Wednesday, April 21st from 9am to 5pm &
Thursday, April 22nd, from 9am to noon
Petersham Town Hall, Lower Level

Are you searching for a way to support your creative work? North Quabbin Woods and the UMass Arts Extension Service are pleased to present a free one and a half day artist in business training program for North Quabbin regional artists.

This Artist Business Training Program will introduce you to the critical skills you need to succeed as an artist, no matter what your discipline. This training program, presented by the Arts Extension Service, a national arts service organization based at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will focus on three main areas: finding funding, marketing, and business planning for artists of all disciplines.

Following the workshop, you will have the opportunity to continue the conversation in monthly peer sessions with other artists, plus have a one-half hour personal consultation with the program presenters, Maren Brown and Dee Boyle-Clapp.


Funding and space for this series is provided by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, North Quabbin Woods, and the Petersham Town Hall. With the support of funders and site coordinators, this workshop is offered free of charge to twenty-five artist participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants must sign a contract making a commitment to attend the one and a half day session and the monthly peer networking sessions.

Coffee, bagels, and other refreshments will be served at each session. Please bring a bag lunch for Wednesday's lunch break.

To register for this popular free event, click here and fill out the online form.

To learn more, contact:

Annette Ermini at North Quabbin Woods
Email: info@northquabbinwoods.org
Phone: 978-544-3332

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Session Descriptions:

Funding for Artists

Learn about the multitude of funding opportunities for individual artists, including grants from foundations, local, state and federal agencies, artist residencies, and other opportunities. Familiarize yourself with grant terminology, the structure of grants, and the specific steps you can take to research and apply for funding.

Marketing Basics for Artists

Marketing is the most important tool to build awareness of your work as an artist and can help you to reach new audiences and cultivate loyalty in those you already serve. This workshop will introduce you to the fundamentals of marketing for artists. You will begin by learning basic marketing concepts, such as the "Four P's" of marketing (product, place, promotion, and price), how to better understand customers, establish appropriate pricing, and utilize the internet to extend your marketing reach. Discussion will also include how to measure the success of your efforts with tools such as Google Analytics.

Business Planning for Artists

If you want to turn your art into a profit-making enterprise, a business plan is an essential first step. Business plans help you to fully plan your business concept and are a requirement for securing bank loans. This workshop will introduce you to a step-by-step process for developing a business plan, providing you with a template that you can use to begin the process.



Workshop Leaders:


Maren Brown, M.B.A. has over 25 years of experience in the field of arts management. As the Director of the UMass Arts Extension Service (AES), she leads training programs in a variety of arts management topics for state arts agencies around the nation (arts programming, creative economy, marketing, program evaluation, partnership development, artist business skills and other programs), teaches marketing in AES' arts administration degree and certificate programs, and conducts all AES research projects (creative economy, evaluation for state agencies). Brown is co-editor of the 5th edition of Fundamentals of Arts Management, which is utilized as a foundational text by 45% of the arts management degree programs in the nation, and a contributor to the Partners in Creative Economy Planning Workbook. During her career, Brown has directed an arts council, founded the educational department of a performing and visual arts center, led a multi-disciplinary museum school, initiated a family program series, developed school tours, curated an exhibition series, and founded the Western Mass Arts Alliance which served three counties in Massachusetts. Brown is a practicing egg tempera painter.

Dee Boyle-Clapp, M.F.A, is the UMass Arts Extension Service Program Coordinator and instructor of the Fundraising and Financial Management in the Arts courses in the AES arts administration degree and certificate program. She was a founding director of the Art Bank community art school and performance center in Shelburne Falls, co-owner of Artemis Gallery, coordinator of the Franklin County Creative Economy project Fostering the Arts and Culture Partnership, and instructor of studio art and art history courses at museums and community colleges. Boyle-Clapp is a visual artist with an extensive exhibition background.