Project Management for Artists: How to Manage Large Art Projects
- Leia Emeera
- Aug 20, 2024
- 11 min read
Updated: Oct 17
Art projects can be difficult to deliver timely and exceptionally well without sufficient planning—even more so when the scales are larger and the stakes are higher. That's where creative project management for artists comes in.
Composition, materials, paint/clay drying time, and many other variables need to be considered—essentially, effective project management is important for successful art projects, especially large ones.
While all parts of project management are important, there are a few key ones that shouldn’t be compromised, namely:
defining project scope,
planning,
scheduling,
budgeting,
resource allocation,
team management,
collaboration,
execution, and
monitoring.
Table of Contents:
What is Project Management for Artists?
Project management in general is the practice of applying skills and techniques to plan, execute and monitor a project, achieving the outlined goals within the timeline and budget. So, when artists are added into the equation, flexibility is needed in an otherwise rigid structure of organisation.
Artist project management allows a more flexible approach that caters to the unpredictable nature of the creative process. With buffer time and understanding of the creative workflow, without stifling their experimental processes, project management for artists ensures the project still achieves its goal.
Why is Artist Project Management Important?
The mixture of structure and flexibility sounds like chaos ready to happen, but you’d be surprised to know that it has more pros than cons. Trying to find the sweet spot of structured flexibility can be hard at first, though with some trial and error, you’ll find that your art projects will run smoothly and within the timeline that you want.
Artist project management is important not only to maintain productivity, progression and prevention of wasted resources, but it also prevents the team from going through burnout. When everything is structured and listed out within a visualised timeline, you’ll be able to see an overview of everyone’s workload.
Thus, it ensures the team isn’t overworked or overwhelmed by their tasks.
Steps to Managing Large-Scale Projects with Structure
Step 1: Understanding the Scope of the Project
1.1: Define the Project
Start by clearly defining your project goals and objectives. This first step provides clear direction and purpose, ensuring everyone involved in the project understands and shares the same vision of desired project deliverables.
Clarity helps maintain focus on the project's goals and objectives, so you’ll be less likely to stray away from the initial line of sight.
It also serves as a reference point for evaluating progress and success, allowing the project stakeholders to measure outcomes at the end of the project to reflect on what could have been done better and what went well for continuous growth.
1.2: Scope Management
a. Clarity and Focus
A clear goal helps manage the project's boundaries by limiting distractions and avoiding scope creep. By maintaining focus on the defined project scope, the project team can prioritise tasks, allocate resources efficiently, and stay aligned with the original vision.
b. Resource Allocation
Knowing the project scope allows for better planning and allocation of resources, including time, projected budget, materials, and personnel. This ensures that the necessary resources are available when needed, avoiding setbacks in your project’s timeline and mitigating potential risks.
c. Expectation Management
Clearly defined project scopes help manage the expectations of clients, stakeholders, and team members. Everyone involved knows what to expect in terms of deliverables, timelines, and outcomes.
While this helps make it easier to fulfil the needs of key stakeholders, it also holds you and your team accountable.
1.3: Documentation Checklist
Documenting data like project scopes, objectives, resources, and related plans is important for a few reasons. Firstly, it upholds transparency, which avoids miscommunication—a situation that could be a large hurdle in a project’s timeline. It also clearly sets up responsibilities, benchmarks, and accountability.
This is the general checklist that you can use:
a. Project Proposal
Prior to creating a project, a project proposal is needed to outline the project’s concept, goals, target audience, and overall vision. For easy reference, the proposal should include an index or a contents page and page numbers.
b. Script and Storyboard
c. Character Design Documentation
d. Background and Environment Design
e. Technical Specifications
These are details about resolution, aspect ratio, frame rate, and software used if your large-scale project is done digitally.
f. Production Schedule:
i. Visualised timeline of tasks and their deadlines.
ii. Task Breakdown: A list of tasks and individuals responsible for it.
iii. Milestones: Key milestones within your project.
g. Asset Management
Standardise the way you name files for consistency—it makes data miles easier to search for, due to identifiability. For example, stick to a format like “Project Name_Date_Content Description_Version”.
h. Asset Library: An organised storage of all the project's assets.
i. Version Control
Implement a system for tracking asset versions. For example, on the TESSR app, you may upload multiple versions of a singular scene in our Review module—this will be compiled under designated tabs as a Rendition File.
j. Sound Design Documentation:
i. Sound Effects List: A list of sound effects, with appropriate descriptions and timings.
ii. Music Score: More commonly known as sheet music, the documentation of musical elements can be important.
k. Voice-over Scripts: Prepare scripts for voice actors, complete with timing notes.
l. Final Deliverables
m. Project Report
Create a project summary, including objectives and outcomes. This part of creative project management tends to be overlooked, especially in a fast-paced environment.
However, a project report would help uncover what was done well and what can be improved for the overall health of teams and upcoming projects. Artist project management tools like TESSR provide standard reports of overviews of performance or project health.
Step 2: Planning and Scheduling
1. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
A work breakdown structure is a system within creative or artist project management that essentially breaks a project down into smaller, manageable tasks. Remember not to focus on individual steps to prevent overwhelming team members.
An example of project deliverables would be completing the base of a sculpture and not wetting the clay.
2. Timeline Creation
The Project Manager or Project Lead can use tools for setting milestones, deadlines, and dependencies between tasks, which can be a great way to plan for a high-level angle and map out a timeline.
Regularly update the timeline to reflect any progress made and to adjust for any delays or changes.
Tools like TESSR dedicate a space just for your Project Directory, where you can add, edit and view the entities of a project. This structured approach ensures that your team stays on track.
3. Milestones and Deadlines
Setting milestones and deadlines is important for several reasons. It helps track project progress, as you and your team will be checking boxes along the way to the end of a project.
It also acts as motivation, pushing your team to celebrate small wins. Project progress is simultaneously tracked and boosted.
Step 3: Budgeting and Resource Allocation
1. Budget Planning:
Accurately estimating costs and budgets is vital to managing projects effectively, especially in the art scene. It can be difficult, especially without experience.
Start by listing all potential expenses, like art materials (paints, clay, tools), manpower (assistants and/or team members) and space (studio and exhibition).
On top of that, run through a list of potential additional costs, like transportation and marketing.
To ensure a concrete plan and prevent scope creep, each expense should be researched, detailed and recorded on spreadsheets or budgeting tools in order to track costs after a project has taken off.
Lastly, it’s crucial to consider setting aside contingency funds for any unforeseen expenses.
2. Resource Management:
Human Resources: Identify the skills required for a task and assign them to team members, based on their expertise and availability.
Materials and Equipment: As for materials, estimate the quantities needed and be sure to source them from reliable suppliers—this is to avoid shortages or delays.
Track its usage closely to avoid overstocking or understocking. The Project Lead should also see every piece of equipment to ensure that it is in working order.
3. Contingency Planning
It’s been briefly mentioned in the section above, but contingency planning is not limited to budgets—it expands to emergencies outside unexpected costs.
For example, it can become a team’s standard activity to back up the project’s data or digital artwork in the case of sudden crashes or to explore other material supplier options.
Step 4: Team Management and Collaboration
1. Team Roles and Responsibilities
Clear role definitions prevent confusion within a team, enhancing collaboration and ensuring accountability. Delegating responsibilities in an orderly manner may prevent unwanted internal conflicts.
Besides that, it streamlines workflow, improves productivity, and ensures that all bases of a project are covered.
2. Communication and Collaboration
Make use of collaborative tools that centralise your assets and projects to make sure everyone understands the project and is on the same page.
Establishing a platform to ensure a single source of truth and control the process is essential to avoid disorder and perplexity.
TESSR creative project management for artists can be an option—task managing, project tracking and reviewing can be done on this one tool. Communication, especially in an online environment, can be tough—but don’t sweat it; there are workarounds for it.
Step 5: Execution and Monitoring
1. Progress Tracking
This step is important in projects of any industry and is no exception to the creative one. Progress tracking secures the punctuality and quality of a project.
Using project management apps will make regular check-ins and progress reports easier.
In TESSR’s creative project management tools, users can get themselves notified with comment updates, task assignments, and deadline tracking.
2. Quality Control
Consistency across deliverables; accuracy and adherence to a project’s vision—two vital parts of a project.
Quality control ensures this, but it can be difficult to execute a large-scale art project.
Scheduling regular review and feedback sessions where leads or managers, alongside team members, identify and address issues that will refresh everyone’s mind on project expectations.
This helps reduce back and forth in the review process and improves the work quality.
Step 6: Risk Management
Creating a risk management plan is pivotal to the success of large art projects. This step may be brushed off, as it often involves planning for variables that lack immediacy or likeliness.
However, identifying risks early allows teams to prepare ahead of time—without panic or wasted time. This prevents or minimises the impact of potential errors, maintaining a project’s momentum and quality.
Other than that, inevitably, there will be change requests, whether it is from a client or within your team. So, preparing or setting up non-negotiables upfront will prevent uncontrolled changes or any scope creep that could stray away from the initial goal of the project.
Step 7: Documentation and Record-Keeping
Record-keeping
Documentation and record-keeping are things that should be done throughout a project—not just at its beginning and end. It’s crucial for the smooth execution and successful completion of a project. However, how you store this information is just as important as collecting it.
Digital Documentation
Effective organisation and storage of these documents, through methods like digital archiving and clear file naming conventions, help with quick retrieval and prevent the loss of data—which your future self will thank you. Notes kept on feedback given throughout the project can be highly valuable for continuous improvement and growth.
Copyright Legalities
When collaborating with public spaces or artists outside your team, prepare documents like a Copyright Notice, Permission Agreements for third-party work, or, if your country requires a Statutory Declaration as well.
Ethical and Cultural Considerations
If your art project involves themes of culture or identity or is even in a public space or community, consider the ethical and cultural principles. While wanting to create an impact is good, consider the side effects of creating such an impact on the general public.
Overall, successful documentation aids decision-making, provides a historical record for future referencing, and helps resolve disputes that may arise.
Step 8: Finalising and Reviewing the Project
Finally, to bring a project to an end, start by delivering the final output to the client and obtaining formal approval. On the serious side of things, ensure that all contractual obligations are met.
Internally, a post-project review should be conducted.
Evaluate what went right and what went wrong—be comprehensive. It’s necessary to do so, as insightful lessons can be learnt and shared among members of a team to enhance future projects.
This retrospective session can be organised with a few key agendas as follows:
Evaluation: Successes (what went right) and Challenges/Shortcomings (what limited the deliverables/what could have been done better).
Learning and Insights: Lessons learnt and feedback.
Action Items: Things to do from the next project for continuous improvement.
Step 9: Tools, Frameworks and Templates
Once everything is set and you find yourself overwhelmed by all the required steps in project management, you can utilise tools to streamline your responsibilities. Even if the art project is a traditional medium, you would still need to structure and organise it through templates and frameworks.
Project Management Software
When searching for project management software suited for art projects, there are a few things you could consider before adopting it. For example, task management is used to keep track of your team’s progress on the project.
Each project management software presents task management differently, like Trello, which is displayed as Kanban boards suitable for teams that prefer visual representation rather than a technical list.
Frameworks for Artists
Project management frameworks assist in finding the right structure that fits your art project. The frameworks that would have flexibility and structure are agile, hybrid and Kanban.
Essentials Project Management Checklist
This is a practical, downloadable checklist that assists you step by step, so you won’t miss anything crucial, like what features you should take note of when choosing project management software. For example, our checklist here:
ement.
Key Takeaways
This nine-step system of understanding the scope of your project, planning, resource allocation, collaboration, monitoring, risk management, documentation and reviewing is a hermetic way to secure the success of your large-scale art project.
Effective project management is crucial, not just for your artistic visions, but for managing the external factors that can influence the outcome.
With the right tools and strategies in place, you can navigate resources, address potential challenges, and foster positive team dynamics.
By embracing these techniques, you’ll set the stage for a successful and rewarding creative endeavour.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How do I handle changes to the project scope without disrupting progress?
Start by pausing to think through the situation and note down the requested changes to know how to control the project changes efficiently. Once it’s settled, you can plan the execution process and timeline adjustment.
Then, communicate with the stakeholders clearly to update the changes and make sure everyone’s aligned. Don’t forget to track the changes to minimise risks on projects and teams.
What are common risks in large art projects, and how can I mitigate them?
Some common risks in large art projects include missed deadlines due to dependency and sudden changes, budget overruns, and art quality issues. To minimise the risks, it’s good to have progress check-ins regularly.
As a project manager or project lead, you can also develop contingency plans while maintaining open communication with all the team members to keep transparency.
What tools are recommended for managing large art projects?
Project management software for art events may be a bit too specific to search, but creative management tools like TESSR are a good option for collaboration and task management. TESSR features such as My Work can help you track all assigned projects and project status to make sure you’re still on track.
As for TESSR Woohoo, it provides you with real-time insights to track progress and make decisions. If you need a collaboration feature, TESSR Review is here to streamline feedback directly to minimise miscommunication.
What is the role of project managers in large-scale exhibition projects?
The role of project managers in large-scale exhibition projects is overseeing the plans, ensuring they are executed smoothly, monitoring the progress, and closing the exhibition with reports that cover all bases. Their role is essential to ensure these projects run the way they should.
Author Bio
From Malaysia, Leia Emeera is a writer at TESSR and a published author. She has been putting pen to paper ever since she learned how to, and has an anthology to her name, titled 'Ten'. Leia loves music, games and her beloved Labrador retriever, George. She aims to further her studies in English Literature and Creative Writing the moment her gap year ends. 'Till then, you will find her sitting behind a desk, writing with TESSR.
Connect with her on LinkedIn: Leia Emeera
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies, like parodies of animated shows and plots for board games. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Now an advocate for mental health and effective project management for the creative industry. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.
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