Savannah State Update:
- Series equips artists with business skills, including business structure, taxes, financial literacy, and curating teams to professionalize creative practices.
- Collaboration among Telfair Museums, SSU Fine Arts, and The Greater Savannah Black Chamber of Commerce supports artrepreneurs and community partnerships.
- SSU students produce and publicize the series; Aja Boone coined Vision to Value to emphasize sustainable creative careers.
The first in a series of forums that will bring together business and creative professionals will be offered on March 12, at 6 p.m. at Savannah State University’s Kennedy Fine Arts Building. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register for the event, please visit www.eventbrite.com
The panel discussion will guide on choosing a business structure, taxes, and financial literacy for artists, and curating a team to help manage artistic practices. Panelists include Arisa Burgest, MBA, chief financial officer at Assurance Reconciliation Services, LLC, along with Angela Roe, a painter, and Bobby Bagley of Bobby Bagley Fine Arts Studio.
The series is organized by Dr. Annissa Roland of AJ Stone Jewelry, who serves as recording secretary for the FAAA Board of Directors.
“Whether self-taught or degree-holding, artists engulf themselves in the act of creation,” said Roland. “When they are ready to share their work with the community and make it available for collectors to purchase, their focus remains on the vision of the final product and the process of its genesis.”
“However, it is at that very moment that the artist becomes an entrepreneur or artrepreneur with work of monetary value, Roland said. “If this is a career choice, there is no need to subscribe to the stereotyped ‘starving artist narrative’. This series is designed to provide artrepreneurs with information and tools to support their small business through an art museum, chamber of commerce, and university collaboration. From business structure and merchandising to expanding audiences and mental health, The Business of Art provides a space for student and professional artists, artrepreneurs, enthusiasts, and collectors to learn from and with each other the tips of a successful business taking their creative visions to sustainable monetary value.”
Students from SSU’s Dr. John Bennett’s Introduction to Arts Leadership seminar are helping to publicize and produce the event. Aja Boone, a senior Visual and Performing Arts major with a concentration in studio art, developed the phrase “Vision to Value” to describe the goal of the series. “Success needs sustainability and this workshop will expand our understanding of creative professions,” she said.
Tamia Fuller, a junior visual and performing arts with a concentration in theater, said she is looking forward to hearing from the panelists about their journeys. “We will get to see the process they went through to become successful,” she said. Jaquez Stephens, a Visual and Performing Arts major with a concentration in music performance, agreed. “The event will help us envision how to turn artistic passions into profitable businesses.”
Qipeng Song, a senior Visual and Performing Arts major with a concentration in studio art, designed the logo for the series.
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