1. Project Initiation 

As disclosed before, I have only started practising as a full-time creator in 2021. Before that, I worked as a financial analyst and bank economist also a designer and brand owner of my clothing line. Reflecting on the reasons why I haven't started earlier as an artist, there was the obvious lack of knowledge about art practice, and also undeniably, the concerns for financial stability. From an amateur point of view, the barriers of make a living as a full-time artist seem to be extremely high. Commercial-wise, the industry is dominated by large galleries, auction houses, and many smaller galleries and entities operating in very similar models. As artists, especially young and emerging artists, getting residencies or funding seems to be very difficult. By observations, I have seen many, or rather most of the artists, engaged in other jobs to generate income and sustain their practices financially. In a preferable scenario, one would work within the industry as a gallerist, curator, or professional in education. Some younger artists, unless with family support, may need to take on many unrelated jobs just to sustain themselves. On one hand, I do not prefer any honest work to another, on the other hand, I have indeed witnessed and heard complaints of how non-art-related jobs could sometimes take too much attention and time of the artist, therefore affecting their productivity. 

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I had raised the question in the class of whether or not there are entities and platforms focused on helping young artists to build their careers. The answers were yes, but not even close to satisfactory. Informed by both research, lectures, and numerous discussions with artists, and gallerists, it would seem that there are indeed many ways for young artists to tap into the market. Self-promotion through social media channels, establishing a network through conferences, seminars, and exhibitions, applying for open calls and residencies, and hopefully, building up a portfolio and credentials through time. And none of which is a given. For market players, they have obvious and justifiable reasons to raise the bar of selecting artists - the commercial viability. For artists, the career path is rather lonely as one has to almost always depend on self-initiated efforts with little guidance. 

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With a vague idea to start an entity to foster emerging talents, I began to study all the different business models of market players. Over months, I have learned the operation models of traditional and novel galleries, new businesses like Dasie, the social learning app facilitating exchanges amongst creatives, or Masterworks, the art broker took a dive into securitisation, and many more. By participating in This Art Exhibition, I have documented and streamlined all processes and created an archive of research reports, industry news, and work templates. Then I began actively reaching out to galleries, publishers, creatives, and curators from China and London. 

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Through time, I have gradually formulated a business plan and continued to refine it to better accommodate the need of young artists as well as to adapt to the ever-evolving market environment. I've named the project Opus One, as I envision myself accompanying the growth of an artist from the first work to ultimately the work.

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2. Vision

Opus One Art Ltd (to be registered) is a vanguard art agent committed to bridging emerging artists and the public through comprehensive knowledge and service-based offerings. The goal is to empower artists to promote themselves, share their talents, and sell works; and to invite the public into the art world with future masters, enlightening the public with knowledge, choices, and information. Essentially, I want the artists to be informed, eventually get recognition for their talents, and get rewarded for their work to sustain their life and practice. I want to unveil the mystery of the industry, and enable the public with access to the art world with choices and information. 

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3.  Service Scope 

As this is not an investor pitch, I would not go into detail on the business model, but only elaborate on the research, analysis, and effort invested in the project and its prospects. To deliver the objectives, Opus One would essentially offer what already existed in the market, such as delivering shows and generating sales, and more. (see. below) Opus One would start by hosting artists on the official website, a legitimate. a professional platform that showcases and promotes artists without a cost. Starting with seasonal and themed exhibitions, we would explore and deliver a variety of showcasing and collaborating opportunities. Meanwhile, we actively invite writers, curators, critics, and artists to contribute to the magazine. Later with the stabilisation of essential businesses and investment, we plan to launch the art social app, offering both content sharing, and exchange opportunities for artists, and the art marketplace, allowing onboarding artists to sell art-related products directly to customers. Particularly, I came to realise that most young artists still lack the knowledge of the commercial side of the industry, Opus One would upon the official launch, offer seminars and talks on various subjects covering the career development, for example, intellectual property protection, operating as a sole trader, etc.  And special thanks to Sarah, besides onboarded artists, we have decided to feature artists at the very beginning of their career in our archive and offer guidance through our professional support channel.  

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