Kansas Arts Commission to Offer Artist Business Development Program

For more information contact: Robyn Horton Communications Manager 785/368-6542 robyn@arts.ks.gov FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 5, 2011

700 SW Jackson Street, Ste. 1004 Topeka, Kansas 66603-3774 http://arts.ks.gov/

                                                               

KANSAS ARTS COMMISSION TO OFFER  ARTIST BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Topeka, Kan. – The Kansas Arts Commission, in partnership with KCArtistLink and Wichita State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship, announce the names of participants of an eight-week seminar program available to Kansas artists.

The seminar, Artist, INC, addresses the specific business needs and challenges artists of all disciplines face every day. Artists will gather once a week for eight weeks in Wichita to learn business skills specific to their small business and apply those skills cooperatively with their peers. The seminar takes place from January 22 - March 12, 2011, at Wichita State University’s Devlin Hall.

Participants from Wichita are: Collin Allen, Connie Bonfy, Chris Brunner, Robert Burdette, Jana Durfee, Rebecca Hoyer, Kevin Kelly, Kyle Kolkovich, Heather Meeds, Kevin Mullins, Lisa Rundstrom, Fernando Salazar, Joseph D. Steffes, Max Stewart, Mark Toland, Donald Vine and Casey Wohletz.

Participants from other Kansas cities are: Teressa Sliger, Benton; David James Christiansen, Clearwater; John McCluggage, Douglass; Brian Lingle, Hutchinson; Ashley Davis, Lawrence; Norma Lynn Nicks, Maize; Rachel Epp Buller, Newton; and Michelle Meade, Salina.

Artist facilitators who mentor the participants are: Danette Baker, Ed Baker, Constance Ernatt, Adam Hartke and Ann Resnick, all from Wichita.

Participating artists will gain:

• Tools and skills in arts planning, marketing, finance, law, and technology;
• An increased knowledge of and ability to access local and national art business resources;
• A strategic plan for pursuing, marketing and sustaining their art; and
• A network of cross-discipline, diverse artists to provide peer learning and support into the future. 
  

  For questions about the program, please call 866/433-0688 (toll free) or 785/296-3335, or e-mail kac@arts.ks.gov.

Artist, INC was developed and is presented through a unique partnership of the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City, Charlotte Street Foundation and the Missouri Small Business & Technology Development Center through their KCArtistLink initiative.  KCArtistLink is part of the Creative Communities program of Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), funded by the Ford Foundation.  For additional information please go to http://www.KCArtistLink.com/ArtistINC.

The Kansas Arts Commission is a state agency, funded by the State of Kansas and the National Endowment for the Arts, dedicated to promoting and supporting the arts in Kansas. Its mission is to provide opportunities for the people of Kansas to experience, celebrate and value the arts throughout their lives. For more information on the Kansas Arts Commission, please visit the KAC website at http://arts.ks.gov/.