New Workshops to Offer Business Skills for Artists

The free web-based lunchtime series begins on February 1, 2024

By Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture

The Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture is pleased to announce “Work of Art: Business Skills for Artists,” a free online educational series for creative workers in the Central Coast region. Led by local artist instructors, the biweekly interactive workshops will be offered on Thursdays from 12-1:30 p.m. The first workshop is scheduled for Thursday, February 1, 2024, and the program will run through June 6, 2024. Interested participants can go to Upcoming Workshops — Central Coast Creative Corps to learn more and register.

 

The series is designed to teach essential business skills to creatives across disciplines such as music, writing, culinary arts, film, and more. Each session will cover a different topic and is accessible as a stand-alone workshop. Participants can customize their course selection and aren’t required to attend the entire series. Spanish-language interpretation is available but must be requested in advance.

 

Workshop facilitators come from the Central Coast region and have received training and curriculum support from Springboard for the Arts.

 

Adrienne de Guevara, a Santa Barbara-based artist who will be teaching one of the courses, said, “Many artists either have never been exposed to basic business information, find it overwhelming to integrate it into their creative practice, or have been taken advantage of because they did not know how to value their work. With these workshops, we aim to meet creatives where they are by using language that is relevant to their unique practices.”

 

Producing organizations include the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture, Arts Council for Monterey County, Arts Council Santa Cruz County, San Benito County Arts Council, San Luis Obispo County Arts Council, and Ventura County Arts Council. Funding for the program is provided by the California Arts Council as part of the Central Coast Creative Corps workforce development program.

 

Additional in-person artist skill-building sessions to take place at the Santa Barbara Community Arts Workshop are currently in development.

Workshop schedule:

o    February 1, 2024: Career Planning

• 1. • Where do you want to be both artistically and professionally? Learn how to define your values, identify key choices and develop a plan to achieve your career goals.

o    February 15, 2024: Time Management

• 1. • Discover analytical and tool-based approaches to manage your time. These tools will help you tackle hurdles related to efficiency, flexibility, and structure to help you reach your artistic goals.

o    February 29, 2024: Portfolio Kit

• 1. • Your portfolio is the core of your promotional material and professional calling card. Focus on the essential elements: sharpening your artist statement, tailoring your artistic resume, and curating and formatting your work samples.

o    March 14, 2024: Marketing and Promotions

• 1. • Define your product, discover your target audience, make decisions about how you sell your work, and identify a budget and strategy for your artistic business. Craft persuasive messaging and create a strategy for how you will get the word out about your work, events, and news.

o    March 28, 2024: Pricing

• 1. • This analytical approach isn’t intended to be the only way to price your work. It’s intended to show you the factors of product production that apply to everything in the marketplace. Once you understand what each of the variables are you’ll be able to customize a formula that fits your business model.

o    April 11, 2024: Recordkeeping

• 1. • Learn how to track revenues and expenses, make informed projections, and gain a clearer understanding of your artistic business finances.

o    April 25, 2024: Legal Considerations

• 1. • Obtain general information about intellectual property, contract basics and structuring your artistic business.

o    May 9, 2024: Funding and Grant Writing

• 1. • Learn how to think creatively about diversifying your funding streams by exploring different models for generating value, resources, and revenue. Learn the essentials of grant writing along with resources for searching and structuring your grants.

o    May 23, 2024: Business Plan Essentials

• 1. • Learn how to prepare a simple business plan, in arts-friendly language, to help you organize all the various aspects of your artistic practice and make informed business decisions.

o    June 6, 2024: Engaging Customers and Selling Work

• 1. • Learn tools and techniques to communicate the value of your work to potential customers.

 

About the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture

The Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture is a Division of the County’s Community Services Department, serving as the local governmental umbrella for arts and culture projects and programs within the County. The Office represents a longstanding partnership between the County of Santa Barbara and the City of Santa Barbara. For more than 30 years, both governments have shared resources and staff to maximize support for arts and culture institutions, workers, and initiatives. The Office serves as a regional arts agency linked to the California Arts Council through the State and Local Partnership Program (SLPP). For more information, go to Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture (ca.gov).