People
An Interview with Benny Shaboy, Editor and Publisher of Art Opportunities Monthly
By Michael Jason

Benny Shaboy was the founding editor/publisher of studioNOTES (1993-2003) and is now the editor/publisher of Art Opportunities Monthly. He is also the author of The studioNOTES Treasury and The Art Opportunities Book: Finding and Winning. He has written numerous articles for such publications as Ceramics Monthly, CSC: Reports and Just Paint. He has been a visiting artist/speaker at art schools, universities and artist groups. He studied sculpture and drawing at The University of the Arts and The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and has exhibited widely under another name.

	Benny Shaboy I grew up in a house full of good original art, including a signed Matisse lithograph my mother bought for $50 when she was a young artist. I didn't really want to be an artist, though, until I was about 11 or 12 and our school class was taken to a Van Gogh show.

MJ: At what age did you first become inspired to become a journalist and what motivated you?

BS: I don't think of myself as a journalist. I'm just someone who writes about things that I find interesting and that I believe will be useful to others. My father was a very successful full time free-lance magazine writer (until he got too sick when I was in my early teens) and my mother, who was also an artist, ran a small newpaper, so writing about stuff is natural for me in the way that someone who grew up in a family of, say, grocers knows about the grocery business.

MJ: What subject are you most interested in writing about?

BS: What artists are doing and thinking.

MJ: When and why did you start studioNOTES?

BJ: It was started in December 1992 as a way of keeping local artists informed about what other artists were doing. This was before the Internet. It attracted readers outside this area and eventually grew into a journal with a national circulation; we had a handful of readers in Europe, Australia, South America, too. It's purpose was always to be a forum for the exchange of information and ideas among artists working in any medium, style or geographic location.

MJ: What was the driving force behind AOM?

BJ: AOM is a spin off from studioNOTES, which had about about 20-25 listings on its back page, which we called “Selected Opportunities.” The driving force there and with AOM was to provide good information for artists so they could get the best deal. Bad information costs artists time and money – which few artists can afford. Years ago, during the Vietnam war, I worked for a non-profit organization that provided information for people facing the draft and those already in the military. Some of these people were literally facing life and death situations, and thus it was important that the information was accurate. While artists are generally not in such dire situations, the respect I learned there for getting the facts straight carries over into AOM. I had noticed that a lot of things published by others as “opportunities” were simply copied from yet others, and, as often happens, mistakes were copied and compounded. Sometimes the things pointed to opportunities that were sorely out of date or, or worse, were plain and simple rip-offs. So we took care, and still tacke care, to check each thing at the source.

MJ: How much time does it take to research, edit and organize each issue of AOM each month?

BS: It's a full time job when the administrative side is counted in. It takes much more time to research things that we don't end up publishing, because we often have to email the person or group that announced the opp a couple of times and look up the domain or business owners or organization officials to find out if what is being offered is worthwhile. Too often such things turn out to be not legit – which is never worthwhile – and many times they turn out to be legit, but show so little experinece and offer such little exposure and monetary rewards that we end up not listing them. But we often find some gems through our research. The offerings from the well-established places are fairly quick to do, although we often have to condense a 1000 line prospectus into three lines.

MJ: What advice can you give to artists on the best way to utilize the wealth of information you offer in AOM?

BS: First, set your goals, general priorities and budget. Decide what kinds of things are most appropriate for you: large national shows, local shows, public art commissions, residencies, etc. Eliminate those listings that don't fit your decision. Mark the rest as A, B or C, according to your best guess. Get the “A” prospectuses first (most are online now). From those, select the ones that truly meet your needs and goals. If you now have enough to do, or no more budget, stop right there and prepare to enter those. If you need more, go on to your B's, and so on.

MJ: Benny, we learned that you are also an artist under a different name. What is/was your artist name? Why are you now using a different name?

BS: Benny Shaboy is a pen name I made up when I first started studioNOTES. I actually took if from a historical marker in town. At the time, I wanted to remain anonymous, or at least not have the publication identified with me. For now, I think I'd still like to keep the two separate.

MJ: Are you still exhibiting your work? If so, where can we see your work?

BS: I'm working on a new series. When I have my next show, I'll send you an invitation under my real name.

Photo taken in Benny's studio.

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