Know your worth.
Pay it forward.
Don’t compare yourself.
Put yourself out there.
Learn to say NO.
Figure out what kind of work you want to be doing.
Listen.
Be patient with yourself, things take time.
Don’t take a job if it’s not a good fit.
Factor in your skillset. Your experience and skills are valuable.
Always get a deposit and contract before doing ANY work.
Let the client suggest a budget first. Whoever says a number first has the advantage.
learnings from a workshop
Talking about money can be super awkward and uncomfortable, but it’s essential to navigate as a freelancer. After attending a talk about demystifying pricing for murals, I felt quite empowered and wrote the summarized lessons above to remember for the future.
I’m truly grateful the mural community is so welcoming and open to sharing their knowledge, I can only hope to pay it forward (lesson 2) by writing this blog and connecting with other artists.
“This was a panel co-hosted by OCAD University’s RBC Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers (@ocaducead) and Mural Routes (@muralroutes) that helps emerging artists understand and develop their own strategies around setting a fair price for mural artwork.
Moderated by Marta Keller-Hernandez, Managing Director at Mural Routes, and featuring artists Bareket Kezwer (@bkez), Curtia Wright (@curtia), and Omar Hopkinson aka OMS (@omscreates), panelists shared individual approaches and experiences that would be beneficial for emerging artists to hear.” taken from Mural Routes Instagram post