PROGRAM GOALS:

• Support Mecklenburg County artists in building balanced, sustainable lives by applying the skills, creativity, and resourcefulness of their creative practice to the rest of their life.
• Deliver skill-building focus on strategic planning, time management, financial planning and goal setting practices.
• Build social capital and opportunity by positioning artists as resources for one another, emphasizing connectedness to intricate and resilient webs of community.
• Equip local creative leaders as content leaders and facilitators.
• Create a generative learning environment that can inform ongoing/future artist needs beyond the initial pilot.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES:

• Participants have a written plan they are working toward.
• Participants are better able to balance making art, earning money, and their personal lives.
• Participants know the cost of their time.
• Participants value what they have learned.

 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

Thanks to special funding provided by Mecklenburg County, ASC will offer a weekend intensive training for up to 30 artists designed to build capacity and community through partnered work on key issues critical to long-term sustainability, including planning, mission, finances, and time management. Andrew Simonet of Artists U will provide initial coaching, a curriculum framework and guidance for local leaders/facilitators. Participants will receive a copy of Simonet’s book, Making Your Life as an Artist, and the accompanying Workbook and will have reading/homework assignments prior to the session. Participants will also receive a $250 stipend.

Participants will be assigned to diverse, multi-disciplinary Working Groups led by local creative leaders who will facilitate positive, realistic conversations around creative sustainability throughout the intensive. Working Groups will continue to convene after the intensive to provide accountability and support for artists to change their trajectory and build rigorous and supportive community conversations. The intensive will be hosted at the VAPA Center in Uptown Charlotte June 17-19, 2022. 

Application deadline is Friday, May 20.