Arts Entrepreneurship Intensive
6 WEEK COURSE, MEETS SEPT. 20, 27, OCT. 4, 11, 18, 25
ZOOM, WEDNESDAYS 6:00-8:00 PM
Are you a mid-career artist struggling to leave your day job or a new-to-the biz creative with dollar signs in your eyes?
Join Triangle ArtWorks’ experienced instructors in a 6-week intensive business school-style experience aimed at you. From business structures to support systems, from credit cards to cash flow, this course will walk you through the process of creating an art business that makes money. Each week you’ll work on activities and projects that lead you to a clear vision of your business and a business plan. You’ll leave the class with a binder full of worksheets, ideas, contacts and checklists and be energized to make your business succeed.
This course is a business school for artists. With hands-on, activity-based experiences and tools, you’ll work on your art business issues while learning how to become a better networker, how to set up a solid business structure, and about financial tools and structures that can help you make better business decisions. If you've tried to understand business principles before and been bored or frustrated, this is for you. If you want tools to understand your own art business better, this is for you. Course topics will include cash flow, production, costs and pricing, inventory, local resources, sales and promotions, and more. These arts business specific skills are not currently part of most university fine craft and fine art programs, but are essential for artists to function as businesses.
This course is FREE, applications close on Sept. 5th, 2023.
All registrants will be invited to join a course-specific private Facebook group where weekly live-video sessions will be available for participants to ask instructors questions outside of the meeting times. This group will be an integral part of the course, so membership is encouraged.
All registrants will be invited to schedule one-on-one consulting sessions with course instructors to address their specific needs.
Both beginners and more experienced artisans can benefit from this course.
Participants are strongly encouraged to attend all sessions.
This course will be held on Zoom. Course handouts will be delivered digitally.
Outside work for this class can total up to 1 hour per week. This homework is optional, but to get the most out of the class, you’ll want to spend some time on the activities.
This course meets on Wednesdays from 6:00-8:00 pm.
This program is sponsored by the City of Durham’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Priority will be given to artists that live or work in Durham county, but all artists are invited to apply.
Tiffany Coley is a jeweler and silversmith with a background in tech business. With over 15 years of teaching and craft sales experience, she sells her work to galleries and stores around the US and works out of her studio in Durham, NC. Tiffany has a deep knowledge of selling crafts at both retail and wholesale as well as how to create a focused product line. Tiffany is certified in the REAL Entrepreneurship and REAL Craft courses and consults with artists about pricing, production and sales. She brings her deep knowledge of the economics of art and craft to the course. Tiffany is on the board of Liberty Arts, in Durham, NC. Learn more about Tiffany Coley's work here.
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LaDara McKinnon is a teaching abstract artist, curator, mentor, and business owner based in Charlotte, NC, who was raised in Hawaii and Japan. LaDara is a classically trained painter focusing on abstraction to embrace her intersectional identity, cross-cultural background, and intuitive process. She brings her background with art licensing, being an art entrepreneur, and collaboration with numerous national and local brands to this program. Learn more about her work here.
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We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable everyone to engage fully. To request accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, please contact ArtSwell@TriangleArtWorks.org or 919-244-4358. We will do our best to facilitate any requests made within two weeks of the event, but the earlier you can alert us to your access needs, the easier it will be to facilitate.