BRATTLEBORO — The Arts Council of Windham County (ACWC) is sponsoring a forum, “Business Training for Artists,” on Thursday, April 24, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Works Café, 118 Main St.
The session, co-sponsored by the Brattleboro-West Arts and The Works Café, will explore opportunities for arts-specific business training in our area.
The discussion is intended for artists of all disciplines - visual, performing, media, literary, crafts, and traditional. Artists who have taken the two-day Vermont Arts Council (VAC) professional development workshop for artists, “Breaking into Business,” will act as a panel and present key takeaways for the first segment of the discussion.
A facilitated Q&A and discussion follow. The session is intended to identify needs for additional business training and services for area artists so that they might achieve greater success in their current or dreamed-of arts business.
ACWC has provided scholarship funds to Windham County artists to attend the VAC “Breaking into Business” workshop for the past four years. This year, nine area artists and craftsmen took part in the training, and many of these will share their experiences and how their artwork and bank accounts have been affected.
Ron Demers, a Halifax furniture maker, reports the training “gave me a real step up in getting my business in shape and setting strategic priorities.”
The Cotton Mill's Stephen Procter says he's worked as an arts consultant, “but I found that applying entrepreneurial thinking to my own ceramics business and art work becomes very personal. The discipline of the process helped a lot, and doing it with a group of serious artists is very empowering.”
Elin Waagen says that the VAC BiB workshops provide an invaluable two-day intensive, hands-on overview of best business practices for artists and anyone working in the arts.
“As the business/operations side of Dan Snow Stoneworks, it was an opportunity for me to make connections with others working in the arts, and to take away tools/ideas for further developing the business,” she says.
The forum is free for ACWC members, $10 for others. All are encouraged to bring desserts to share. Beverages will be provided.