HandMade in America Craft Lab Series
HIA adapts classes and materials to the needs of craft artists. Artists have expressed frustration that small business courses do not give them the right tools for their specific businesses.
Sample budgets, business plans, marketing materials and more are reconfigured to reflect the needs of real craft artists in the present economic and business climate. Business topics include licensing and legal structures, start-up costs, break-even analysis, cash flow, marketing, loans and financing, business plans and certification.
Creativity courses include learning to tell your story as an artist and Art and Fear, a creativity workshop based on the book of the same name by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Industry skills include an exhibition practicum, best practices for craft artists, national trends in craft and how to talk about the value of buying handmade.
Access-to-market courses include retailing, wholesale and exporting; artist websites, photographing your work and producing your own marketing materials; and information from craft curators on what they look for and how they put together exhibitions.
This program is supported by Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.
2013 Schedule
Mt. Airy
04 May 2013, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Surry County Arts Council, 218 Rockford St., Mt. Airy, NC
Topic: The Artist Portfolio/Digital and Print
Come find out what should be in every artist’s portfolio, what your portfolio is judged on, and how to approach galleries. You will also learn how to think outside the box about exhibitions, and get some insider tips of how to get your work seen. You will also learn the difference between an artist’s bio and statement.
Mt. Airy
04 May 2013, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Location: Surry County Arts Council, 218 Rockford St., Mt. Airy, NC
Topic: Finding Your Target Market
The majority of businesses spend 6-8 months targeting the wrong market. By the time they realize it, they have wasted a good deal of time and money. We will do several activities in this class which will help you find your target market and how learn to reach them. Together, we will discover who your target buyer is and why.
West Jefferson
06 May 2013, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Ashe County Arts Council, 303 School Ave., West Jefferson, NC
Topic: The Artist Portfolio/Digital and Print
Come find out what should be in every artist’s portfolio, what your portfolio is judged on, and how to approach galleries. You will also learn how to think outside the box about exhibitions, and get some insider tips of how to get your work seen. You will also learn the difference between an artist’s bio and statement.
West Jefferson
06 May 2013, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Ashe County Arts Council, 303 School Ave., West Jefferson, NC
Topic: Social Media For Beginners
Do you know what Facebook is or how to pin a photo on Pinterest? If you are just starting out with Social Media, come find out the basic tricks to make it work for your creative business. Please bring a laptop if you have one.
Morganton
06 May 2013, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Location: Burke County Arts Council, 115 East Meeting St., Morganton, NC
Topic: Learning to Love Your Digital Camera
Come find out how to use your digital camera to take great photos of your work. This is one of the most important things you can do to grow your craft business.
Asheville
14 May 2013, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: HandMade in America, 125 S. Lexington Ave., Suite 101, Asheville, NC
Topic: Artists’ Critique
Artists often don’t get together to formally critique each other’s work, but it can be one of the best learning experiences. Hearing what someone else sees when they look at your work gives you important and constructive feedback. Come participate in a formal critique of your work. Everyone who wishes to participate must bring one piece for critique.
Lenoir
16 May 2013, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Location: Caldwell County Arts Council, 601 College Ave., SW. Lenoir, NC
Topic: How to Get Your Work Seen
Come find out what goes in a portfolio, how to think outside the box about exhibitions, and get some insider tips of how to get your work seen. Learn how to approach galleries, create a portfolio, and what the difference is between an artist’s bio and statement.
Reservations are required. To register contact 828.252.0121 or info@handmadeinamerica.org
Cost
Members (Artist level or above) – Free
Members (Basic level) – $10
Non-members – $20
FREE Classes
Boone15 May 2013, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Appalachian Enterprise Center, 130 Poplar Grove Connector, Boone, NC
Topic: How to Find Your Target Market
The majority of businesses spend 6-8 months targeting the wrong market. By the time they realize it, they have wasted a good deal of time and money. We will do several activities in this class which will help you find your target market and how to reach them. Together, we will discover who your target buyer is and why.
FREE, but must register in advance to Evelyn Asher at 828.263.5371 or easher@cccti.edu
Craft Labs: About the Topics
Telling stories is how we identify, learn, and share our history. If your goal is to educate, persuade, or simply connect in a meaningful way with a particular audience, storytelling is the single most powerful communication tool available to you and can be your best selling tool. Come learn how to tell your story as a craft maker. Executive Director, Gwynne Rukenbrod will teach you the importance of learning how to tell your unique story and hone your skills at story telling. Gwynne will talk about the three steps in a good story and group exercises will lead you through each step of YOUR story.
Are you interested in creating a product for the wholesale market? Do you want to better understand the aspects of wholesaling your work? What things do you need to consider? How do you know your product is a good candidate for wholesale? Learn about the wholesale market and the various aspects that need to be considered before you decide to enter the wholesale market.
Do you like having visitors in your studio, but don’t know how to engage them? Do you want to participate in your area’s studio tours but don’t know what to do to prep your studio? Do you know the right questions to ask a potential customer to get them to buy?
Do you wonder if your booth has the optimum set up for engaging your visitor? Do you know what questions to ask your booth visitor? Come learn the answer to these and other questions. The basics of setups and sales techniques will be discussed.
Have you always wanted to know how to write your own artist statement? What should be included in it? How long should it be? Why do I need to include this in my portfolio? If you have asked yourself any of these or other questions relating to the Artist Statement, then this free class is for you! Come hear from the new Executive Director of HandMade in America, Gwynne Rukenbrod, about how to write an artist statement. You will actually begin to write your statement as a part of the class exercises and walk away with a clearer understanding of what your statement should be
Come find out what goes in a portfolio, how to think outside the box about exhibitions, and some insider tips of how to get your work seen. Learn from curator and director, Gwynne Rukenbrod about how to approach galleries, create a portfolio, and what is the difference between an artist’s bio and statement.
As an artist you need to be able to talk about the value of buying handmade. Come engage in a conversation with Executive Director, Gwynne Rukenbrod and Director of Craft Entrepreneurship, Kari Rinn about why you need to know why other people buy handmade and learn how to talk to a potential client about the value of handmade.
Pricing your artwork is not a formula, even though many people want one. It can be a complicated set of calculations, but anyone can easily learn the various aspects that need to be taken into account when pricing your work. Come hear about all of those aspects of pricing your work.
The book Art and Fear By Ted Orland and David Bayles is a quick and interesting read. “The book explores the way art gets made, the reasons it often doesn’t get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way. The book’s co-authors, David Bayles and Ted Orland, are themselves both working artists, grappling daily with the problems of making art in the real world. Their insights and observations, drawn from personal experience, provide an incisive view into the world of art as it is expeienced by artmakers themselves.” Quoted from Amazon. Read the book and then come have a discussion with Gwynne Rukenbrod about various issues in the book.
Dealing with your inner creativity, often doesn’t leave time for dealing with your business. Come find out how to set up a budget for your business, giving you an idea of what it will take for you to run a sustainable business. Learn how to set up a budget in Excel and how to create a way to document your expenses and income. Bring your laptop if you have Excel to create your own budget.
HandMade in America is one example of organizations offering exhibition opportunities to artists, but require a submission of an exhibition proposal. Come learn what an exhibition proposal is and what goes into one. Also learn about some basic PowerPoint slide show set ups. Bring your laptop if you have PowerPoint to create your own exhibition proposal.