I help visual artists, writers, filmmakers, and performers grow thriving art practices. I work with artists from a wide range of backgrounds and identities, at all stages of their careers, from those who are well-established to those starting out.
Services
Making Your Best Work
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Clarify what you passionately hope to accomplish with your work.
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Develop concrete steps for achieving your goals.
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Establish timelines and a system of regular check-ins to help keep you on track.
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Engage in thoughtful, supportive artistic feedback about your work-in-progress.
Funding Your Art
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Identify potential public and private funding sources.
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Devise winning strategies for reaching out to those funders.
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Investigate residencies, fellowships, awards, prizes, fiscal sponsorships and other avenues of support.
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Craft effective grant, fellowship, and residency applications.
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Prepare budgets, artist statements, work descriptions, project plans, and portfolios.
Building Audiences and Community
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Identify audiences for your work.
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Develop strategies for cultivating and engaging those audiences.
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Establish connections with venues that can present your work.
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Nurture relationships with curators, collectors, gallerists, producers, agents, editors, collaborators, and other members of your creative community.
About Me
I'm Neil. I bring to my consulting work three decades of experience as a practicing artist, arts educator, mentor, and community volunteer.
My video, photo and mixed media work has been presented domestically and internationally at venues including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of the City of New York; the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; the British Film Institute, London; NGBK Kunstverein, Berlin; and El Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, among others. Much of this work is logistically and technically complex, requiring the same project management skills I share in my consulting work.
I've also successfully navigated the funding landscape, securing support from a wide range of public and private sources, including the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, CEC ArtsLink, Yaddo, MacDowell, the Siena Art Institute, and private philanthropists. I use my experience with these organizations and individuals to help the artists I work with secure their own grants and fellowships.
As a faculty member at the Yale School of Art and NYU, I help students to conceptualize, refine, and realize their most ambitious projects. My students range from undergraduate non-arts majors to advanced Master of Fine Arts candidates, who work in disciplines as diverse as video, photography, painting, sculpture, performance, public art, social practice, and writing. At Parsons, I offer professional development courses focused on grant writing, budgeting, strategic outreach, and community building to help students launch and sustain their art careers.
I’m honored to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where I help guide its programming, operations, and ongoing artistic evolution. In my volunteer work with the national organization Queer|Art, I have built enduring mentorship relationships with LGBTQI+ artists who are navigating the challenges and opportunities of their creative practices. I also serve on the board of the non-profit, Street Cry, whose mission includes mentoring survivors of domestic violence and war trauma, the intergenerationally impoverished, and artists living with disabling illness.
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About Feldspar
Feldspar Artist Services is named after a favorite mineral from my childhood rock tumbling days. It's also one of the main components of Manhattan's bedrock. Since launching the company in late 2022, I have taken on a variety of private clients and was hired by the grant maker Art for Justice Fund to provide my services to their grantee partners.
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Testimonials
Sarah Workneh
Co-Director, Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture (2009-23)
Photo: Elle Perez
"As an artist himself, Neil has an intuitive sense and experiential knowledge of both creative practice and what an artist needs for long term sustainability. Never one to sacrifice artistic integrity and voice, Neil offers steady advice, critical but kind review, and has a deep awareness of institutions and opportunities. His humor brings levity to any situation and his belief in the power of art and artists' voice inspires a sense of real care and advocacy."
SUe Simon
Arts & Social Justice Consultant
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"During the final year of Art for Justice Fund's operations, we hired Neil to provide technical assistance to justice system impacted artists who were applying for grants, residencies, and fellowships. His coaching enabled folks to write powerful artist statements, conceptualize impactful art & advocacy projects, and secure financial support. The feedback we received about Neil was uniformly positive! Not only was he able to share guidance about specific funding opportunities, he helped build these artists' capacity to negotiate 'the art world'— a sometimes unfamiliar and pernicious terrain."
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"Neil Goldberg has a brain like no other. He has helped me through so many hurdles of having a dedicated full time arts practice amidst disabling illness. Art needs righteous protectors and navigators to survive and prosper; Neil has given me strategies, and taught me how to think about my goals, dreams, and visions. He is rigorous and detail oriented. Nothing slips by his eye. And his own artwork is embued with soul and a love of humanity in quotidian glory. He is my most brilliant confidant and advisor."
Jacques Servin
Writer, Filmmaker, Activist
Co-Founder of The Yes Men
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"Several years ago I took a sharp turn in my creative practice and began writing a memoir about caring for a mother with advanced dementia. Neil was instrumental in getting this project off the ground. He helped me establish a writing routine that works for me, provided regular check-ins and nuanced feedback, and emboldened me to go deeper with the material."
KAMISHA THOMAS
AIMEE WISSMAN
Artists, Co-Directors of
The Returning Artist Guild
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"We were absolutely thrilled when we had the opportunity to meet Neil. He has an incredible capacity to listen with intent, and we were extremely impressed with his ability to assist us in effectively organizing our thoughts, ultimately leading to the successful attainment of a significant grant. After a few months, we were fortunate enough to come across another grant opportunity. Without hesitation, we reached out to Neil once more. We seem to have developed a highly successful recipe, as we received the second grant as well."
Know someone who's looking to grow their art practice and make their most ambitious work? Gift them one or more sessions.
Contact
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