Miranda Lopatkin
Artist & EducatorCould you give a brief overview of what your various working roles are?
I freelance for several museums and galleries as an Artist and Educator. I work with various audiences at the galleries; including children and young people, the elderly, community groups such as those that are socially marginalized (homeless etc) and those with Special Educational needs. I run various workshops from practical printmaking to armour handling, giving gallery tours to teaching about slavery.
I also work for Creative Careers within the University of the Arts planning talks and an exhibition that will ultimately be of benefit to Fine art students and graduates. I also practice as an artist, have a studio, and exhibit.
Was it always your intention to make your living through a number of different activities, or did you find that it was the only way for you to support your practice?
It was not always my intention to have several jobs. As far as a career was concerned I knew I wanted to a practice as a fine artist and it took a year after graduating to realise that this was an enjoyable way to support myself and give me the flexibility I need. I see the benefit of having a contract with regular days at the University of the arts as it does give some stability.
If you do have to take on work that supports your practice, how is your time divided between the two roles? (i.e. how much of your time would you say is spent on the money-earning role, and how much is spent on the ‘real’ role?)
I see my money earning role as important as my art practice role. I would not give up the part of my life that brings money in as that would feel very insular although if I could afford to do so I might do less. I do not however feel I spend enough time on my practice or marketing myself as an artist. I spend on average 4 –5 days a week in galleries teaching and at the University of the Arts and around one day a week on my art practice. When I have exhibitions coming up I work more at weekends and in the evenings.
How secure are you, or do you feel, in the way you work?
Well, I am secure in the gallery world, however that largely contributes to my income in academic term times. I don’t feel secure in that I have no holiday or sick pay. I feel reasonably secure in the short term at the university of the Arts as I have a contract.
What’s it like juggling more than one role?
It can be stressful in terms of organisation – especially if I can’t find my diary. Generally it’s a lot of fun. I am never bored and I love having lots of different roles. I learn something new every day and it keeps me very active.
When you first started out, what was the first step you took? Was it deliberately thought out?
I exhibited with various opportunities that came about as a result of my MA show at Central Saint Martins, I also decided to do an internship at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in the curatorial department. I got to see how galleries work and also decided that there was far too much admin involved in full time work at a gallery curating and then decided to use my knowledge to help me have a career in Education in galleries, making use of the Youth work qualification I already had. I also used my experience in the curatorial department to think about how to market myself as an artist. I think I took advantage of opportunities that came my way, so no, although after a while I felt sure about my direction.
How do you deal with the practicalities, how did you find out what to do about things like tax…
I now use an accountant, but at first I wasn’t sure what to do and was fined £100 for not having my tax return in on time.
If you had to pick out one good bit and one bad bit of what you do, what would they be?
- The best bit is the variety of places I go to and people I meet.
- The worst part is not having financial security.
I would say that it is realistic for a fine artist to have several incomes (admittedly I had not heard the term ‘portfolio career’ until I started working in Creative Careers), my advice is find a job or jobs that use your skills because that way you will get some job satisfaction; and will not always be wishing you were elsewhere or in the studio. Also, unless you are very good at Tax returns, get an accountant.
