Free workshop for artists, creative entrepreneurs looking to improve business skills

Oct. 7 in Owensboro

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 22, 2016) — Artists and other creative entrepreneurs in Western Kentucky who are interested in accessing resources to improve their business skills can do so at a free workshop presented by the Kentucky Arts Council.

The workshop, titled Business Resources for the Creative Industry, will be 1-3:30 p.m. Central time, Oct. 7 at the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. office, 200 E. 3rd St. in Owensboro. The full agenda and online registration is available on the arts council’s website.

Participants will hear from representatives of the Kentucky Small Business Development Center (SBCD) at Murray State University in Owensboro and the Kentucky Innovation Network-Owensboro about how those organizations can help creative entrepreneurs set and achieve small business goals. The event also includes a workshop on how to price artwork and other handmade works led by Vallorie Henderson of the Louisville SBDC. The day will end with a chance for one-on-one consultation with workshop presenters and networking opportunities among participants.

Joe Berry, vice president of entrepreneurship for the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. and director of the Owensboro office of the Kentucky Innovation Network, said a strong presence of arts businesses in a community is key to a healthy local economy.

“This workshop is important because often arts and cultural organizations are seen as separate from other economic drivers in a community,” Berry said. “One of the things Lori Meadows and her team at the arts council have made abundantly clear through the Creative Industry Report is that the arts are a crucial component to economic development in Owensboro and the rest of Kentucky. This workshop marries the creative industry and economic development. It will empower individuals to pursue a commercial enterprise that happens to be the arts.”

For more information on Business Resources for the Creative Industry, contact Emily B. Moses, arts council creative industry manager, at [email protected] or 502-564-3757.