A Year of ArtSwell

Just a little over a year ago, we launched an ambitious new initiative, ArtSwell. With a goal to create a comprehensive program of professional development for artists and arts administrators in our region and the support of The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, we partnered with the City of Raleigh: Office of Raleigh Arts, the Orange County Arts Commission and the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County to begin creating the kind of programming we knew our region needed. 

We didn’t allow the pandemic to stop us, but it did cause us to shift some programming and slowed our progress slightly. However, in the last year we have been able to offer 31 live events aimed at artists in our region and around the country, add over 25 educational and informative videos to our ArtSwell TV YouTube channel and reach so many artists. From our signature Craft/Art Entrepreneurship program to shorter events focused on insurance, live-streaming, selling on Instagram, branding, and more, these offerings have focused on art business topics and on support you needed in this difficult year. 

As we move into our second year of ArtSwell programming, we will continue to offer virtual programming aimed at helping your art business grow. In this next year, we will build on the success of our Art Entrepreneurship long-form program and add an offering aimed at careers in public art, more musician-focused programming and more events aimed at digital, gaming and other virtual art careers. This is just the start!

We can’t do any of this without your help, however. Please, invite your friends and colleagues to join you in a class or workshop. Tell your art guild or gallery group about us, and repost, retweet and tag . Reach out to us and tell us what programming you need. Or donate to help us build even more resources! Your support allows us to continue creating programming to make your art business better.