? Please see my comprehensive art-marketing program, Essentials for Artist Success 🔶  full of tools, strategies, and process you need to establish your professionalism and increase your visibility. For those with beginning and emerging art careers and those who need to approach their business with more thought and intention.

⛰️ The Art Biz is recorded on the traditional land of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute tribes.

~ ~ ! ATTENTION INDIGENOUS ARTISTS and BIPOC ARTISTS ! ~ ~

This is an invitation to all Indigenous and BIPOC artists, wherever you are in the world, to share your story here on The Art Biz. Here's how ~~~~> https://artbizsuccess.com/pitch-podcast/