What Is smARTist and How Does It Support Visual Artists?

Updated

smARTist is an art-career conference for visual artists, created by Ariane Goodwin, Ph.D. According to the site, it is described as "the only art-career conference for visual artists." It exists to help artists own how they write and speak about their work, trust their path, and own their value. If you are a visual artist looking for career-focused guidance — especially around artist statements and professional communication — smARTist and Goodwin's work are aimed at you.

What smARTist Is

Ariane Goodwin runs arianegoodwin.com under the smARTist® name. The site frames her work around a specific mission: helping artists and creators "own how they write and speak about their work so they can trust their path and own their value."

Two credentials are highlighted on the site:

  • She wrote "the only book on Artist Statements."
  • She produced smARTist, described as "the only art-career conference for visual artists."

So smARTist is not a general creativity blog or a portfolio platform — it is positioned as a career-development resource for visual artists, delivered as a conference.

Who Ariane Goodwin Is and Why She Created It

Goodwin holds a Ph.D., and the site includes a testimonial from artist Gregg Ross that speaks directly to her motivation. Ross recalls asking why she focuses on artists with her doctorate. Her answer, as quoted:

"I'm committed to artists because I believe artists have direct access to the collective unconscious where they help society evolve toward greater and greater creatively as a whole."

That statement explains the intent behind smARTist: it is built on the belief that artists play a societal role, and that supporting their careers is worthwhile in itself. Ross describes the message as registering "on my soul level" and says it "fed me well."

How It Supports Visual Artists

The support centers on communication and career confidence rather than technique. Based on the site's own description, the focus areas are:

  • Writing about your work — most visibly, the artist statement. The blog includes a post titled "Writing the Artist Statement in 2025! Time to Blow UP Some Resolutions."
  • Speaking about your work — the site pairs "write and speak" as the two skills it helps artists own.
  • Valuing your own work — the recurring phrase "own your value" points to pricing, positioning, and self-worth as career issues, not just marketing ones.
  • Trusting your path — the site frames this as an outcome of getting the writing and speaking right.

The blog, "ArtLife & Creativity Reflections," also addresses creativity itself. Posts include "Are You Leaving Your Artist, Creative Insights Behind?", "Artists... Can You Jumpstart Artistic Creativity?", and "How Our Cultural Productivity Obsession Smothers Creativity." These suggest the conference and blog treat creative practice and career practice as connected, not separate.

How Artists Can Engage

The site's visible entry points are the blog and the smARTist conference. The blog posts are readable directly and cover creativity and artist statements. For the conference itself, the site does not list pricing, dates, or registration details in the available material, so check arianegoodwin.com directly for current conference information before planning around it.

A practical starting point if you are new:

  1. Read the artist statement post to see how Goodwin approaches the document most artists find hardest to write.
  2. Browse the creativity posts if your block is about making work rather than describing it.
  3. Look for current smARTist conference details on the site, since the conference is the core offering.

What to Expect — and What Not To

Expect guidance on the language side of an art career: statements, talking about your work, and the confidence to value it. The site's own framing is about owning your value and trusting your path, with artist statements as the flagship topic.

Do not expect the available material to confirm pricing, free access, or login requirements — none of that is stated. Treat the blog as the low-commitment way to sample Goodwin's approach, and verify conference specifics on the site itself.