I have been providing galleries with catalog essays and PR since 2015. Past clients include The Linda Warren Gallery, Make Room LA, and Gray Contemporary. I provide individual artists with writing and editorial guidance, helping them achieve grant, fellowship, and residency opportunities, and write successful book proposals and web copy.

I have been collaborating with visual and performing artists and presenting my own art to the world since 2013. My collaborations have brought me into close contact with struggles that artists regularly face, including the demand that artists not only make great work, but write about and market it as well. As a writer and editor with an investment in my creative community, I apply my skills to help artists approach writing and editorial labor with greater ease while attaining great results.

I help artists locate clear, practical language for their work, which is necessary for professional success, and simultaneously guide them to articulate the nuance and complexity of their work. With my support, my clients are able to navigate the market without compromising their integrity or authenticity.

I provide editorial guidance, consultation, and content strategy for all creative-professional needs:

• statements

• bios

• web copy

• grant and residency applications

• application consultation, including sample selection

• social media strategy and content

• PR

• catalog essays

Quantifiable results

One of my clients won the Pollack Krasner Fellowship with materials we created in collaboration, breaking a long period of rejections. Another client was named a Fulbright finalist after we addressed her struggle to define her work over several coaching sessions. While there are commonalities in the challenges artists face, each client is different. I work with each artist as an individual, helping them approach their applications and funding opportunities with dynamic language that represents them on their own terms. I help my clients achieve external professional results, but the process is also internal and holistic. Many artists reflect that they leave our process as stronger and more confident writers and communicators.

If relevant, we may also consider strategies for navigating challenges of systemic oppression, including issues of tokenism, identity, and tensions between the artist’s internal process and the market. For artists whose careers and identities exist within and beyond acronyms and initialism, it can be vital to have these conversations of identity and social strata as a direct component of our process. If you have questions about what this might mean for our sessions and time together or how a holistic editing session could support your successful navigation of the art world, please reach out or book a consult by clicking on the link below.

Maura was able to intuit and articulate the intentionality and source materials of my work without my spelling it out for them. The revision process with Maura was also smooth and prompt, where I sent back corrections/suggestions on their first draft and they honestly (without brownnosing) accepted or rejected my changes while articulating very clearly their reasoning for doing so. I enthusiastically recommend Maura for any art writing opportunities.

– CATALINA OUYANG, ARTIST

read more testimonials here.

Writing and editorial rates vary based on project. FOR ALL WRITING, EDITORIAL AND APPlication CONSULTATION QUERIES, SEND A MESSAGE THROUGH THE LINK BELOW WITH DETAILS OF YOUR PROJECT NEEDS.

Application Consultation for Artists

The packages below address most artists’ needs for editorial support. If you are seeking application ghostwriting, please click on the booking link to inquire. My availability to take on ghostwriting projects is highly limited and project dependent. My art writing fees start at $2/word, and depend on project details.

There is an additional $65 fee for any project request with a short notice deadline, which is any project with a deadline under 14 days from the date you confirm in writing that you would like to hire me (not from the date of your first email or consultation). There are no waivers available for this fee, as it covers administrative labor and impactful scheduling changes I take on when I accommodate last minute requests.

Payment is due in full before the first video call.

These packages include my research time and preparation specific to your grant or fellowship application, as well as my in-depth review of your work, ensuring your application the highest probability of success.

Please note any application deadlines in your booking request form.

Mini Package

For statement and bio writing for applications and professional needs or for other writing projects of up to 3000 words

• 1 round of developmental edits and intensive and clear written advisement on your text or submission

• Editorial feedback is comprehensive and art-specific, and includes developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading

• 1 video call to go over the editorial feedback, discuss best practices for its integration into the text, and discuss application strategy

• 1 final proofread of your application or text

• Artist leaves the mini package with comprehensive editorial support, instructions to apply the final edits towards a quantifiable result, application strategy, and renewed and earned confidence in their writing

$600.

*Please note that this package does not include studio visits or image/sample consultation

Spacious Package

For statement and bio writing, or for applications and writing projects of up to 4000 words

• 2 rounds of edits and intensive and clear written advisement on your text or submission

• Editorial feedback is comprehensive and art-specific, and each round includes developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading

• 2 video calls to go over my editorial feedback, discuss best practices for its integration into the text, receive tools for writing and revision, and discuss application strategy (1 video call after first round of edits, 1 video call after second round of edits)

• Extended access to ask Maura additional questions over email between video sessions

• Artist leaves the spacious package with a completed application or a final draft on a writing project of their choice, new writing and strategy tools to take with them and apply for future applications, and renewed and earned confidence in their work

• High ROI - Artists who work with me at this level often do not need to hire editors or ghostwriters in the future, as I am able to impart a high degree of editorial and writing skill and application strategy that the artist takes with them

$1000.

*Please note that this package does not include studio visits or image/sample consultation

Full Access Custom / 3-month package

For statement and bio writing, applications of any word count, additional writing projects and writing coaching, content and marketing strategy, application strategy, studio visits and creative feedback, and ongoing support

• 2 video calls per month

• Developmental edits and intensive and clear written advisement on your text or submission (up to 4500 words per session)

• Ongoing connection, communication, and support

• Extended access to ask Maura additional questions over email between video sessions

• Access to specific tools Maura has developed and accrued as a writer, editor, artist, and coach, which she typically shares only with longterm literary clients

• Email access between calls, scheduling priority in Maura’s calendar, flexible scheduling, and waitlist priority for scheduling changes

• Artist leaves the Full Access Custom package with multiple completed applications or prepared final drafts on writing projects of their choice, new writing and strategy tools to take with them and apply for future applications, renewed and earned confidence in their writing, a deeper sense of the critical importance of what they are engaging and achieving as an artist, kind and extensive critical feedback from our studio visit, activated and engaged self-knowledge about how best to approach and navigate the art market for their practice as an individual, and other takeaways specific to their goals

• Artists and writers who work with me at this level report significant and fast craft improvement in their writing and language skills

Package details will be customized and dependent on the individual artist’s needs; however, a sample schedule may look something like this:

• 1st call: We establish specific objectives for the 3-month period, which could be multiple applications or deadlines, answering specific calls to work, and/or meeting specific creative and art-business objectives

• 2nd call: We have a virtual studio visit and establish focalization for statement, bio, or address other writing goals, if applicable—if multiple applications are being approached, we develop a schedule for work, with deadlines and both internal and external goals

• Between the 2nd and 3rd call: Artist submits a draft for editorial support, which is returned to the artist with substantive edits within three days

• 3rd call: We focalize the language of draft, and engage a deep advisory editorial pass together

• 4th - 6th calls: These calls will likely be open and determined by artist’s needs, but will continue to follow next steps on objectives set out at the outset of our process, or establish a pivot if those goals have been achieved or have changed

$3100.

Half Access Custom / 3-month package

For statement and bio writing, applications of any word count, additional writing projects and writing coaching, content and marketing strategy, application strategy, studio visits and creative feedback, and ongoing support

• 1 video call per month (or flexible spacing of calls to be determined by artist’s need)

• Developmental and art-specific edits, and intensive and clear written advisement on your text or submission (up to 4000 words per session)

• Ongoing connection, communication, and support

• Extended access to ask Maura additional questions over email between video sessions

• Access to specific tools Maura has developed and accrued as a writer, editor, artist, and coach, which she typically shares only with longterm literary clients

• Email access between calls, scheduling priority in my calendar, flexible scheduling, and waitlist priority for scheduling changes

• Artist leaves the Half Access Custom package with a completed application or prepared final draft on a writing project of their choice OR feedback on multiple projects, new writing and strategy tools to take with them and apply for future applications, renewed and earned confidence in their writing, a deeper sense of the critical importance of what they are engaging and achieving as an artist, best practices for approaching and navigating the art market for their practice, and other takeaways specific to our goals

• Artists and writers who work with me at this level report significant and fast craft improvement in their writing and language skills

$1600.

Substantive art editing

For statement and bio writing, applications of any word count, additional writing projects, and web and social media content

• Substantive art-specific editing (inclusive of copyediting and proofreading)

• No video calls or additional support

• In-text commentary in track changes to support you integrating the edits on your own

• Best for artists on a budget who do not need extensive hand-holding but would benefit from editorial support and art-specific feedback to bring their writing to the next level

• Even without video calls, artists who are committed to their own improvement notice significant improvements in their writing and application outcomes after receiving written feedback from me

$185/hour, 1 hour minimum