Here is a mid month newsletter to share what people wrote about about the term "emerging artist"...

Responses to the 'emerging artist' and what it means. Ted says: "Emerging artist" has really come to mean nothing, since it has been overused, overexploited, and overemphasized ! It's something like the term 'artist', which has come to be a collective word for anything and everything some folks do which others believe is clever or creative.

G, who was labeled an emerging artist, says: O.K. now my thoughts expanding on that. Where does it lead you??? Emerging into what? My art résumé looks impressive. I have won several awards such as the American Artist Competition, have a piece in North Light Books, one in a New York magazine, won monetary awards locally and Nationally and was featured in an article in the Watercolor Magazine. All impressive when reading about what I have accomplished but am I famous? Do I have a well known gallery representing me? Do my paintings sell like a well known artist, past or present? NO…. I received emails from people who have read the article in the American Artist magazine and they have congratulated me on being such a wonderful, productive and winning artist. I am a “babe in the woods”. Why? I guess I don’t market my artwork properly, or is it that I have no one like Pollock did to elevate my artwork into prominence? I wish that the label “Emerging artist” would have brought me a wider sphere of success but I must be counted among those who have not yet flown as high as I wish!! I

Kim throws in her two cents: "The concept of an emerging artist is a very relative term for me. For example, an artist paints regularly with a group of painters for a couple of years, and starts getting into shows/winning some nice awards, may be perceived as already "making it" by the group of friends. But in that artists eye, he/she may feel as if there is still a long road ahead and much more to learn before he/she thinks in terms of "making it."

Ted chips in with "Definitely a pet peeve here. It is a ridiculous term often used by art magazines to promote an heretofore ''unknown''. Ironically the said emerger has usually been quietly successful for many years just not published in the pages of that particular magazine or had the attention of certain writers and critics. As a professional artist for over three decades I would be insulted to be called an '' emerging artist ''.

From Anonymous: "When I was first out of graduate school, "Emerging Artist" meant I was finally on my way when I was juried into some important exhibitions which got some attention from the press. But as an older artist, I realize that one can be an emerging artist forever unless one gets a lot of attention. When an artists makes the leap from regional/local to national they are no longer considered emerging and are usually referred to as mid-career artists unless they have had considerable press coverage. But in the long run, labels don't really mean anything, they are just a guideline for galleries/artists to price work".


Dawn says: "I would like to comment on 'emerging artist'.Well, that is like beauty, in the eyes of the beholder and in this case, it is probably 'respected' journals that write about artists, and museums who decide to grace their walls and gallery space to such an artist .I have to say that I wonder who these 'people' are".

Frances writes: "The meaning of Emerging artist depends on ones perspective and where an artist is in his/her art career. Because I have been a working artist for 20 years, to me "Emerging Artist" means someone who doesn't have name recognition but is lucky enough to get into an important exhibition which is getting some attention from the press".