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Jason Rapp

Monetize your art and creative skills

Workshop offered by city of Columbia

The Artist Entrepreneur - How to Monetize Your Art and Creative Skills

July 21, 2021 | 12-1:30 p.m.

Topics covered

  • Introduction to business vocabulary such as cost of goods sold, profit margin, and inventory
  • Overview of city requirements for doing business including licensure and support systems
  • Business models for artist entrepreneurs
  • Business Model Canvas as a tool for business planning
  • Funding, start-up, grants, sales, and other sources
  • Examples of successful artist ventures for the purpose of learning
Click here to register for this free workshop! Artists do not have to be Columbia residents to attend.

Meet the Presenter

Dr. Kasie Whitener teaches entrepreneurship at the University of South Carolina and runs Clemson Road Creative, a shared services company providing operational support to independent consultants. She is the author of Practical Entrepreneurism (Great River Learning, 2021) and co-authored Redesign Work Volume 1: A Beginner’s Guide to Autonomy in 2020. In 2018, she co-founded the Women’s Business Center of South Carolina at Columbia College.

Jason Rapp

Creative entrepreneurship Q&A

Are you an artist yearning to create full time?

Have questions about grant opportunities, taxes, licensing, and marketing yourself? Local artists and art professionals like the SCAC's Ce Scott-Fitts are available to answer your questions at Richland Library Main Branch in a Q&A session! Register here: https://www.richlandlibrary.com/event/2021-07-08/creative-entrepreneurship-questions-answered
Ed. note: An earlier version of this post ran an incorrect event description. The Hub regrets the error.

Jason Rapp

Hub City to celebrate publication of S.C. Novel Prize winner

An Evening with Maris Lawyer

Join Hub City Writer's Project for a special book launch event with Hub City Press author Maris Lawyer tonight at 7 p.m.

Lawyer's debut novel, The Blue Line Down, is the winner of the 2020 South Carolina Novel Prize.  It was officially released Tuesday. Tonight's event unofficially launches the book and welcomes her to the Hub City family. Just 20 in-person seats are available for the event. If you're in or near the Spartanburg area, reserve an in-person seat for free here. For those who aren't able to attend in person, Hub City Press will also stream live on Facebook. Interested in the book? Hub City will be glad to help with that.

Jason Rapp

Announcing the FY22 SCAC Fellows

for immediate release

Four South Carolina artists exhibiting hard work and exceptional ability in visual art, craft, and media production and screenwriting are recipients of fiscal year 2022 South Carolina Arts Commission fellowships.

The South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) Board of Directors approved four $5,000 fellowships among several other FY22 grant awards to be announced on a later date. The SCAC’s four fellows are:
  • Kristi Ryba of Charleston County in visual art,
  • Clay Burnette of Richland County for craft,
  • Sherard “Shekeese” Duvall of Richland County for media production,
  • and Triza Cox of Florence County for media screenwriting.
Individual artists residing in South Carolina full-time were invited to apply last fall for a fellowship in any of the four categories represented in this cycle. Out-of-state panelists were recruited from each of those disciplines to review applications. Starting with this cycle and going forward, applications are no longer anonymous and awards no longer made solely on artistic merit. The panelists also considered achievements and commitment to the discipline in which artists apply, which can be more than one if separate applications are submitted. Panelists then recommend recipients of each $5,000 fellowship. “Fellowships recognize and reward the artistic achievements of exceptional South Carolina individual artists. Recognition from a fellowship lends artistic prestige and can often open doors to other resources and employment opportunities,” SCAC Executive Director David Platts said. “We will no doubt hear more from these amazing artists, and we congratulate them on this honor.”

About the FY22 Individual Artist Fellowship Recipients

Kristi Ryba | Visual Arts | Charleston County Winner of the 2020 South Arts State Fellowship for South Carolina and a 2018 ArtFields second place award, Ryba’s work has been touring the Southeast in painting and printmaking exhibitions since 1990.  A Magna cum laude graduate of the College of Charleston, Ryba also studied at Vermont Studio School and Studio Camnitzer in Valdotavvo, Lucca, Italy, and has her Master of Fine Arts from Union Institute and University, Vermont College. She has won various awards and scholarships. A founding organizer of Print Studio South, Inc., she served as its president and on its board and has taught locally in both adult and children's programs. Ryba was one of 10 artists featured in a 2002 Piccolo Spoleto exhibit and was invited to exhibit in Contemporary Charleston 2004 and in Helping Hands: an artist's debut among friends in 2005. Her work was featured in the 2018 Biennial in Columbia. Ryba also exhibited at Silo in New York City and her work was in the 2007 SOHO20 Chelsea show honoring The Feminist ART Project. Clay Burnette | Craft | Richland County Clay Burnette is a self-taught pine needle basketmaker who has been coiling longleaf pine needles with waxed linen thread since 1977. Burnette’s work is included in numerous public and private collections—including the State Art Collection—and has been included in more than 250 exhibition venues throughout the U.S. and abroad for 40-plus years. He has also been published in numerous international, national, and regional magazines, catalogs, and fine craft publications. Burnette has taught at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee since 2015. Images of his work are available at www.clayburnette.com. Sherard Duvall | Media: Production | Richland County Sherard “Shekeese” Duvall is a film and messaging professional from Columbia, S.C. He specializes in visual storytelling, film education, media strategy, diversity consulting and is an advocate of Hip-Hop culture. He’s produced commercial and documentary projects for VH1, Oxygen, and more. A 2021 Liberty Fellow, a 2016 Riley Fellow, a Leo Twiggs Arts Leadership Scholar and one of the founders of Columbia’s Hip-Hop Family Day: Love Peace & Hip-Hop. A 2001 University of South Carolina grad, Sherard is a product of Richland District One schools. Sherard is the Founder and Executive Producer at OTR Media Group, and the proud dad of his son, Cairo. Triza Cox | Media: Screenwriting | Florence County Triza Cox is a playwright, screenwriter, and theatre artist. She is currently the South Carolina Ambassador for the Dramatists Guild and is an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. Her research and creative work center on playmaking using Jungian archetypes, motifs, and symbols of the collective unconscious. Triza holds an MFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Louisville and has trained with Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre and the Mandala Center for Change as a Theatre of the Oppressed Facilitator. Her original plays include A Last Supper; The Willing, which recently received a staged reading with Triad Stage in Greensboro, North Carolina; God in the Midst of it All; and Lil’ Bard which was a semi-finalist in NYU’s New Plays for Young Audience 2018 and premiered at Charlotte’s Children Theatre in a staged reading. Triza has received a Kentucky New Voices grant for her playwriting.
A diverse group of panelists reviewed applications from the discipline in which they work. The visual art and craft panelists were Kesha Bruce, a curator and artist programs manager for the Arizona Commission on the Arts; arts consultant and curator Mark Leach based in St. Louis; and Holly Blake, residency manager for Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, California. Reviewing media production applications were panelists Eleanor Savage, activist and program director with the St. Paul, Minnesota-based Jerome Foundation; and Bill Gaskins, (re)director of the Maryland Institute College of Art’s photographic and electronic media graduate program. Writer and producer April Turner of Charlotte was the media screenwriting panelist.
Four fellowships per year are awarded to artists working in rotating disciplines. One artist from each of these fields: prose, poetry, and theatre acting and playwriting will be honored in fiscal year 2023. To be eligible, artists must be at least 18 years old and a legal U.S. resident with permanent residence in the state for two years prior to the application date and throughout the fellowship period. Applications will be accepted later this summer following announcement by the SCAC. For more on discipline rotation, eligibility requirements, and the application process, please visit https://www.southcarolinaarts.com/grant/fel/.
About the South Carolina Arts Commission The mission of the South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) is to promote equitable access to the arts and support the cultivation of creativity in South Carolina. We envision a South Carolina where the arts are valued and all people benefit from a variety of creative experiences. A state agency created by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1967, the SCAC works to increase public participation in the arts by providing grants, direct programs, staff assistance and partnerships in three key areas: arts education, community arts development, and artist development. Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., the SCAC is funded by the state of South Carolina, by the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts, and other sources. Visit SouthCarolinaArts.com or call 803.734.8696, and follow @scartscomm on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Submitted material

Online intensive planned for Artists U

Sustaining Through + Beyond the Pandemic

The transitions out of lockdown offer big opportunities and challenges for artists.

This online workshop brings the fundamentals of Artists U (planning, finances, time management, mission) to this complex moment. Now is a powerful moment to imagine and plan what is next for our work, our lives, and our communities. This June, plan to meet on Zoom three Wednesdays in a row. We will take breaks, we will breathe. We will build a positive, rigorous conversation about building balanced and sustainable lives as artists. You will get assignments between each session. Plan on an hour or two each week. Here’s the schedule:
  • Wednesday, June 9, 12-1:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday, June 16, 12-1:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday, June 23, 12-1:30 p.m.
Who is eligible to participate? Any South Carolina artist. Do you have to attend all three sessions? Yes. And we will give you brief assignments (1-2 hours) for each session. How much does it cost? It’s free, thanks to support from the South Carolina Arts Commission. How do I register? You can sign up here.

Jason Rapp

‘Holy grief’ discussion at next Artists U conversation

'Back Together, Not Back to Normal'

If we're honest, "normal" is a long way off.

Sure, we are seeing semblances of it here and there. According to Andrew Simonet from Artists U (an ongoing partner of the S.C. Arts Commission), "there is a lot up for grabs in the next 12 months." In an essay, he says:

Many of us have an understandable urge: Can’t we just go back to how things were in 2019? No, we can’t. Too much has shifted in our culture and economy and world. What comes next will be built, in part, by artists. We have sacred, essential skills for this moment: We look clear-eyed at what is and fearlessly imagine what could be.

And so "Back Together, Not Back to Normal" was born, giving artists a place to converse about the abundant twists and turns of navigating the transition away from lockdowns. [caption id="attachment_46863" align="alignright" width="200"]Devynn Emory Devynn Emory (image from LinkedIn)[/caption] #SCartists can register now for an April 22 conversation with Brooklyn-based Devynn Emory, who will lead a conversation with the thesis, "our grief can be holy if we let it." Emory is a mixed Lenape/Blackfoot transgender choreographer, dance artist, bodyworker, ceremonial guide and acute care and hospice nurse who spent the pandemic along the front lines in the later roles. Artists U invites artists to join Devynn's conversation about:
  • grief and mourning what has been lost
  • the traumas and truths of the past year, how they impact our bodies and breath
  • how artists can resist the “get back to normal” narrative, reinventing rather than rebuilding
  • how artists are useful to our communities and beloveds through these complex transitions
  • grief and mourning what has been lost
  • the traumas and truths of the past year, how they impact our bodies and breath
  • how artists can resist the "get back to normal" narrative, reinventing rather than rebuilding
  • how artists are useful to our communities and beloveds through these complex traditions.
That's Thursday, April 22 at noon ET, and you can register here.

Jason Rapp

The latest from #SCartists

Established, emerging artists featured

Painter Brian Rutenberg is no stranger to those familiar with the State Art Collection, which houses a 1997 work of his. The College of Charleston alum and current New Yorker opens a new show Friday, April 30 at the Jerald Melburg Gallery in Charlotte, running until June 12. [caption id="attachment_46849" align="aligncenter" width="576"] Brian Rutenberg | Point of Pine | 2021 | 48 x 72 in. |
Oil on linen[/caption]
Among the inaugural class of Emerging Artist Grant recipients from the SCAC is dancer Ashlea Sovetts. She and collaborator Alexandria Nunweiler are presenting a workshop on the creative process at the World Dance Alliance Americas 2021 Virtual Conference & Festival Assembly at the end of the month:

Jason Rapp

Six emerging artists to receive inaugural SCAC grant

Up to $1,500 grant includes mentorship, more

Visual artists working in ceramics, sculpture, and photography and performing artists working in dance and music are inaugural recipients of the South Carolina Arts Commission’s new Emerging Artist Grant.

For the purpose of the grant, emerging artists were defined as being at an early stage in their artistic career development with no basis in age. The six South Carolina artists each receive an up to $1,500 Emerging Artist grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) in the current fiscal year (2021). They are:
  • Luke Hodges of Columbia (photography)
  • Chris Jenkins of Irmo (performing musician)
  • Kimberly Washburn Motte of Florence (visual artist, sculpture)
  • Kela Portee of Ravenel (film photography and multimedia artist)
  • Sonny Sisan of North Charleston (craft artist, ceramics)
  • Ashlea Sovetts of Myrtle Beach (performing dance and choreographer)
[gallery link="none" ids="46041,46038,46040,46039,46042,46037"]
In addition to financial support, the artists will benefit from mentorship and professional support facilitated by the SCAC and Artist Services Director Ce Scott-Fitts. The combined benefits are intended to deepen artistic practice and foster artistic excellence; encourage career growth, advancement, and sustainability; and provide professional development and opportunities for collaboration. “It means a lot to be recognized as an artist in your state. Programs like this will not only propel our next generation of artists, but also provide the fuel for them to keep the legacy alive for years to come,” Jenkins said. “As a full-time professional and mother of two children, my own art making is often pushed to the back burner. To have the opportunity to build community with a group of talented artists and to meet regularly with a mentor allows me to prioritize my own artistic process,” Motte said. While the mentorship and networking components of the program begin next month and run through June 2021, several of the artists expect the benefits to last well beyond that. Sovetts is eager for the additional insight from the group to help her grow, and Hodges points to the validation the program provides. “This opportunity is so much more than a confidence booster—it's an affirmation that my creative work matters,” he said. Portee foresees the opportunity to be challenged, while Jenkins added that he hopes other South Carolina artists will see they no longer have to travel or leave altogether for the knowledge he hopes to gain. The application period for the next round of the Emerging Artist Grant is to begin in Fall 2021. The SCAC will announce it here on The Hub, on its social media at @scartscomm (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), and other channels.
About the South Carolina Arts Commission The mission of the South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) is to promote equitable access to the arts and support the cultivation of creativity in South Carolina. We envision a South Carolina where the arts are valued, and all people benefit from a variety of creative experiences. Created by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1967, the SCAC works to increase public participation in the arts by providing grants, direct programs, staff assistance and partnerships in three key areas:
  • arts education,
  • community arts development,
  • and artist development.
Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., the Arts Commission is funded by the state of South Carolina, by the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts and other sources. For more information, visit SouthCarolinaArts.com or call 803.734.8696.

Jason Rapp

Wednesday’s SHIFT/SC features artist Sherae Rimpsey

Artists U SHIFT Wednesday at noon

JUST IN: The Hub got a quick dispatch from Andrew Simonet at Artists U South Carolina this morning.

Multidisciplinary artist Sherae Rimpsey will share her work and process at a Wednesday lunch Zoom session. We'll talk about her art, working across disciplines and boundaries, and doing it all during lockdown. You can see some of her video work here and her most recent film here. SHIFT/SC
This is part of a recurring series you've read here before about artists helping artists through the pandemic.

Jason Rapp

Grants Roundup: Deadlines for the Week of Nov. 2

SCAC Deadlines and Coaching Opportunities


Though far from the only thing, grants are among the main things we do here. Because of their importance in our work, and what they mean to so many of you, The Hub wants to help keep Arts Commission grants top-of-mind and reduce the number of times people say, "If only we'd known about (X or Y) grant!"

We can't reach everybody, but we can try. On Mondays* with deadlines on the horizon, "Grants Roundup" highlights first what grants are due that week and then includes what's coming later in increments.

*The Roundup might run on Tuesdays when state holidays occur on a Monday.

This week

These are to serve mainly as final reminders to finish in-progress applications. Most grant applications simply cannot be undertaken well in this short a time frame. Consult an appropriate member of our team with questions.

  • n/a

Next week

  • n/a

Next 30(ish)

Rolling Deadlines

These S.C. Arts Commission rolling deadline grant programs are temporarily suspended to focus our efforts on supporting grantees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Important Notes

  • You are encouraged to also consult the SCAC grants page for up-to-date information on all grant deadlines (subject to change) and deadlines for non-grant programs.
  • For next steps, grant guidance, and more information, consult the appropriate member of our team if you are an artist or represent local organizations, an educational institution, or a non-arts business or organization offering arts programming.

Grants Coaching

Learn the ins and outs of the South Carolina Arts Commission grant application process and how to manage one of our grants from the professionals on the Grants Team! Grants Coaching topical sessions are held the first Thursday of every month.

  • Thursday, Nov. 5, 11 a.m.: Utilizing Collaborator

The free topical discussion is held via Zoom. Registration is required.

Need to get some assistance with something else? The Grants Team is available to answer your questions about the grants process with 15- or 30-minute sessions, Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Visit the Grants Coaching page for further information and registration links.

OPEN COACHING CALLS FOR ARTIST DEVELOPMENT GRANTS (NEW)

Artist Services Director Ce Scott-Fitts and the SCAC Grants Team are using Zoom to host open coaching calls on artist development grants to better enable artists to make competitive applications for our competitive grants. The sessions are free, but you must register in advance.

  • Next call TBA

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