VVrkshop Founder Paddy Johnson Profiled in Shoutout LA
Shoutout LA recently caught up with VVrkshop Founder Paddy Johnson! Read the full interview below!
MEET PADDY JOHNSON, COACH FOR VISUAL ARTISTS
We had the good fortune of connecting with Paddy Johnson and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Paddy, why did you pursue a creative career?
Probably the reason any young person does anything is a mix of naïveté and pragmatism, it’s really just a question of where the percentage of each falls. In my case, I knew I was an excellent draftsman and I thought fame would ensure an artistic legacy. Neither turned out to be of any relevance. I stopped making art when I started my blog and became consumed by it, and after 15 years of doing that, I pivoted to coaching. I now run Netvvrk, a membership helping hundreds of artists get the shows, residencies, and grants of their dreams.
In some ways, I think the better question for the visual arts, though, is why I have continued in the arts at all. It’s so hard to make a living in this field, and that’s just not the case for so many other industries.
But I do this for the same reason so many others stay the course—nothing makes me happier. And I mean this in the broadest sense, because it’s not just the experience of seeing art that sparks joy, but the thrill of working with artists who are constantly coming up with new ideas. Nothing is better than this—nothing.
What should our readers know about your business?
VVrkshop’s flagship membership Netvvrk helps artists get the shows, residencies, and grants of their dreams.
We achieve that with our artists through a combination of ongoing career development support and business networking—a business structure that sets us apart from our peers who offer one-off courses or memberships that aren’t designed for connection.
Now, we offer ongoing career support because artists NEED ongoing support. If you’re making art and promoting it, you’re not gonna have one set of problems that once solved will catapult you to a new level in your work. You’re going to face different and changing challenges throughout your career. And you need someone who has seen those problems and knows how to deal with them.
The problem, of course, is that that someone doesn’t exist. Why? Because the scope of problems is too large for one person to solve. I’ve been working in the New York art scene for more than 20 years, and have worked in more roles, at high levels, than almost anyone. And I still haven’t seen everything. But my network is huge, so I have the resources to help the artists in the Netvvrk membership solve almost any problem.
That’s why communities that thrive on knowledge sharing are essential to any artistic practice. Typically that’s happened through facebook groups and google spreadsheets. These can be tremendously important resources, but they’re also extremely inefficient. Finding the information you need, when you need it, just doesn’t happen if you need to spend hours searching a spreadsheet for the single applicable link to your practice.
Netvvrk solves that problem through curriculum that is designed to be digested quickly, group coaching that helps you put what you’re learning into action, and extensive, easily searchable, archives. That’s not an accident. I have a background in blogging, so information sharing and organization is in my DNA.
That background taught me a lot. It taught me that artists need extended support, because I could see their work and their problems evolve with the culture. It taught me that there are ENORMOUSLY talented artists working across the country that needed to connect with each other, and with the press. And it taught me that I could have more impact when so much of my time was dedicated to rescuing an organization that suffered from terminal financial instability. Publishing. does. not. pay. folks.
Netvvrk provides an elegant solution to these problems easily connecting artists and talent for the long term. And that has a larger importance than just bettering the lives of artists. It betters the lives of EVERYONE. I believe art makes the world a better place. I KNOW that sounds like a platitude, but it’s true. Think of any public space and how looks before and after it’s activated by art. Everything space feels more hospitable, more like home, when it’s filled with art. And when we have more artists succeeding, more artists getting their art seen, we gain a more humane culture.
So, even this small support Netvvrk offers promises an impact far beyond its promises. It delivers art to more people, and that makes us on the whole.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A week is never enough time to see all the sights in New York, but I always encourage friends to engage the city by geography first. What do I mean by that? I mean, take at least one ferry. It’s a fabulous way to see the city and allows you to see it from a natural view point—the water. I recommend spending a lot of time walking. New York is a pedestrian friendly city, and we pack a lot into a small space, so you can see a lot just by walking. Walk along the Highline, an elevated public park born from train tracks. Watch the crosstown traffic flow across 26th street through a simple rectangular frame. Head down to the street below to tour the blue chip Chelsea Galleries.
There’s enough art in New York that you can spend a full week doing nothing else. Schedule a full day for the Metropolitan Museum of art. Get a hot dog from one of the cart vendors outside. Take a walk around Central Park.
And then see what happens. The beauty of New York is that there’s enough happening at any given time that you don’t have to plan out every inch of your day, nor should you. At some point, you’ll run into someone you know, and your plans will change for the better. Because that’s the way this city works.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate this story to Robin Cembalest of Robin Cembalest Editorial Strategies, who came to me with the idea of starting VVrkshop back in 2020. Without her, the company literally would not exist. She is a good egg.
Image Credits
Photo in gallery: Sheilah Restack Photo with skyline: E. Brady Robinson Photo in office and at coffee shop: Barbara Nitke
Via:
Shoutout LA
https://shoutoutla.com/
