“Document your studio work habits, it takes just a minute or two per day, and becomes second nature.”
-Sam Hitchman
Ceramic artist Sam Hitchman’s Cincinnati, OH, studio sustained significant water damage when a neighbor’s water line burst last year. During the insurance claim process, he learned the hard way that he needed to make a priority of improving his art practice record-keeping going forward. Sam believes he would have had a different outcome during the insurance claim process had he kept more detailed records of his studio and his practices while making his work, “It would have been much more difficult for the insurance company to dismiss my [value of lost time] claims had I collected daily, and more detailed logs about my use of time.”
What do you do to maintain and secure records of your artwork, art practices, and your art making tools and materials? Regular record keeping will save you time in the long run, and can save your art career.
There are myriad reasons to maintain and secure records of your artwork, art practices, and your art making tools and materials, including:
Why Have an Inventory of Your Artwork?
- Documentation of career development and your legacy
- As a reference for the preparation of show submissions, grant applications and client presentations
- Assess the value for determining amount of insurance needed to cover potential losses
- Establish losses for insurance claims
Why Have an Inventory of Your Business Property and Its Contents?
- Assess what you own and have at stake
- Provides a record of the cost, replacement value and acquisition date
- Needed for business and personal property tax
- Establish losses and values for insurance claims and disaster assistance
Ready to step up your documentation practices? Here’s the info you need to get started:
Tips on records for your artwork, art practices, and art making tools and materials.
More on:
- Documenting your artwork
- Maintaining and securing your analog business records
- Backing up your digital business records
- Insurance coverage for your art business and career