There was a time when I felt like I was stumbling blindfolded around the art world. If I happened upon an invitation to put my paintings in a show, it was a success that I didn’t know how to replicate. I didn’t know why a curator would choose me over someone else, and likewise I didn’t know why I was passed over at other times.
I thought that if I kept at it, time would inevitably build momentum and I’d gain speed as I moved forward in my career, with better, more prestigious opportunities coming my way. The plan was to work my way up, but baby artist Virginia quickly learned that was not how the art world works. It doesn’t always favor hard work, paying your dues, or quality art, and instead there are other things at play that at the time were a mystery to me.
Now here I am with twenty+ years of hindsight, and I have become a great detective. I have found that while the path to success may not be instantly obvious, there is a reason for everything that happens. The art world likes to be coy, but you can trace the factors for success of any artist, and the factors for attainment of any opportunity.
I’ve taken the information I’ve accumulated from artist biographies, internet rabbit holes, self help books for artists, eavesdropping, and years of trial and error problem-solving that structures the systems of support I build for artists. Here is what I’ve found. Artists have three pipelines to attain opportunities:
Open Calls
their Network
Visibility
Open Calls are obvious (things you apply for through an open call process); opportunities that came because of someone you knew are through your Network, and invitations that arrived when someone found out about your work out in the world is because of your Visibility.
I have given this a lot of thought, and I believe these are the ONLY three pipelines. Sheer luck is not one of the options. Shows do not fall from the sky. Grants aren’t awarded out of the blue.
It’s a revealing exercise (that I recommend in many workshops) to look at your CV and identify the pipeline through which you received each entry. I recommend color coding each line and counting the total for each category (open call, network, visibility) to see what dominates. Each item can be traced to one of these three things. It quickly makes you realize how much control you have over your career.
Here is what this exercise looks like:
Virginia’s Example CV Audit
In addition to seeing the quantities of each category, noticing how you attained your top five or so achievements makes things crystal clear. For me, my best opportunities have come primarily through connections with other people (my network) and grants and residencies that I received through an open call. So, I prioritize building relationships as well as applying for open calls that I know would be meaningful for my work and career goals. These are both things I can put into motion.
The problems with open calls are myriad, yet they are also one of the few direct pipelines to opportunities to which artists have access.
This is why I started the Artist Deadlines Subscription: to hunt down and relay information to subscribers about quality open call opportunities. There are exponentially more junk open calls than great open calls, and this is why it takes time to sort through them. I do this work for Subscribers.
Open calls also take time, energy and often financial resources to apply, but you can make it worth the effort, even if you get a rejection. Open calls give me tools to help build my network and grow my visibility.
Applying to many things over the years has helped me learn to pitch my work effectively (which I use in studio visits) and has helped me develop ideas for projects that otherwise I wouldn’t have given the time they needed to mature (which I use in my strategic outreach).
I have always known that open calls were only one piece of the success pie, and they probably the move the needle the least. While valuable, no one becomes Julie Mehretu through applying for open calls.
It took me six years to figure out how to package the next piece of the pie: the Network. That’s what Rising Tide: Social Resources for Artists is all about; it helps artists build their network of meaningful connections to support their career, and in a way that feels good not slimy.
The next session of Rising Tide runs September 25 - December 11, 2026.
Join us!