CRAFT YOUR CREATIVE VENTURE

based on over two decades

working with artists & as A working artist.

Here's a current list of my workshop and mentoring offerings.  Most of these sessions run about an hour or so.  For logistics and pricing, please email me at jenniferareisATgmail.com.

Adjudicated Opportunities: Art/Craft Shows, Exhibitions and Guilds/Programs

Are you prepared to submit to juried art opportunities?  Do you have the information and images ready to present yourself professionally?  This session will go over the process and work that goes into applying to art/craft shows, juried exhibitions and adjudicated guilds/programs from an artist who is an Al Smith Fellow, a many-times accepted and rejected artist, and a gallery director/curator/juror for nearly two decades.  

Artist Action Planning

Take your artistic dreams and articulate them into actionable goals.  Using the Business Model Canvas, S.W.O.T. analysis, and other strategic planning tools, participants will learn how to put into writing their aspirations and develop them into an action plan.   

Artist Branding

Brand identity is the sum of consistent visuals, narratives and interactions you provide the external world to represent your work.  Branding for artists can get a little tricky as the personal is often embedded in the creative work and product.  In this session, participants will go through exercises to generate an inventory of information to be crafted into a brand identity along with strategies and tools to communicate it across platforms.  Participants will leave with a Personal Mission Statement and pitching experience.

Art/Product Photography

For e-commerce, web presence, and adjudicated opportunities like exhibitions, grants/fellowships, and art/craft fairs, you MUST (underscored MUST!) have quality images of your artwork, craft, and/or product.  You do not need fancy equipment to accomplish this.  In this session, you will learn hands-on how to set up a portable photography studio appropriate for two and three dimension work, how to use basic photo editing apps available on your smartphone or laptop, and will leave with images appropriate to represent your work to jurors, curators, and the public.  This session is taught from three points of experience: as an artist who has taken her own art photography for many years (successfully juried into and receiving opportunities based on quality images); a gallery director who has reviewed 1,000s of artist/artisan product images; and an arts professional who managed and directed fine art photography for a large museum (including a major museum collection handbook).

Booth Basics: Getting Ready to Take Your Show on the Road (or just in town)

Are you interested in starting out selling your art/craft at local or regional shows?  Or, have you had one or two experiences selling through a booth and it could have been better?  This session will go through the basics of selling in person from product packaging, display and pricing, salesmanship (talking to people!), the cost and mechanisms of doing business and collecting money, show applications, and cost/benefit analysis of differing opportunities.  Even if you don't consider yourself a "booth artist", learning how to create, package, price and manage a "pop up shop" of your work can provide some extra income, and it doesn't have to cost you a ton in money and time to do it well.

Crafting Your Artist Statement

Learn how to write the necessary evil - the artist (or art or craft) statement.  It doesn't have to be painful, I promise!  We will go through inventory exercises created to generate descriptive information to be used in the "building" of your artist statement "structure".  Your writing guide is a gallery director with 16+ years experience who knows a great artist statement from the basic to the bad.  This session is for all artists who want a solid statement whether they are starting from scratch or are in desperate need of a rework.

Diversified Revenue Streams: Expanding Your Portfolio of Opportunities

As you are planning and expanding your creative venture, it is important to see your business as a portfolio of resource-gaining opportunities.  Diverse streams of funding, support and publicity allows creatives to weather cycles of work, continually spin off new ventures to test and grow, and be nimble and responsive to new markets.  Presenting on her own ecosystem of ever-evolving creative efforts, the instructor will expand participants' concepts of what is potential in the realm of an arts business.

Exhibition Planning and Management for Artists and Organizations

Organizations and individuals can get really excited about the idea of hosting an exhibition with perhaps not much understanding of the logistics, management, programming (receptions and artist talks), and marketing that go along with a bigger-than-you-think project.  This session will lead artists and/or art groups through the planning process from exhibition idea to work plan and marketing strategy (plan the work and then work the plan!). Save yourself the hassle of learning the hard way and plan the project with an arts professional with nearly two decades of curatorial experience ranging from museums to art centers to university galleries.

Digital Marketing for Creative Makers 

This session introduces participants to digital marketing and the consistent branding, promotional assets, and platforms needed to leverage the Internet as a tool for audience engagement.  Participants will leave with an understanding of which platforms are best suited for their ventures, appropriate posts/content, and strategies for building appropriate content, posting frequency, and audience engagement. 

"Getting Started with Etsy" in partnership with Kentucky Arts Council and ETSY

Learn the basics of selling on Etsy!  Taking a “no need to reinvent the wheel” approach, this workshop focuses on analyzing existing shops, and breaking down the core components of successful selling on Etsy.  Special attention will be spent on how to utilize the social media and database aspects (SEO/keywords) of this global marketplace, as well as a “back of the house” view of analytics from a current Etsy seller. The instructor is a certified and trained Etsy facilitator. For a longer, more in depth curriculum, organizations can host (in partnership with the Kentucky Arts Council) Etsy's Craft Entrepreneurship Program, a multi-session course. 

Grants, Fellowships & Residencies: Crafting Proposals

Building a proposal for a grant, fellowship and/or residency seems daunting at first, but if you break it down into components, keep a focus on the mission of the organization AND the opportunity, and be mindful of deadlines (!!!), it is totally doable.  This session will guide you through the necessary elements of strong proposals including clear, concise writing and excellent images to tell the story of your to-be-funded project.  The instructor has been awarded multiple national and state grants and fellowships as an artist, and also has applied for and received grant funding as an arts administrator directing visual arts space.

Marketing for Creatives

Creative makers are often told they need to market their work with little specifics on how to do it. This session will go through exactly what marketing is and how to tailor it to an individual’s brand, product and targeted clientele.  Social media and ecommerce options will also be covered.  Participants will leave with an action plan to tackle their future marketing goals, and if there is time, will begin to draft up artist/artisan bios and art/product statements.

Social Media for Creative Makers

Success stories abound of creative makers leveraging social media platforms to build their social and financial capital.  This session will introduce participates to the more popular social media platforms and will go through how the individual sites work, their unique content delivery and aesthetic, and associated audience segments.  Participants will leave with an understanding of which platforms are best suited for their ventures, appropriate posts/content, and strategies for building appropriate content, posting frequency, and audience engagement. 

Re/Framing Your Art Business: From Ideation to Action

A two hour interactive workshop where creative business owners and would-be art/craft entrepreneurs work through a number of exercises to inspire a re-imagining of their work.  We will cover the Business Model Canvas, Value Propositions, SWOT analysis, Buyer Personae Illustrator, Mindmapping Diversified Revenue Streams, Personal Mission Statements, and Action Planning.

Those Who Teach: Learning To Workshop Your Craft

Teaching through workshops and classes is a nice revenue stream to add to your creative portfolio.  However, not everyone is ready to host a well-structured and student-oriented class.  You need to be prepared so there's happy students and a sane instructor at the end of the day! Learn from a teaching artist who has 14 years experience in art instruction (from individually-hosted community workshops to classes at renowned arts schools like Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts) and an MA in art education/studio art.

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Creative Entrepreneurship Coaching:  I am available IRL (in real life) or virtually to provide one on one guidance to assist you with the work that comes with generating and navigating a creative venture from concept to market.  Most of the sessions above can be reframed for individualized instruction.  Just contact me and we will chat about it!

Kauffman FastTrac Facilitation and Course Management:  Interested in more traditional small business development that will manifest in an actual BUSINESS PLAN? I am an experienced facilitator and course manager for economic development organizations in the delivery of the Kauffman Foundation’s FastTrac training program. More information about FastTrac is here: www.fasttrac.org/. Contact me directly to schedule me for one-on-one training or to run your cohort’s class!