Image credit: Kimberly Lennox
Alyson B. Stanfield began consulting with artists informally in the early 1990s as part of her position as a museum curator. When she left museums, her old artist-friends continued coming to her for help and advice. Research led her to start Art Biz Coach in 2002.
Alyson believes that the world needs healthy artists—physically and financially—because artists help us question what is in front of us. Artists also help us appreciate our surroundings, while teaching our children to be sensitive to others and to explore their emotions. By getting out of their studios, artists are sharing their art with the world and making it a better place.
Alyson’s work is deeply affected by her ten years as a curator and educator in art museums. She has loads of experience working with collectors as well as the general art-viewing public. That means that she knows how people interact with art, how they approach it, what they fear, and how we can educate them and alleviate their fears.
I’d Rather Be in the Studio! was shaped by this knowledge – in particular, the chapters on writing artist statements and speaking/teaching about art.
Alyson says her most valuable life experience came from working in the U.S. Senate. She learned how to nurture relationships from the best politician around. And if you don’t think politics play a role in the artworld, think again. In I’d Rather Be in the Studio!, chapters on networking and following up are direct results of her Washington experience.
On the off chance that you’ve read this far, Alyson’s undergraduate and graduate degrees are in art history, although she started as a painting major. For some reason, she got a bigger kick out of sitting in those dark rooms looking at slides.
Alyson’s work is inspired by artists she comes across every day—in cyberspace and in galleries. She’s surrounded by an office with buttery yellow walls and her grandmother’s crystal chandelier. She rests her arms on a black steel desk, which she commissioned from artist Jay Haen and she stares at a library replete with books on artists’ careers, making money, contemporary art, women’s art, textiles, and other favorite areas of study. Alyson shares her space with the cats.
Tofu and Frida enjoy the sun in Alyson's office window.
The beautiful Rocky Mountain foothills peek through Alyson’s windows, while her home is filled with artwork by her dear friends Gail Frasier, Kurt Christian, David Castle, Liz Crain, Tracy Wall, James McClure, Donna Iona Drozda, Pam Caidin, and Mel Ristau.
When Alyson is not in her office, you might catch her at a yoga class; hiking in the foothills or in the Rockies; skiing in Crested Butte; cooking; watching Iron Chef America or House; or gardening. She was born in Great Falls, MT; raised in Oklahoma City, OK; went to undergraduate school in Laramie, WY and Norman, OK; worked in Washington, DC; went to graduate school in Austin, TX; and now happily calls Colorado home.
Alyson re-met her husband, Rob, at their 20th high school reunion (they’ve known each other since age 11!) and is grateful that he embraces the three-cat lifestyle she brought to the relationship.
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