Making a Buck Without Selling Out

For artists who want to build a sustainable practice—on their own terms

This six-week online course supports visual artists in developing, revisiting or rethinking their professional practice on their own terms. Whether you’re starting out, returning to your practice, or figuring out what’s next, Making a Buck Without Selling Out offers a critical and supportive space to build momentum, clarify direction, and develop strategies rooted in your values.

Together we’ll explore how to define success for yourself—beyond visibility metrics or institutional recognition. We’ll look at ways to communicate your practice, apply for funding, identify or create opportunities, and sustain your work without reshaping it to fit the market. We’ll also consider how to care for your practice, and yourself, in a system that demands constant productivity.

This is not a webinar or lecture series. It is a participatory course shaped by collective, co-operative principles and alternative approaches to art education. You’ll work in a small group of 8, with active discussion, shared learning, peer review, weekly activities, and one-to-one support. Each session is practical and designed to produce tangible outcomes.

Across six sessions we’ll focus on key areas including artistic identity, voice and visibility, funding, opportunities, self-care, and writing. The course includes 6 online sessions, weekly activities with tangible outcomes, peer review and written feedback, a workbook to help you plan and reflect, practical guides and resources, and a one-to-one tutorial to review your action plan, proposals, or questions.

The course is facilitated by Cristiana Bottigella and Sophia Kosmaoglou. It is delivered online via Canvas, Zoom and other applications, and is designed with the visual arts sector in England in mind while welcoming a wide range of experiences, including neurodiverse artists and those facing systemic or structural barriers.

22 April – 27 May 2026, Wednesdays, 18:00–20:30 BST, Online
Pay what you can: £280 / £240 / £200

Course fees can be paid either in full via invoice by the start of the course or in three monthly installments via PayPal. If cost is still a barrier, please get in touch to discuss additional options.

For more information and to register please visit the course page. Register by Wed, 15th April to receive the Workbook in time. For detailed information on the schedule and modules please download the course outline.