About Jamie

Dr. Jamie Kemp is an award-winning arts coach, consultant, and Professor of Art History and Visual Studies at Quest University Canada in Squamish, BC.

Through her arts consulting business, myartspeak.com, she advises artists who work in every medium and at every skill level. She uses her expert knowledge of the arts, technical skills, experiences in arts administration, and the tools of Coaching to empower artists. Among other things, she loves to help artists sell their work, apply for grants and residencies, build e-commerce websites, develop social media skills, set goals for their business and artistic practice, and share what they know through online and in-person workshops.

Education and Modalities

Jamie has a PhD in Art History and Visual Studies from the University of Victoria, a Master's Degree in Art History, Visual Art, and Theory from The University of British Columbia, and an Honour's Degree in Art History and Comparative Literature from McMaster University. Her early education took place at the National Ballet School of Canada.

Since completing her Doctoral Degree, she has pursued credit programs in Coaching, Conflict Resolution, Leadership Studies, Negotiation, and Mediation at the Justice Institute of British Columbia.

Testimonials

Here are some of the things that artists, designers, and curators are saying about Jamie:

"When I first met Jamie Kemp, my creative practice was limited to experiments and work I created for myself or my friend’s projects. I didn’t believe my work was worthy to be showcased, and even if I had thought it was, I didn’t understand how to market myself or communicate to people what my work meant.

Under Jamie’s mentorship, I transformed my relationship to myself and my work. Jamie showed me ways I could communicate about my practice and gave me the vocabulary to understand the context of my work in the wider world. As I became more confident and enthusiastic about sharing my projects, opportunities quickly came knocking.

At every juncture, Jamie’s expert knowledge was invaluable in advising me on how to navigate applying for scholarships and grants, how to conduct unique and professional interviews, producing coherent and targeted portfolios, writing eloquent and witty artist statements and even curating my own exhibitions.

After less than two years, Jamie helped guide me from someone without professional design experience or even a portfolio, to being accepted onto the MA Industrial Design programme at Central Saint Martins, UAL, ranked in the top two design schools in the world. Furthermore, with Jamie’s guidance I was awarded two scholarships, including the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Studentship, a highly prestigious award that goes to only 10 industrial design students in the UK each year, covering all the costs of tuition and living in London for two years.

Besides Jamie’s vast specialist knowledge, she is an incredibly dedicated and enthusiastic mentor that does everything in her power to see her mentees succeed. As a mentee of Jamie’s, you really feel like she is on your team, rooting for you to win.

Personally Jamie is a joy. She is witty, articulate and manages to effortlessly blend casual banter with profound insights and sage wisdom. I unreservedly recommend Jamie to any creative seeking to refine their understanding of their work, amplify their exposure and make a splash!"

- D. Ellis, Graphic Designer

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"I work in Theatre and that’s precisely what I was trained to do: theatre. I was never trained in grant writing, budgeting, marketing, and the million and one other skills that an artist needs to make space to work in Canada. I found all these business oriented skills frustrating to get my head around, both because they are foreign to my training and because they infringe on the precious time I can devote to my creative work. Jamie Kemp cut through all that noise and made significant funding and career opportunities possible for me. She drew my attention to a well funded residency - one which I had no idea even existed - and walked me through the ultimately successful application. It was a dream situation: I could just lay out my skills and interests and she made it practically possible. Jamie offers a map to the many disoriented artists looking for a way to thrive and create. I have the sense that there's a secret language that lives in the world of grants and it's a mystery to me. It still is - but Jamie is translating as we go so it's getting clearer to me all the time."

- T. Copp, Actor, Director, Dancer, Playwrite

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"Jamie Kemp is an incredible mentor with the ability to see opportunity and beauty in all projects. Her attention to detail and big picture perspective allows her to make connections and take proposals to a higher level; she encourages you in your work to expand your vision and think beyond boundaries while teaching the technical skills and knowledge to craft strong writing proposals. Her editing and the thoughtful direction she provided for my writing allowed me to grow as a heritage professional and explore new avenues I would not have considered without her guidance, support and sharp writing."

-K. Delaney, Curator