Artist INC, a collaborative partnership with the Arts Center of the Ozarks and Mid-America Art Alliance announced the artists selected for the spring 2019 session of the Artist INC Live seminar.

Northwest Arkansas artists include: visual artists Amber Perrodin, Lisa Blount, Heather Chilson, Kathleen Barta, Chad Maupin, Stevie Stevens, Anthony Davis, Beth Erbe, Grayce Holcomb, Maryevelyn Jones, Rachel Allen, Emily Smith, Caleb Clark and Kimberly McCabe; musicians Amos Cochran, Jamie Lou Connolly, and Cameron Johnson; theater/performing artist Simone Cottrell; literary artists Molly Bess Rector and Delani Bartlette; and film/video artist John Erwin.

“We are thrilled to welcome another amazing group of Northwest Arkansas artists to the Artist INC family. They will join a community of more than 50 local artists who have been through the Artist INC Live program since its inception two years ago,” said Artist INC administrator Eve Smith. “The Spring 2019 Artist INC class reflects the abundance of talent and drive in the local artist community and we look forward to empowering them to create sustainable art practices and viable arts businesses.”

The program was designed to give artists from all disciplines the business training and support needed to strengthen their art practice and grow their arts business.

Artists were selected for the program through a competitive application process and panel comprised artists, curators, and arts leaders in the community, representing a range of artistic disciplines. Criteria for acceptance focused on the quality of artistic work, with consideration given for an artist’s career goals and overall readiness for the program.

The Artist INC Live workshop addresses the specific business needs and challenges artists of all disciplines face every day. Artists gather for one night a week for eight weeks to learn business skills specific to their art practice and work to hone in on those skills cooperatively with their peers. Using an innovative class design, artists learn and grow together through artist facilitator mentoring, small group application activities, as well as large group discussion and multimedia lecture.
ABOUT ARTIST INC               

Artist INC is a collaborative partnership of the Arts Center of the Ozarks and Mid-America Arts Alliance. Originally launched in 2007 as KCArtistLink, Artist INC connects Kansas City artists of all disciplines to the tools, resources, and opportunities necessary to develop their entrepreneurial skills and strengthen their artistic practice.

Artist INC programs include the original Artist INC Live eight-week seminar; two speaker series that connect artists with national and local experts in arts entrepreneurship; the Artist INC website; Artist INC’s official blog PushingTheFlywheel, a digital resource destination for the local artist community; and Artist INC Advance, a project-based seminar available to all Artist INC Live alumni. In 2013, in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA), Artist INC expanded into M-AAA’s six state region (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas) and has now delivered the 8-week Artist INC Live seminar to artists in Argenta, Springdale; Austin, Texas; Lawrence, Kansas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Omaha, Nebraska; and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Artist INC is made possible through grants from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, the innovative collaboration of Kansas City’s arts service organizations, and generous support from the Kansas City creative community and arts supporters, including the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation; Hallmark Cards; the Missouri Arts Council; and the Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts. Artist INC also receives program support and guidance from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, the Kansas City Art Institute, the UMKC Small Business Technology & Development Center and numerous local area artists involved in the community planning process.