RELEASE: The Clark Hulings Foundation for Visual Artists Announces 2015 Business Accelerator Grants Recipients
(November 2015) — Piloting a revolutionary model for arts funding in America, the Clark Hulings Foundation (CHF) just announced the winners and finalists of its 2015 Business Accelerator Grants. Using criteria similar to what a venture capitalist would employ to invest money with an entrepreneur, CHF awards its grants when it makes business sense for the artist, and also supports the artist with a suite of business tools and services designed to make their enterprise profitable.
“We are excited to fund career changing artistic opportunities for so many inspiring artists this year,” says CHF Director Elizabeth Hulings. “We believe that professional working artists deserve access to the same resources that other working professionals receive with access to funds when they have an arts business opportunity.”
CHF’s 2015 grant recipients include Elizabeth Corkery (elizabethcorkery.com), Vanessa Diaz (vdiazart.com), collaborators Lauren Was & Adam Eckstrom (ghostofadream.com), Leslie Hirst (lesliehirst.com), and Laura Petrovich-Cheney (lauracheney.com). Five finalists were also named. The Foundation announced its 2015 winners and finalists at an event in Denver on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
CHF awarded a total of $10,000 this year—to painters, sculptors, and artists who work on paper—to help pay for supplies or services related to a specific project that has the potential to boost an artist’s career and grow his/her business exponentially. This year’s grantees and finalists will also receive a free 12-month subscription to ArtWorkArchive.com, a cloud-based inventory- and collection-tracking system that includes a public page for showcasing their artwork. Visual artists also require business tools and management skills to maintain an arts career, skills too often neglected in art school.
“The idea is patronage, not parentage,” says Hulings. “We believe that professional working artists can be trusted to administer their businesses. All they need is access to the same resources that other working professionals receive.”
