conNECKtedTOO to launch app in support of tiny business
conNECKtedTOO is launching the conNECKtedTOO/TINYisPOWERFUL mobile app and a revitalized website Sunday, Dec. 8 at the Cannon Street Arts Center in Charleston from 3-6 p.m.
This event celebrates the rich and remarkable legacy of Charleston’s tiny "smaller than small" business community through an interactive performance celebrating the art of barbering, films, arts, and fellowship, and will serve as the official debut of a new online creative place for tiny businesses and you.
In 2018 the Charleston Rhizome Collective received the only ArtPlace America award in South Carolina in support of a project of art in/with community for economic development. The event on Dec. 8 presents the development of a "participative" online platform seen as a community lab that encourages artists, activists, young people, and business owners to exchange stories and form supportive networks.
The creation and ongoing development of the mobile app addresses the lack of support for family-owned tiny businesses who are frequently passed over by typical forums for economic and social support. At the moment, 28 local businesses will have their own profiles with a variety of content, ranging from personal narratives and links to each business’s social media.
“The conNECKtedTOO/TINYisPOWERFUL mobile app honors the cultural relevance of tiny business now and throughout history. It encourages patronage and is a place to explore, share resources, learn, and grow community through collaboration between artists, cultural workers, youth, activists, and tiny businesses. User experiences will vary,” says Victoria Moore of conNECKtedTOO.
Join conNECKtedTOO Sunday, Dec. 8 (doors open at 3 p.m. and an interactive performance starts at 4 p.m.) in celebrating neighborhood tiny businesses whose vitality makes Charleston rich. This event is free and open to the public. For more information please contact Victoria at 843.209.7902 or email
conNECKtedTOO@gmail.com.
conNECKtedTOO by the Charleston Rhizome Collective is a project of art and culture in/with community for economic development supported in large part by an ArtPlace America Award with additional support from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the South Carolina Arts Commission, the Lowcountry Quarterly Art Program and the Coastal Community Foundation. The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs serves as a civic partner.
conNECKtedTOO is on the move
Sculpture heads to North Charleston for the summer
“You Bet ‘N Me ‘N Me ‘N You,” a sculptural tiny business village of the future, has moved from the Cannon Street Arts Center in downtown Charleston to the lobby of North Charleston’s City Hall (2500 City Hall Lane) where it will remain installed through early August 2019.
The sculpture was created by artists, apprentices and business owners working with
conNECKtedTOO, a project of art and culture in/with community for economic development. The project supports and promotes tiny business in Charleston and beyond as a vital part of neighborhood and commerce by building a collaborative, sustainable network of business owners, artists and neighborhood youth. This network is inter-generational, interracial and grassroots by design; it reflects the importance of diversity in the building of equitable societies.
"Everybody's dream is not to become Bill Gates. Some folks want to support their families or live out something that's a passion of theirs. There's one guy that has always wanted to have a place to sell pizza. As simple as that. He doesn't want to be Pizza Hut," said conNECKtedTOO tiny business coordinator and Charleston native Theron Snype.
In addition to the tiny business village installation, conNECKtedTOO has developed an Active Memory Map as one way of seeking out local narratives that are often left out of economic conversations—the stories, voices and memories of generations of Charlestonians, especially those who represent marginalized populations like minorities, women, and immigrants. The participatory map will be at the Charleston County Library Main Branch (68 Calhoun St., Charleston) through July 31.
coNECKtedTOO, as a multi-faceted experiment, is being constantly imagined, forged and promoted.
Our present plan, timeline and budget are supported in large part by an ArtPlace America award. Additional support is provided by Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the South Carolina Arts Commission.
For more information please visit
conNECKtedTOO.org or email
conNECKtedTOO@gmail.com.
New funding partner for potential arts businesses
- Central Carolina Community Foundation to help develop Midlands arts-based businesses
- Joins statewide initiative begun by S.C. Arts Commission and CommunityWorks of Greenville
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Midlands artisans hoping to turn a passion into a business in the New Year now have help from Central Carolina Community Foundation as it joins an S.C. Arts Commission initiative.
Central Carolina Community Foundation (CCCF) joins
ArtsGrowSC, a new program that combines the strengths of the
S.C. Arts Commission and Greenville-based
CommunityWorks, a community development finance institution, to offer qualifying artists resources – including a savings program, micro-loans, business venture loans, matching grants, personalized coaching, and workshops – that will help develop and grow arts-based business ventures.
ArtsGrowSC is being implemented to allow arts-based businesses to further contribute to the $9.2 billion generated by South Carolina’s core creative industries.
Involvement by CCCF will increase the number of artisans who can open Individual Development Accounts (IDA’s), specifically in its 11-county service area. CommunityWorks serves as a statewide IDA funding partner for the matched savings program. Artists who use an IDA to save would see a 2:1 match, so a savings of $1,000 would be matched by $1,000 from one of the participating funders, based on artist location, and another $1,000 from the Arts Commission.
Additional avenues of support from ArtsGrowSC include personal development and business coaching workshops that lead to the next-step Artists Ventures Initiative (AVI) grant program. AVI provides one-time grants to encourage the creation of artist-driven, arts-based business ventures that will provide career satisfaction and sustainability for S.C. artists. Grants can be used to launch a new venture or significantly alter an existing venture. A one-time project could receive up to $3,500, and on-going business ventures can get up to $5,000. The deadline to submit a letter of intent to seek an AVI grant is Jan. 18.
AVI grantees may then qualify for the Business Builder Loan program, wherein CommunityWorks could lend qualifying artists up to $15,000 to expand their ventures.
For more information, visit SouthCarolinaArts.com, email Joy Young at
jyoung@arts.sc.gov, or call 803.734.8203.
ABOUT THE SOUTH CAROLINA ARTS COMMISSION
The South Carolina Arts Commission is the state agency charged with creating a thriving arts environment that benefits all South Carolinians, regardless of their location or circumstances.
Created by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1967, the Arts Commission works to increase public participation in the arts by providing services, grants, and leadership initiatives in three 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.
Start, build and strengthen arts/business partnerships
Americans for the Arts has compiled information and resources about starting, building and strengthening partnerships between the arts world and the business world. This blog post offers their "top 4 lists of lists (AKA the top 33 reasons/ideas/ways) to create meaningful relationships between arts and business," including:
- specific reasons for businesses to partner with the arts
- ideas for creating authentic, productive connections between arts professionals and business professionals
- ways to combat declining or static charitable giving from the corporate world.
Via:
Americans for the Arts, a national nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America.
