Corporate Art Consultant

Start-up cost: $1,000–$5,000

Potential earnings: $35,000–$100,000

Typical fees: $50 per hour

Advertising: Web site with your credentials and an online gallery sampling of your “art catalog,” trade publications, business periodicals, service on local community boards or in charitable organizations, networking

Qualifications: Degree in art or related field, extensive gallery or museum experience, interior design credentials

Equipment needed: Business cards, letterhead, envelopes, cell phone, digital camera or scanner, laptop computer with Internet access

Staff required: No

Hidden costs: Membership dues, subscriptions to art periodicals, travel, Web site development and maintenance

What You Do

The corporate art consulting business is where connoisseurship and corporate image issues come together. It’s a rare combination, and you’ll need a strong eye for art and a reputation for awareness of business image requirements to create a successful enterprise. The art world often has trouble communicating with business people. Your ability to move in both worlds will be a major factor in your To a large degree you will be selling yourself, and you will do this by listening well, understanding corporate culture, grasping the needs of your client, and presenting each organization with choices that will enhance their workplaces and their image. You will transform your own appreciation for art into a service that adds value to your clients’ enterprises. The ability to locate the perfect piece of art for the corporate environment is rare. You’ll need to visit every art show or trade convention you can and collect catalogs from dealers worldwide. Then you’ll negotiate fair prices, which includes using your expertise to help newly discovered artists price their work to sell.

What You Need

You’ll be meeting people at your clients’ premises, in galleries, and so on, rather than at your own office. As a result, your home office will only have to support your business needs, not to impress. In the beginning, particularly, you will need to build your reputation through use of impressive direct mail pieces, networking, and a high-quality Web site that showcases some of the work you have available. Take a laptop computer ($2,000–$3,000) with you for presentations and log in to your online catalog. Then you will be speaking the language of business while spreading the treasure of original art.

Keys to Success

Establishing yourself as a corporate art consultant will take time, determination, and persistence. Comb the local business pages for stories or announcements about new corporate office buildings, which will likely need some artwork to make their new offices truly outstanding workplaces. Where you live will control your avenues of approach. Operating independently, without an association to back you or sponsor you, will be possible only in one of the major U.S. cities. Elsewhere you’ll need to be associated with a commercial interior design firm or an art gallery that can provide you with a steady stream of business referrals.