Launching ArtSwell TV
With the Tools and Learning You Need NOW!
A big hug to everyone out there in the arts community. We see you, we are listening to your needs and wanted to give you an update on where we are with our work and programming.
WHAT ARE WE DOING TO SUPPORT YOU?
Many of you are familiar with Maslow’s hammer, which is roughly “if what you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”. Triangle ArtWorks serves the Triangle arts community as a business community. Our biggest hammers are training/education and a central community support platform. So when we look at what is happening, we think “how do we use these tools to help the community we serve get through this?” As described below, we are busy creating online skills programming to help you get the skills you need AND will be gathering and sharing ideas from all of you, so that you can help others in the Triangle arts community.
WHAT HAPPENED TO ARTSWELL?
For months, we have been preparing for (and talking about) the launch of ArtSwell, a big new regional collaborative professional development platform to provide more diverse and robust educational opportunities for this sector. We had 19 in-person educational programs ready in the areas of arts administration/fundraising, a long-form craft entrepreneurship program, business of arts, and music entrepreneurship and were supposed to launch last week!
These programs are currently on hold, as we pivot to provide the resources, tools and training the Triangle arts sector needs in a way that works in our current environment. What we are hearing from the field is that many need to learn or advance new skills to adapt their work to continue to make money during what may be a long period of social isolation. But what we are also hearing is that many also need to know that they are not alone in this time filled with so many competing needs (work, bills, kids), hear how others are coping and get ideas of how to begin to move forward.
ArtSwell.tv
ANNOUNCING THE LAUNCH OF ARTSWELL TV!
Today, we launched ArtSwell TV. This platform will be a central location for folks working in the arts sector in the Triangle to find programs and videos to learn or expand the skills needed to continue their arts work now. It will also be a place where all of you working in the arts sector can find stories of how others in this community are coping. We recognize that there is a LOT of content on these issues on the internet, but our goal is to create and collect content created by LOCAL people who understand the needs of the Triangle arts sector.
HERE’S THE PLAN
ArtSwell TV will launch with three levels of content:
WWFM – “What Works for Me” – Let’s help each other through this! Each week, we will be giving the community a new prompt through our social media platform and asking you to load a short video in response. This is your chance to share lessons learned – from how to work with toddlers at home to how you are using online platforms to make money – what has worked and even what hasn’t! We will share as many of these as we can on our social media platform and load them on ArtSwell TV.
Short Business Skills Tutorials – ArtSwell TV will have FREE short tutorials from local artists and others on skills folks need to move their businesses forward in this new reality. Skills such as how to stream on various online platforms, how to sell online, marketing online, etc. Some of these tutorials will have repetitive topics, as we know there is more than one approach to address issues.
Webinars and Online Classes – We are also developing live and long-form online programming with registration, Q&A and more complex discussion. We may even be moving some of our regular ArtSwell programming online. Topics will range from fundraising to legal and accounting issues in online sales, to panels on how to make money online. These programs will be posted on our website under Upcoming Events and promoted through our social media and email list. Some will also be loaded on to ArtSwell TV. We are also sharing on ArtSwell TV, relevant webinars created by other local arts organizations and businesses.
A Note on ArtSwell Launch Pricing – We understand the financial issues you all are dealing with, so we will be drastically reducing the prices of our online webinars for as long as we can. Thanks to Tremaine Foundation and City of Raleigh Office of Economic Development and Innovation grants in support of ArtSwell programs, we are able to do this. Want to help us continue to keep prices low, donate to ArtSwell here.
THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!
Here is how the Triangle Arts Community can help us build ArtSwell TV!
Be patient with us! We are excited to kick off this new platform on Friday … but know this came together FAST! There will be kinks at the start. Plus, we will have to adapt this work as the community needs change … so bear with us as we grow and develop this resource for you.
Share your learning! – Have you been making money on Etsy, Twitch, FB…whatever… for years and have information to share – let us know. Have an online workshop idea – let us know! Think we are missing a real skill need and wish we had a class/tutorial on that – let us know! Reach out to us by email. And be sure and pick up your phone, turn on your video, record a “WWFM” video and tag us online!
Spread the word – Once we launch, help us get the word out about this central learning platform! Let’s make it easy for the Triangle Arts Sector to get the tools they need!
