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Artist entrepreneurs receive support from SCAC grants

Support arts businesses on Small Business Saturday, 11/26

for immediate release

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Two South Carolina artists (#SCartists) are recipients of FY23 South Carolina Arts Commission Artists’ Business Initiative grants, which provide career satisfaction and sustainability for artists making a living off their craft.

The Artists’ Business Initiative is a grant and program from the SCAC that offers financial support for arts-based entrepreneurial initiatives and professional training for the artists who are grantees. Grants can support start-up costs, taking an existing business in a new direction, or executing a temporary initiative (like a single business purchase) that will improve sustainability. A one-time purchase may be awarded up to $3,500, and an ongoing business initiative may be awarded up to $5,000. New grantee Talin Keyfer is an Anderson County artist who works in enamels and metals to create contemporary jewelry. Her works are available at various shows and through her website, talinkeyferjewelry.com. “In 2020, after some difficult transitions, I decided to commit to my love of art full time,” Keyfer said. She was accepted as an emerging artist at significant arts festivals and plans to use her grant on marketing, hoping to increase effectiveness through a marketing plan and growing a customer base. Eric Schultz, assistant professor of music at Coastal Carolina University, is a prize-winning clarinetist who performs as a soloist and in chamber and orchestra settings. His grant will enable him to record and release a debut solo album, “Storytelling.” “The album will feature several new pieces written by diverse composers, for me,” Schultz said. The central theme of the album will be identities, including the LGBT community and a Caribbean religion from a Puerto Rican composer, another’s Afro-Latina perspective, and “melding traditions from the eastern and western sound worlds” created by a Taiwanese composer, among others. As the annual Small Business Saturday approaches on Saturday, Nov. 26, the SCAC encourages South Carolinians to support local artists and arts-based businesses as they shop for unique, considered holiday gifts now and for any reason throughout the year. The latest data from the SCAC showed that South Carolina’s creative economy supports 115,000 jobs and generates tax revenues of $269 million. Artists’ Business Initiative grants, intended for professional caliber working artists in South Carolina, open for letters of intent to apply in late summer each year. More information is available at https://www.southcarolinaarts.com/grant/abi/.

About the South Carolina Arts Commission

The mission of the South Carolina Arts Commission 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 artist development, arts industry, arts learning, creative placemaking, and folklife and traditional arts. 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 for #Arts4SC and #SCartists content.
South Carolina Arts Commission News Release, Media Contact: Jason L. Rapp, Communications Director. jrapp@arts.sc.gov or 803.734.8899

Jason Rapp

Benedict College to start Creative Entrepreneurship Initiative

Serving female artists, performers, and creatives

Last week, The Hub had the pleasure of speaking with Benedict College about a new program for South Carolina women looking to start, grow, or scale a business.

According to Benedict's Women's Business Center, that certainly includes artists, performers, and creatives. Dedicated to serving women-owned businesses and minorities throughout the state of South Carolina, the Creative Entrepreneur Initiative entails a multi-week program consisting of interactive workshops facilitated by a business expert and supplemented by group-level consultation provided by WBC business advisors.
  • Program participants will meet virtually, beginning September 27, for six weekly sessions.
  • The cost to register is $30 per person, which amounts to $5 per session.
To learn more about the Creative Entrepreneurship Initiative or register, click on this link.

Jason Rapp

Entrepreneurism workshop offered for creatives

Monetize that talent, y'all.

It is apparently workshop day on The Hub, and the Columbia Office of Business Opportunities is up next with one aimed at developing entrepreneurism among creatives: Creative Entrepreneurs 101 Workshop: Understanding the Basics to Monetize our Talents Participants will receive tools and resources to get started on their path to becoming a creative entrepreneur. Topics covered:
  • How to Project the Right Reflection
  • How to Brand Around Your Talent
  • How to Protect your Work
  • How to Price Your Work
  • How to Negotiate & Get Booked
  • How to Manage Your Coins
Scheduled speakers: Naida Rutherford, Katera, Rod King, Marcus Gullen, Shannon N. O'Berry Hammond, and Jeremy Polley. Special guest: CammWess, South Carolina native singer/songwriter and finalist on NBC’s The Voice. Lunch will be provided and masks are required. More information and registration available here.

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

Love at first arc for S.C. welder

New direction leads to arts entrepreneurship

The Hub was honestly not expecting a don't-miss story from The Welder.

Shame on us. Do yourself a favor and read the story of Kristen Albro of Charleston from the Illinois-based trade publication. Writer Amanda Carlson does a terrific profile of the unexpected blacksmith. Here's a small excerpt:

As a veteran of the Air Force, Albro spent her time in service as an aircraft mechanic. Later she earned a degree in criminal justice with a minor in intelligence and homeland security from The Citadel. Seeing the writing on the wall about a white-collar desk job, the lifelong artist did a little soul-searching about what exactly would make her happy. Working with your hands can lead to many pathways, but she landed on welding because she wondered if she could somehow incorporate that into her art.

Carlson mentions Albro's techniques and inspiration and how the two came together to form her entrepreneurial artistic venture. We'll stop there, because you should just go read it right now (TheFabricator.com).
Photo by Kateryna Babaieva from Pexels

Jason Rapp

Midlands music school expands virtual services, offers scholarships

Freeway Music School serves Columbia area

In response to the pandemic, Columbia's Freeway Music launched new virtual and socially distanced technique lessons, showcases, recitals, studio time and music videos, along with new scholarships, positively impacting hundreds of students across the region.

A small business, Freeway Music is rooted in face-to-face interaction and in-person instruction. Once the COVID-19 pandemic limited its ability to open studio doors at its five Columbia locations, the music school brought instruction and opportunities into the homes of its students by incorporating virtual lessons, showcases and recitals in different formats. It has also introduced new technology in order to make lessons even more productive.
“Music is a vehicle for creativity, healing, emotional expression, and so much more,” says Don Russo, founder and chief operating officer of Freeway Music. “It offers hope and is vital during these isolating times. We are committed to showing our music family that they don’t need to physically be together to play together.”
Founded in 2011, Freeway Music offers student-centered music education that also benefits the broader community, making a positive impact through lessons for all skill levels and ages, as well as music therapy, theater, showcases, recitals, and partnerships with various charities, organizations and community events. Freeway Music has locations in downtown Columbia, Lexington, Irmo, Northeast and within Sims Music. In addition to its virtual services, Freeway Music is now offering in-person, socially distanced lessons and free studio time as a new experience for its students, enabling them to take home their own recordings. The school is also using technology like Sound Slice, which allows students to see their music notated online, control tempo, and loop sections with which they may be struggling. This summer, Freeway Music students held outdoor, socially distanced concerts at Steel Hands Brewing and Market on Main in downtown Columbia, giving kids the opportunity to perform safely in public with adult supervision. “Our goal is to create opportunities for our students to continue to learn and showcase their work during this hectic time,” says Tony Lee, co-founder of Freeway Music. “Music and creative expression should be accessible to everyone, which is why we’re creating safe and innovative solutions to meet the needs of every family.”
As the pandemic began to alter lives for businesses and families alike, Freeway Music recognized a need within its own music community–families who no longer can afford lessons and instructors who have lost their jobs. As a result, Freeway Music created “Jam for the Fam,” a virtual concert benefiting those in need. Local musicians volunteered to perform, and the event provided 10 scholarships for students to continue lessons and benefitted four instructors who have recently experienced significant loss. “Freeway Music is so much more than a music school — they are our extended family,” says one scholarship recipient’s mother. “When COVID-19 hit and my family was down to one income, they stepped in to help my daughter continue her lessons with a special scholarship. With their help, my girls could continue doing what they love, making music.” Freeway Music believes that music transcends barriers of all kinds and unites people from all walks of life, and the school uses its resources to uplift and encourage the entire Columbia region and beyond. Its philanthropic support of local organizations and community outreach include the following:
  • Co-partnership of the Freeway Music Festival, which unites the music community and celebrates local and regional talent. The 2019 event raised money to help build a new greenhouse at City Roots Organic Farm.
  • Fundraising and performances for many local causes and charities including The Conner Foundation, Palmetto Children’s Hospital, Harvest Hope Food Bank, The Women’s Shelter, Pets Inc., Pawmetto Lifeline, Trustus Theatre, Girls Rock Columbia, the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation, and the South Carolina Philharmonic, among others.
  • Lesson donations and performances for local schools including Bethel-Hanberry Elementary, St. John Newman, Heathwood Hall, the University of South Carolina, Columbia College, Blythewood  and Irmo high schools, St. Andrews Middle School and many more.
  • Volunteerism and support of local events including the Festival of Trees, Rooftop Rhythms, St. Pat's in Five Points Parade, Palmetto Christmas, the MG&C Long Run, the Heart and Sole Run, Get in the Pink Race, Vista Lights, First Thursdays on Main, and more.
  • Music scholarships including the Friends Grant in partnership with The Christopher Conner Foundation to help students that can’t afford music lessons, and the Davis Cripe Scholarship, which was created in loving memory of Freeway Music Irmo/Ballentine drum student Davis Cripe.

About Freeway Music

Founded in 2011, Freeway Music is the Columbia region’s premier music school with five locations in downtown Columbia, Lexington, Irmo, the Northeast, and within Sims Music. Freeway Music offers private lessons for all skill levels, styles, and ages on a wide range of instruments including piano, voice, ukulele, drums, bass, strings, woodwinds, horns, mandolin, banjo, and more. Freeway Music’s mission is to equip students in music and life to make a positive impact in their community. Freeway Music is the exclusive music school partner of Sims Music, a locally owned and nationally recognized music store. For more information visit www.freewaymusic.net or call 844.537.7661.
Photo by Tatiana Syrikova from Pexels

Jason Rapp

New grant launches for artists with SCI

SCI Artist-Innovator Fund offers up to $7,500

Application deadline: Wednesday, June 12, 2019 The spinal cord injury (SCI) community is abundant with out-of-the-box thinkers, hackers, problem solvers, and individuals creatively tackling challenges. Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) launches the first ever SCI Artist-Innovator Fund to offer artists, innovators, inventors, makers, and entrepreneurs financial capital for social-impact oriented, creative entrepreneurship projects.
Recent statistics show that self-employment rates in the US are higher among disabled people than non-disabled people (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). However, there is limited funding dedicated to developing entrepreneurial capabilities of disabled artists that would provide pathways for financial independence. In addition, these programs assume that disabled people are driven to become entrepreneurs primarily as a result of barriers in other sections of the workforce. CCI challenges these assumptions and recognizes that the spinal cord injury (SCI) experience brings a unique perspective to innovation.

Program

The SCI Artist-Innovator Grant will offer 10-12 grants of up to $7,500, for a total of $75,000 in grants, to individual artist-entrepreneurs with spinal cord injuries who are inspired to innovate by opportunity-based entrepreneurship – in other words, by the possibilities and benefits that are offered through the experience of pursuing a creative practice and living with spinal cord injury. CCI recognizes that having an underserved perspective, living with challenging circumstances, and applying creative practice can yield important solutions for not only the innovator but for the benefit of society. This opportunity to recognize the powerful combination of SCI populations, craftsmanship and creative practice, and positive social impact is made possible by the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation whose founder lived with SCI and whose legacy is as an entrepreneur.

Eligibility

To be eligible for consideration, applicants must:
  • Be an individual living with spinal cord injury (SCI applicants may be part of a team, but only if the applicant is the primary owner or lead);
  • Live and work in the USA or its territories; and
  • Self-define as an artist, maker, creative, or culture bearer, or whose project reflects deep and sustained refining that reflects a craft, cultural, or artistic practice.
Go here to learn more (guidelines, etc.) and apply.

Avoiding the life of the starving artist

From USC School of Music Article by John Brunelli

SAVVY Arts Venture Challenge teaches entrepreneurship to the arts community [caption id="attachment_31142" align="alignright" width="250"]Savvy Musicians 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."

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 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.
  Questions? Email Joy Young, jyoung@arts.sc.gov.

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.

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