RELEASE: The Clark Hulings Foundation Launches Business Accelerator Workshops for Visual Artists
Innovative pilot offers working artists free targeted business training and expertise
(May 2016) — The Clark Hulings Foundation for Visual Artists (CHF) announces the launch of its Business Accelerator Workshops, which will provide professional working artists with free customized training and knowledge to help them drive their careers forward.
A natural outgrowth of CHF’s mission, the innovative program will fill a vacuum that currently exists. Artists are the ultimate entrepreneurs, but they lack the kinds of incubator and business-development programs that are widely available to technology start-ups and other small enterprises. Art schools rarely teach business skills, but these are essential if artists are to take charge of their careers and navigate an industry rife with predatory middlemen looking to exploit their lack of management experience.
This pilot initiative builds on the success of The Foundation’s Business Accelerator Grants program, which awards $10,000 per year, as well as providing promotional outreach, management tools, and mentoring opportunities. In its debut year, the workshop series will be offered exclusively to CHF’s 2015 grant recipients and finalists. CHF plans to expand the program in 2017.
The first session, on the subject of digital marketing and business strategy, takes place on May 19th, and will be followed by five additional sessions on a range of topics (see below). Each class will be led by an instructor who is an expert in that month’s subject, and the workshop will be conducted by conference call, accompanied by a 20- to 30-minute slide presentation that attendees can follow online. Interactive in form and content, the dynamic hour-long sessions will also include at least 30 minutes of Q&A, during which participants can receive feedback on their specific business challenges relating to that month’s topic.
As a pilot program, the 2016 workshops are being designed in close collaboration with The Foundation’s grantees and finalists to ensure that the series directly addresses those topics that are of greatest interest and relevance to these artists.
“Art is not a charity,” says CHF Director Elizabeth Hulings, “and artists deserve every opportunity to earn a living from their work. To do this, business expertise is just as vital as creativity and artistic technique.”
The Details:
- Practical, tailored workshops on the business of art, led by expert instructors
- Hour-long monthly conference calls, with accompanying online presentations
- Minimum 30 minutes of Q&A/workshopping of attendees’ specific business challenges
- Participation is free, but class size is limited to ten to ensure interaction
- Pilot program open only to CHF’s 2015 grantees and finalists, but will be expanded next year
Business topics to be covered include:
- Digital Marketing & Business Strategy
- Writing Your Story (for Grants & Other Business Needs)
- Contracts & Negotiations
- Managing Copyright Issues
- Working with Dealers and Other Third Parties
- Administration & Inventory
For more information, please contact CHF Editorial Director Sofia Perez at info@clarkhulingsfoundation.org.
