VISUAL ARTS

Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute Returns to South Florida

A series of full-day sessions to be offered on four Saturdays, starting June 2, 2012 at ArtServe Inc., 1350 East Sunrise Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale

Broward Cultural Division, The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC), and ArtServe, Inc. announce The Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute (AEI) for South Florida artists to be presented on four Saturdays in June 2012, at ArtServe, Inc., 1350 East Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale.

The AEI is a course of study designed to assist individual artists of all disciplines (visual, musicians, writers, media, theater, performing arts) by cultivating and advancing their business skills, and is designed at strengthening their operating infrastructure and expanding their businesses. The course has been refreshed this year with a new format, and new modules. To date, 300 South Florida artists have graduated from the Institute. AEI will be offered as 20 classes convening during full-day sessions (9:00 am – 6:00 pm) on June 2, 9, 16, 2012 and a Business Plan Clinic and Workshop on June 23, 2012 (9:00 am – 2:00 pm).


Registrants will receive an AEI course book, an indispensable resource for artists. Developed by CPAC, the course book features exercises and readings to prepare for each session, and is tailored to the specific needs of artist entrepreneurs.

The Business Plan Clinic guides participants through preparation of a simple business plan, an essential tool for any artist. In addition, participants will learn how to work effectively with lenders to obtain financial support through the Artist Micro Credit Program, a community-based revolving loan program, designed to assist resident Broward County practicing professional and emerging artists.

Designed to help artists operate in the marketplace more successfully, the AEI course curriculum covers all aspects of developing an artistic business. It helps artists identify and develop their personal brand, develop strategies for communicating with target markets, raise capital and identify a variety of tools for protecting one’s work legally.

The AEI curriculum offers critical support for artists, enabling them to contribute to strengthening the vitality of the larger urban arts and culture sector. Sessions include a mix of lectures, panels, group discussions and practical exercises. Now in its sixth year, the 2012 program has been updated and refreshed with a new format, new modules and new instructors.

“Art works” is a declaration that with two million full-time artists and 5.7 million arts-related jobs in this country, arts jobs are real jobs that are part of the real economy. Art workers pay taxes, and art contributes to economic growth, neighborhood revitalization, and the livability of American towns and cities,” says Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts, Rocco Landesman.

Participation costs $100 and includes light refreshments and free parking. Click HERE https://patronsecure.com/bccd/events.cfm?event_id=717 to register online or contact Broward Cultural Division’s Grants Management Specialist Adriane Clarke, at 954-357-7530 for more information.

For more information about the history of the course and its success in northeast Ohio, please contact, Megan L. Van Voorhis, vice president, Community Partnerships for Arts and Culture, Cleveland, OH, 216-575-0331;

CPAC, program founder of the AEI, has provided comprehensive business training to more than 600 artists nationwide; this service is made possible by the generous financial support of Dominion, with additional support from the Cleveland Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, the Kulas Foundation, and the John P. Murphy Foundation.