By Grayson Lord
Artible SoCo, a New Bedford based organization, recently debuted an “Artrepeneur” program designed for local students hoping to kickstart their own art-related businesses. The founder, artist Meredith Birch, aims to give admitted students opportunities she never had by providing supplies, resources, and networking. The 12-week program gives students a foundation of art and business-related knowledge. Through the program, students created their own small art businesses. The program ended with an art show which exhibited their creative works in a gallery. All profits went to the students.
The classes, which occurred 3 times a week, were divided into three sections: business, creating, and marketing. The first four weeks of the program were spent discussing the responsibilities of owning a creative business. In these sessions, students were taught important budgeting skills while learning how to make their businesses successful and unique. Students came up with their own businesses and wrote personal budgeting plans for it.
The next four weeks highlighted the artistic aspect of these businesses. Students were given the supplies needed in order to design the product itself. The program was fully-funded by MassHire, which covered the cost of all materials. Students were able to use whatever supplies they needed without worrying about the expenses. The products would later be displayed and available for purchase at the art show.
The remaining weeks of the program were spent discussing marketing in the art industry. The students discussed their plans to reach their intended audience and specifically learned about the utilization of social media for business purposes. They also were instructed in logo design which were later printed on business cards. The last week consisted of preparation for the final art show. Students priced their work and set up their displays. During the art show, students presented their work to the gallery visitors while demonstrating their new public speaking and business management skills.
The Artible SoCo program caters to students who want to shape their future careers around art. It gave students the skills and resources to prepare them for the responsibilities that accompany an art career. Artible SoCo’s Young Adult Artepreneur Program will have future sessions in 2019.More details can be found at https://artiblesoco.com/artrepreneur-progam.