SAVVY Arts Venture Challenge teaches entrepreneurship to the arts community
[caption id="attachment_31142" align="alignright" width="250"] SAVVY teams create exhibits showcasing their business ventures.[/caption]
Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most celebrated postimpressionist painters of the 19th century. But at the time of his death, he was penniless and obscure — the epitome of a starving artist.
"You don't get any brownie points for being an amazing artist, who is so poor that you can't afford to create your art or share your gifts," says David Cutler, director of music entrepreneurship at the University of South Carolina.
For the past five summers, Cutler has led a School of Music workshop designed to help a diverse group of artists maximize income, prove their worth and adapt to a world that is changing at an exponential rate.
This experiential workshop called the SAVVY Arts Venture Challenge explores how a variety of business lessons are applicable to all art disciplines. This year's class is the most diverse yet — including musicians, visual artists, dancers, actors and even two mimes.
Each of the 72 participants begins the week by giving a one-minute elevator pitch for an innovative arts-based business. The entire class votes on favorites and ultimately selects nine ideas to develop throughout the week. They divide into teams each with a CEO, a CFO, a marketing director and other key positions designed to create a successful business model.
"There aren't a lot of tidy, secure, full-time jobs available for artists, even those with the most talent," Cutler says. "Most of us have to create our lives. SAVVY helps participants develop a variety of relevant skills for their own unique career path."
Throughout the week, teams are required to solve eight "challenges." The finance challenge asks groups to create a startup budget, explain their business' cash flow and build a financial statement. A digital branding challenge requires the creation of a website consistent with the brand's personality while meeting the needs of customers. A research challenge gets them into the community to conduct surveys, interview experts and test core assumptions.
"Entrepreneurship, for me, isn't just about career training. It's a way of life," Cutler says. "It's about creative problem-solving and innovation, as well as value creation, financial literacy, business-model design, taking chances and bold unapologetic leadership."
At the end of the week, the teams pitch their businesses again — this time to a panel of judges and local government, arts and business leaders during the SAVVY Reveal at the Copenhaver Band Hall. People watching a livestream of the program from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. June 9 also can vote for their favorites.
The week begins with the SAVVY Chamber Showcase, where four finalist ensembles featuring artistic excellence and innovative event design compete for a $10,000 grant prize/School of Music residency and management options. All finalists receive full tuition scholarships to attend the 2017 SAVVY Arts Venture Challenge.
This year's finalists are: Real Vocal String Quartet from Berkeley, California, a multi-genre string quartet where all members also sing. Projecto Acromusical, based in Dekalb, Illnois, is a world music sextet that reimagines the Afro-Brazilian berimbau, a single-string percussion instrument, through a repertoire of concert chamber music. BIK Ensemble from Montreal, Canada, is a theatrical trio whose musicians dance around the stage, use cutlery as percussion and incorporate a host of other surprises. The final ensemble, The Living Earth Show from San Francisco, is an electro-acoustic group that generates a huge variety of sounds and sights from just a guitarist and a percussionist.
The four ensembles compete at 7:30 p.m. Monday (June 5) in the newly opened auditorium at the Richland County Main Library. The concert is free and open to the public.
In addition to becoming business savvy, Cutler hopes the participants, who are from nine countries and 25 states, will gain an appreciation for the resources and potential of a vibrant city like Columbia. Local organizations, businesses and community members are involved with SAVVY in a variety of capacities, as partners, dinner hosts, guest presenters and "entrepre-tainers."
"SAVVY is literally the best event of its kind in the world," Cutler says. "This parallels a lesson we emphasize. For those with the courage and audacity to lead in relevant ways, the benefits can be tremendous."
Artists U is coming to the Pee Dee!
Attention Pee Dee artists! The Artists U Intensive: Building a Sustainable Life as an Artist is coming to the Soulé Art Space in Florence May 26 and 27.
Artists are talented, hard-working people, so why are so many exhausted, broke, and overwhelmed? Artists U will present tools and approaches for building a balanced, sustainable artist life. Based on 10 years of work with artists locally and nationally, artist leaders Andrew Simonet (Philadelphia), Michaela Pilar Brown (Columbia) and Rodney Lee Rogers (Charleston) will offer artists tools for reconnecting with deep values, building community, and managing time and money.
Dates and location:
Friday, May 26, 7 – 8:30 pm
Saturday, May 27, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Location: Soulé Art Space, 130 S. Irby St., Florence, SC 29501
How much does it cost? It’s free (but the class size is limited).
Who is it for? South Carolina artists.
Do you have to attend both sessions? Yes.
Will there be beverages? Of course. And lunch on Saturday.
How do I apply to participate? Find out more about Artists U and register here.
Any professional South Carolina artist may apply to attend (you do not have to live in Florence.) You will be notified once you are enrolled.
Free webinar for artists: find out more about Artists Ventures Initiative Grants
Webinar scheduled for December 2
[caption id="attachment_16931" align="alignright" width="250"] Barbara Streeter of Conway, a previous AVI grant recipient[/caption]
Are you a professional-caliber artist or an artist collaborative with an arts-based business idea? Or, have you launched an arts-based business that needs a bit more lift?
The S.C. Artists’ Ventures Initiative (AVI), a broad-reaching project at the South Carolina Arts Commission, may be just right for you. AVI grantees may be awarded up to $3,500 for a one-time project/single purchase in support of an arts-based business. An ongoing arts-based business venture may be awarded up to $5,000.
Join us for a free webinar to learn more about the grant and the first step in the process, the all-important Letter of Intent, which is due January 11, 2017.
(The deadline for AVI Letters of Intent is January 11, 2017. You do not have to participate in the webinar in order to submit a Letter of Intent.)Topics to be covered:
Learn about the S.C. Artists Ventures Initiative
Walk through the process of completing the online Letter of Intent
Hear from recent AVI grant recipient(s)
Ask questions
When:
December 2, 2016
Time:
7:15 – 8:30 p.m.
Where:
Online — you will receive log-in information two days before the webinar. You will need access to the Internet and a telephone to see and hear the presentation.
RSVP:
This webinar is free, but you must register online in order to attend and to receive webinar log-in information. The registration password is AVI.
Artist entrepreneurs: apply for an Artists Ventures Initiatives grant
Letters of intent due Jan. 11, 2017
The South Carolina Arts Commission invites artists to apply for the next round of S.C. Artists Ventures Initiative grants. AVI grants encourage and enable the creation of new artist-driven, arts-based business ventures that will provide career satisfaction and sustainability for S.C. artists.
S.C. artists (individuals and collaboratives) may use AVI funding to help launch a new venture or significantly alter an existing venture. A one-time project/single purchase may be awarded up to $3,500. An ongoing business venture may be awarded up to $5,000.
The AVI grant program is a two-part process, with letters of intent due Jan. 11, 2017. Selected applicants will be invited to develop a full grant proposal.
Read the complete guidelines online.
Image: Artist Kristy Bishop of Charleston received an Artists Ventures Initiative Grant to expand her textile workshops.
Free workshop: Building a Sustainable Life as an Artist
South Carolina artists are invited to register for a free two-day workshop, Building a Sustainable Life as an Artist, taking place Nov. 4 - 5 at Tapp's Art Center in Columbia. Based on 10 years of work with artists locally and nationally, artist leaders from Artists U, led by Andrew Simonet, will offer tools for reconnecting with deep values, building community, and managing time and money.
Workshop topics:
Why artists are poor and why they shouldn’t be
Tools artists have used to make things easier
How to build a life that is balanced, productive, and sustainable
Registration and attendance:
The workshop is free, but the class size is limited, so you must register here.
You MUST attend both sessions.
Beverages provided, as well as lunch on Saturday.
Location:
Tapp's Art Center
1644 Main St
Columbia, South Carolina 29201
Dates and times:
Friday, Nov. 4, 7 - 8:30 pm
Saturday, Nov. 5, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Fiber arts program launched to train Upstate designers
From The Greenville News
Article by Nathaniel Cary, photo by Bart Boatwright
Textile executives from multiple Upstate companies banded together to fund a new program they hope will train a new generation of homegrown textile designers to carry on the textile heritage of the Carolinas.
Many of those designers may come right from Greenville, trained at a new first-in-the-nation program run by the Greenville Fine Arts Center.
Greenville County Schools officially launched the program Wednesday. The inaugural group of 24 students, who each auditioned for entrance into the program, will take a course-load built around design and use of fibers in the textile industry.
Roy Fluhrer, Fine Arts Center director, conceived of the program years ago and approached business leaders three years ago with a plan for a program similar to an architectural design program that the center had started.
Fluhrer called it a way to give the county’s bright artistic students creative futures built in South Carolina.
The program drew interest from local companies who wanted to train and retain talented designers in the Upstate.
Five companies each contributed $25,000 while Greenville County Schools agreed to fund the salary for a teacher and paid for renovations for two portable buildings that now sit adjacent to the Fine Arts Center on Pine Knoll Drive in Greenville.
Sage Automotive Interiors in Greenville, Glen Raven Custom Fabrics in Anderson, Springs Creative in Rock Hill, Alice Manufacturing in Easley and Inman Mills helped purchase equipment for the program, Fluhrer said.
A fiber arts program in Greenville made sense for local businesses to support, Randy Blackston, vice president of operations at Glen Raven, said.
“There are billions of dollars of capital investment in the textile industry within 30 minutes of this school,” Blackston said. "More importantly, there are thousands and thousands of workers who work in the textile industry within 30 minutes of this school."
The textile industry is beset by the preconceived notion that it’s a “dirty industry” whose reputation has been tainted by the number of jobs that have disappeared overseas, Dirk Pieper, president and CEO of Sage Automotive Interiors, said.
“The arts and design are a very important part of our business so the opportunity to connect with students of the high school age and get them involved early in our industry of textiles and automotive textiles is a fantastic opportunity to develop homegrown talent here to support our business,” Pieper said.
They’re working to change the perception of textiles, which is now high-tech, use new fabrics and design methods and are going to be a $56 billion industry employing more than 500,000 people in the United States, Pieper said.
“It’s thriving and of course it’s significant in South Carolina and in particular, the Upstate,” he said.
The industry in the Upstate is facing what leaders are calling a “silver tsunami” of retiring baby boomers and will need a new generation of skilled employees to fill their jobs.
“Workforce development is the single most important issue in terms of supporting the manufacturing industry,” he said.
As the manufacturing industry rebounded post-recession and the state’s leadership attracted new jobs, “It’s our role now to create the associates that are going to be able to work in these operations,” Pieper said.
Fiber arts students will learn to weave, knit and construct cloth. They will dye fabric, shape fabric, cut fabric into conceptual art forms or works of art, April Dauscha, fiber arts instructor, said.
Inside the remodeled portables, an open concept design splits the rooms into learning zones. A small classroom space with mannequins sits near the entrance with four computers connected to a photo printer. Tables with scraps of fabric, yarn and other materials and a large design table as well as a small kitchenette and laundry area complete the space.
Students will spend two hours each day in the studio learning from a curriculum designed with help from professors at N.C. State University, one of the nation’s leading textile programs.
The curriculum was built so students who complete the fiber arts program will have college credit that will either offset the amount of time it will take to complete the N.C. State bachelor of science degree or will allow students to study abroad or accept internships to gain added experience during their college years, Nancy Powell, professor in the College of Textiles, said.
The fiber arts program moves the school district closer to its goal of graduating students who are college or career ready, Superintendent Burke Royster said.
Companies involved in the program will interact with the students regularly, will facilitate visits to textile manufacturers and will offer internships, Pieper said.
Image: Greenville Fine Arts Center fiber art student Eileen Selby, left, talks with Greenville School Board member Kenneth Baxter Sr. during a tour of the school's new one-of-a-kind industry-sponsored fiber arts program.
Free webinar for SC artists: how to apply for Artists’ Ventures Initiative grant
Letters of Intent due Jan. 4, 2016Are you a professional-caliber artist or an artist collaborative with an arts-based business idea? Or, have you launched an arts-based business that needs a bit more lift?
The S.C. Artists' Ventures Initiative (AVI), a broad-reaching project at the South Carolina Arts Commission, may be just right for you. AVI grantees may be awarded up to $3,500 for a one-time project/single purchase in support of an arts-based business. An ongoing arts-based business venture may be awarded up to $5,000.
Join us for a free webinar to learn more about the grant and the first step in the process, the all-important Letter of Intent.
(The deadline for AVI Letters of Intent has been extended to Jan. 4, 2016. You do not have to participate in the webinar in order to submit a Letter of Intent.)Topics to be covered:
Learn about the S.C. Artists' Ventures Initiative
Walk through the process of completing the Letter of Intent
Hear from recent AVI grantee Barbara Streeter of Conway Glass (pictured above), who will share her experience with the grants process
When:
December 16, 2015
Time:
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Where:
Online -- you will receive log-in information two days before the webinar. You will need access to the Internet and a telephone to see and hear the presentation.
RSVP:
This webinar is free, but you must register online in order to attend and to receive webinar log-in information.
Deadline extended — Letters of intent due Jan. 4 for Artists’ Ventures Initiative grants
Letters of intent due Jan. 4, 2016
The South Carolina Arts Commission invites artists to apply for the next round of S.C. Artists' Ventures Initiative grants. AVI grants encourage and enable the creation of new artist-driven, arts-based business ventures that will provide career satisfaction and sustainability for S.C. artists.
S.C. artists (individuals and collaboratives) may use AVI funding to help launch a new venture or significantly alter an existing venture. A one-time project/single purchase may be awarded up to $3,500. An ongoing business venture may be awarded up to $5,000.
The AVI grant program is a two-part process, with letters of intent due Jan. 4, 2016. Selected applicants will be invited to develop a full grant proposal.
Read the complete guidelines online.
New FastTrac course open to artist entrepreneurs
The city of Columbia is accepting applications for the FastTrac Growth Venture 2016 class, a course that provides hands-on, intensive instruction to help entrepreneurs hone the skills needed to manage and grow a successful business. The class meets on Tuesdays Jan. 12 through March 15, 2016, from 6 - 9 p.m at the Midlands Techinical College Northeast Campus, located at 151 Powell Road, Columbia. Class size is limited to 15 participants.
FastTrac Growth Venture helps existing entrepreneurs:
Make critical decisions about the business vision and strategy;
Investigate next-stage growth and opportunity;
Plan for strategic growth;
Build and maintain a competitive advantage;
Lead with clarity; and
Maximize cash flow for future profitability.
The cost is $825, however, the city of Columbia will pay $500 of each participant's fee. The $325 paid by participants covers registration, books, networking, and lifetime access to resources available from the Kauffman Foundation. Participants will also receive a free membership to the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, valued at $500.
(Note: Artists may be eligible for a South Carolina Arts Commission Quarterly Grant to help pay for the FastTrac course. The next Quarterly Grant deadline is Nov. 15, 2015 for projects or professional development beginning after Jan. 1, 2016. Contact your discipline coordinator for assistance before applying for a grant.)
Find out more about FastTrac, and reserve your seat by contacting Angelo McBride at aamcbride@columbiasc.net as soon as possible.
The city of Columbia Office of Business Opportunities has partnered with Midlands Technical College for more than six years to provide FastTrac Growth Venture to Columbia businesses.
Free Artists U workshops for SC artists
Artists U/South Carolina is gearing up again with several free workshops for South Carolina artists in Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville, including an introduction to Artists U, a special meeting for Artists U alumni, and the Artists U workshop intensive - Building a Sustainable Life as an Artist.
>> An Introduction to Artists U/South CarolinaFor artists who have never attended an Artists U event.
Come find out about the work of Artists U: our approach, our book, and other workshops. How do artists build balanced, sustainable lives? How can we stay connected to our deeper mission as create our work? Free, but you must RSVP online.
Columbia Artists U Introduction:
Columbia artist and Artists U/SC facilitator Michaela Pilar Brown (pictured right)
Led by Charleston artist and Artists U/SC facilitator Rodney Lee Rogers (pictured right)
>> Artists U Alumni events For artists who have taken our Building a Sustainable Life as an Artist workshop.
Come meet up with fellow alums for some beverages, conversation, and an introduction to our new structure. A fundamental principle of Artists U is that artists are skilled, hard working, generous, and resourceful, so that's what we are returning to. We've created a Workbook, a straightforward journal for artists to actually do the work we talk about in Artists U, including strategic planning, finances, time management, and an artist statement. And we have a curriculum for Working Groups, groups of artists who want to get together once a month for five months. Free, but you must RSVP online.
Charleston Artists U Alumni event:
>> Artists U Intensive: Building a Sustainable Life as an ArtistAny professional South Carolina artist may apply to attend (you do not have to live in Greenville.) You will be notified once you are enrolled.
Greenville Artists U Intensive:
Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, 7 - 8:30 pm
Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Location: Venue TBA
Artists are talented, hard-working people, so why are so many exhausted, broke, and overwhelmed? We present tools and approaches for building a balanced, sustainable artist life. Based on 10 years of work with artists locally and nationally, artist leaders will offer tools for reconnecting with our deep values, building community, and slaying the two demons of the artist’s life: time and money.
The Greenville intensive is free, but class size is limited. You must apply online and commit to attend both sessions.
>> Other events
Other planned events include an Artist Mission Statement Workshop and Social Media as Community. Find out more and RSVP for any Artists U events here: www.artistsu.org/south-carolina.
Artists U/South Carolina is funded by the South Carolina Arts Commission as part of the S.C. Artists' Ventures Initiative.
About Artists U
Artists U is a grassroots planning and professional development program run by and for artists. We want to change the conversations artists have in our heads, with each other, and with the world. We push artists to build lives that are balanced, productive, and sustainable. We are skills-based, not need-based: we work to empower artists to create their lives and their art. We started in Philadelphia and now we also work in Baltimore and South Carolina (and sometimes in other places).
SAVVY teams create exhibits showcasing their business ventures.[/caption] Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most celebrated postimpressionist painters of the 19th century. But at the time of his death, he was penniless and obscure — the epitome of a starving artist. "You don't get any brownie points for being an amazing artist, who is so poor that you can't afford to create your art or share your gifts," says David Cutler, director of music entrepreneurship at the University of South Carolina. For the past five summers, Cutler has led a School of Music workshop designed to help a diverse group of artists maximize income, prove their worth and adapt to a world that is changing at an exponential rate. This experiential workshop called the SAVVY Arts Venture Challenge explores how a variety of business lessons are applicable to all art disciplines. This year's class is the most diverse yet — including musicians, visual artists, dancers, actors and even two mimes. Each of the 72 participants begins the week by giving a one-minute elevator pitch for an innovative arts-based business. The entire class votes on favorites and ultimately selects nine ideas to develop throughout the week. They divide into teams each with a CEO, a CFO, a marketing director and other key positions designed to create a successful business model. "There aren't a lot of tidy, secure, full-time jobs available for artists, even those with the most talent," Cutler says. "Most of us have to create our lives. SAVVY helps participants develop a variety of relevant skills for their own unique career path." Throughout the week, teams are required to solve eight "challenges." The finance challenge asks groups to create a startup budget, explain their business' cash flow and build a financial statement. A digital branding challenge requires the creation of a website consistent with the brand's personality while meeting the needs of customers. A research challenge gets them into the community to conduct surveys, interview experts and test core assumptions. "Entrepreneurship, for me, isn't just about career training. It's a way of life," Cutler says. "It's about creative problem-solving and innovation, as well as value creation, financial literacy, business-model design, taking chances and bold unapologetic leadership." At the end of the week, the teams pitch their businesses again — this time to a panel of judges and local government, arts and business leaders during the SAVVY Reveal at the Copenhaver Band Hall. People watching a livestream of the program from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. June 9 also can vote for their favorites. The week begins with the SAVVY Chamber Showcase, where four finalist ensembles featuring artistic excellence and innovative event design compete for a $10,000 grant prize/School of Music residency and management options. All finalists receive full tuition scholarships to attend the 2017 SAVVY Arts Venture Challenge. This year's finalists are: Real Vocal String Quartet from Berkeley, California, a multi-genre string quartet where all members also sing. Projecto Acromusical, based in Dekalb, Illnois, is a world music sextet that reimagines the Afro-Brazilian berimbau, a single-string percussion instrument, through a repertoire of concert chamber music. BIK Ensemble from Montreal, Canada, is a theatrical trio whose musicians dance around the stage, use cutlery as percussion and incorporate a host of other surprises. The final ensemble, The Living Earth Show from San Francisco, is an electro-acoustic group that generates a huge variety of sounds and sights from just a guitarist and a percussionist. The four ensembles compete at 7:30 p.m. Monday (June 5) in the newly opened auditorium at the Richland County Main Library. The concert is free and open to the public. In addition to becoming business savvy, Cutler hopes the participants, who are from nine countries and 25 states, will gain an appreciation for the resources and potential of a vibrant city like Columbia. Local organizations, businesses and community members are involved with SAVVY in a variety of capacities, as partners, dinner hosts, guest presenters and "entrepre-tainers." "SAVVY is literally the best event of its kind in the world," Cutler says. "This parallels a lesson we emphasize. For those with the courage and audacity to lead in relevant ways, the benefits can be tremendous."
