Something that James Shermer, grants administrator for the Broward Cultural Division, said as he was leading an early May workshop, Opportunities for Artists in South Florida at the Coral Springs Museum of Art, stood out to Jean-Pierre Moreno.
Moreno’s boss at the company where he works, Paint with Faith, had given him the link to sign up for the free workshop. There was one point that particularly resonated: “It’s like the speaker said, I’ve been to art college and art high school, but they don’t teach you about the business side of art. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it,” said Moreno. “I know what I like to create but it’s hard to make it into a business.”
The free session was hosted by the Broward Cultural Division in partnership with the Coral Springs Museum of Art, and was a precursor to the upcoming seminar Business Skills for Creatives, which runs from June 1 to June 22 at the Destination Sistrunk Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale.
In June 2007, the Broward Cultural Division, Arts Cleveland (formerly known as the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture), and South Florida arts incubator ArtServe, Inc., started the pilot version of the Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute (AEI) in South Florida. Throughout the years, there have been symposiums, workshops, and panel discussions to continue building the relationship between artist and entrepreneur.
The 2024 Business Skills for Creatives continues AEI with a four-part, in-person series. Artists, designers, musicians, filmmakers, and anyone in the creative industry who wants to take their craft to the next level will learn from industry experts on how to make art into a viable business.
There will be workshops on consecutive Saturdays that will offer first-hand knowledge on finding, pitching and collaborating with financial backers, creating a successful marketing campaign, how to identify and develop a personal brand, strategies for communicating with their target market, raising capital and “Artpreneurs” on site who will share their “stories from the trenches” about how they made it.
The series finishes with a hands-on clinic and workshop, hosted by the Florida Small Business Development Center, where participants create business plans that will be reviewed by experts on the spot.
To date, more than 800 artists have completed the annual seminar; artists do not have to be Broward County residents to take part in the workshop.
“I am a first-grade teacher, but my heart is in art,” said Michelle Williamson, who teaches at Orange Brook Elementary in Hollywood. She and a few of her colleagues attended the Opportunities for Artists workshop and were ready to sign up for Business Skills for Creatives.
“I would like to be able to do more of my art. I learned during this talk that there are creative opportunities that I didn’t know about, and I think there will be more of that during the June sessions.”
Williamson said that in addition to learning business skills, she also saw it as a great networking opportunity.
“It seems really accessible and a way to help me learn that transition into how I can make my art into a business without having to go through school again or take courses at a university.”
Business Skills for Creatives will be held in four sessions June 1 through 22 at the Destination Sistrunk Cultural Center, 1033 NW 6th St., Fort Lauderdale. The cost for the complete course is $100, which includes the Business Plan Workshop. Space is limited. Sign up online.
This story was produced by Broward Arts Journalism Alliance (BAJA), an independent journalism program of the Broward County Cultural Division. Visit ArtsCalendar.com for more stories about the arts in South Florida.
