Networking For Artists Who Hate Networking
(Or: How to Score Opportunities, Contacts, and Creative Allies Without Ever Selling Your Soul—or Smiling Through Another Cheese Platter in a Badly Lit Gallery)
Here’s the raw, dripping truth: Most artists would rather eat drywall than “network.” You want to make, not mingle. You crave solitude, not schmooze. But the dark, glittering secret of every creative field is that you can’t go it alone—not forever. Whether you’re painting naked in a basement or singing songs about heartbreak to your cat, at some point you need other people to help you get where you’re going. The difference is, you don’t have to become a glad-handing, business-card-spewing monster to do it. You can network the Rusty way: honest, gritty, a little wicked, and totally allergic to the usual bullshit.
This is your hard-earned, no-fake-smiles, survivalist guide to networking when you’d rather gargle paint thinner.
1. Why Networking Sucks (And Why You Still Have to Do It)
The Fakeness Problem: Most “networking” events are designed by people who love the sound of their own voices. You get sales talk, shallow compliments, and enough cheese cubes to constipate a horse.
Introvert Hell: If you’re not a born extrovert, you leave these events feeling like someone licked your soul and spat it back out.
Desperation Stink: Artists, especially those starting out, reek of “please notice me.” Nothing turns people off faster.
But here’s the secret: Networking is just making friends with people who get your struggle.
No cold calls, no lies, no handshakes that last too long. Just real connections—one awkward conversation at a time.
2. Step-By-Step: The Rusty Guide to Networking Without Selling Out
A. Be Honest About What You Want
Don’t show up pretending you love “branding synergy” when you barely know what that means. Want to find a collaborator? Say so. Looking for a venue, a publisher, a mentor, or just someone to get drunk with and rant about brushes? Own it.
B. Start Small, Start Real
Forget huge conventions. Find a local workshop, open studio, life drawing night, or even an online group of weirdos who draw goblins at 2am.
The internet is a goldmine—Instagram DMs, Discord servers, niche forums. Comment honestly, share work, don’t spam.
C. Quality Over Quantity
One real friend in the art world will get you further than a stack of business cards.
Focus on mutual respect, not “what can you do for me?”
D. Ask Real Questions, Give Real Answers
Instead of “So, what do you do?” try:
“What’s the weirdest commission you’ve gotten?”
“What’s your best art disaster story?”
“How do you survive deadlines without killing your pets?”
People remember honest curiosity, not forced elevator pitches.
E. Give More Than You Take
Share tips, boost others’ work, offer feedback, invite people to shows—even if it’s just a group sketch session in your garage.
Be the person people want to help, not just another “networker.”
3. Ingredient Hacks: Sneaky Ways to Network Without Noticing
Volunteer: Help hang a show, organize a zine, or run a workshop. You’ll meet people naturally, and they’ll see you’re willing to get your hands dirty.
Start a project: Collaborative art, swaps, jam nights—make an excuse to bring people together that isn’t just “networking.”
Bring snacks: No, seriously. Show up with cookies and you’ll meet more people than with a box of business cards.
4. Survival Strategies: For the Truly Anti-Social
Set time limits: “I’ll go for one hour, then I can leave.” You can survive almost anything for 60 minutes.
Buddy system: Bring a fellow introvert and dare each other to talk to at least one stranger.
Escape plan: Have an exit excuse ready—“Got a cat to feed, paint’s drying, therapist’s on speed dial.”
Confession from the trenches:
The best contact I ever made was at a bar, arguing about whether gesso should ever be tinted pink. We became friends, then collaborators, then each other’s best critics. All because I stopped faking and just talked shit about art.
5. The Final Dare: Be Yourself, Be Useful, Be Brave (Even Just a Little)
If you want to build an art career, you need a network—your network. Not the plastic kind, not the LinkedIn spreadsheet. The kind built from mutual struggle, weird stories, dumb jokes, and the occasional disaster.
Because the best networking
isn’t about selling yourself—
it’s about finding your tribe,
one messy, awkward, honest
conversation at a time.