CAC’s Professional Development series works to uncover subjects critical to professional artists and curators outside of making art.
A keyword is a specific word or phrase that signifies the core topic of your practice, research, and queries. They connect a public with what you are looking and arriving for. Consider the way keywords are used in programming: “reserved words” are predefined with a special meaning to the programmer or interpreter. They define a structure and/or logic to the code being built. Like your practice, keywords can be a great home base for what your day in the studio looks like, for an introduction of your work to a curator, or talking with someone who wants to purchase your work. It can also be a great jumping off point for writing your artist statements.
Why are keywords good for your practice: people will ask you what you do and you want them to! Beyond stating your medium, consider having 3-6 keywords in your pocket that key someone into “what are you working on?” By having a keyword, you can be more concise and focus on making rather than explaining.
To begin, think of it as trying on clothes; even when something fits it might not be something you need or doesn’t fit what you are trying to say to the world. Run that word through etymology dictionaries, the thesaurus, and a general dictionary and see how it feels. After trying it on, put it back to see how that feels too.
_________________________________
Rooted in our core values of knowledge-sharing and building community, this 90-minute seminar will include 30 minutes of conversation with participants. Bring your experience and your questions to the group!
Participants may attend in person or online via Zoom. Registration is required.
Thursday, September 10th 6-8p
$10 for the general public
$5 for CAC alumni
FREE for current residents (Registration still required)
Presented by CAC Alumna, Colleen Keihm
https://colleenkeihm.com/
Colleen Keihm (born in Levittown, NY and currently residing in Chicago, IL) is a Visiting Instructor in the Photography Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She recently concluded a six-year tenure as Executive Director at LATITUDE, a Chicago-based digital lab offering high-end printing, scanning, an artist-in-residence program, and public arts programming. She received her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a BS in Photography from Drexel University. Her work has been exhibited at FLXST Contemporary, Flatland, Roman Susan, Filter Photo, and Tiger Strikes Asteroid. Colleen has been an artist in residence with Hatch Projects at the Chicago Artists Coalition, Institut für alles Mögliche in Berlin, and Studio 3325 in Chicago. Her photographs are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, and she is a proud member of the Midwest Photographers Project.