Your Art Will Save Your Life, Paperback

Visiting the Andy Warhol Museum as a teenager, Beth Pickens realized that art was imperative for reflecting--and thus remaking--the world. As an adult, she has dedicated her life to arts nonprofits and consultancy, helping marginalized artists traverse the world of MFAs, residencies, and institutional funding.

Writing in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, Pickens reminds burgeoning artists that their work is now more important than ever, and advises on fostering creativity and sustaining an innovative practice as conversations about grants, public programming, and arts funding in schools grow heated. Half political manifesto, half practical manual, this resource emphasizes the emotional component of artmaking and reminds us that art has always been a tool of resistance.

Beth Pickens is a Los Angeles-based consultant for artists and arts organizations. She provides career consultation, grant writing, fundraising, and financial, project, and strategic planning services for clients across the United States. She earned her MEd in Counseling Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Before beginning her consultancy business, she served as Senior Program Manager at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Managing Director of both RADAR Productions and the Queer Cultural Center.