The Business of Art – Symposium in Nevada City on Oct. 1st

Nevada City, CA, September 19, 2022: Nevada County Arts Council is offering the creative community another unparalleled professional development opportunity in the form of an all-day symposium for artists on Saturday, October 1^st.

Says Eliza Tudor, Executive Director at Nevada County Arts Council: “The Business of Art was inaugurated among the very last major events prior to Governor Newsom’s Shelter-in-Place Order at the outset of the pandemic. It was fantastic. Close to 200 artists came together to hear unique perspectives from thought leaders and influencers from the field. And, despite a powerful online presence during the extent of the pandemic, The Business of Art was one event we didn’t want to recreate online. And here we are – back in person!”

Joining The Business of Art is keynote speaker Sherri Young, Founder and Executive Director at The African-American Shakespeare Company, one of the most important BIPOC-led performing arts companies in the United States. Says Young: “As part of a creative economy in California worth almost $688 billion, how do we re-set and re-imagine our working lives post-pandemic? How do we strive, individually and collectively, to be our best selves? How do we bring self-awareness and confidence to our work, while recognizing both astonishing opportunities and the challenges of new contexts for succeeding as artists and cultural workers? We will be considering all this and more at The Business of Art, and I look forward to meeting members of a sector so important to its region that the state has twice designated it for its cultural districts. This has to mean something!”

The Council is inviting Nevada County’s creative sector for an exchange of information and knowledge with the expectation that, together, lasting relationships can be wrought, and constructive conversations about the many challenges facing our community.

“Local leaders will again play an important role”, says Tudor, “Amber Jo Manuel from the Center for the Arts, Jenny Darlington-Person from MIM, and Ramona Howard from Nevada County Media will all participate in panels, plenaries and practical workshops on diverse subjects from philanthropy post-pandemic to grant writing strategies, to overcoming barriers to creativity and adopting out-of-the-box media strategies.”

Leaders from Eastern Nevada County will also be in attendance to represent Truckee Cultural District. Karyn Stanley and Judi Morales-Gibson from Truckee Roundhouse and Kara Asilanis, co-founder of The Curious Forge, will share key insights into the critical value of maker spaces and how to get involved, while Troy Corliss of Truckee Public Art Commission will join renowned artists Miles Toland and Tahiti Pehrson for a discussion on the meaning and practical applications of public art.

California-based musician, composer, vocalist and producer, JB Eckl, will give advice on making it in music, having worked alongside his greatest heroes, including War, Santana and Ozomatli, and having been featured in albums by En Vogue, Larry Carlton, and Eliades Ochoa of Buena Vista Social Club, among others.

Attendees can expect diverse opportunities at The Business of Art. From Robert Trent’s crash course on planning an attention-grabbing marketing campaign, to counseling by Maestro Gabriel Sakakeeny on reflections on how artists view the world, how they work and relate to others, and what is possible in living a life in service to Art.

Donn Harris, one of close to thirty presenters on the day, says: “The Business of Art encompasses a wide range of information that is absolutely essential – from the nuts and bolts of operating a business to the highest degree of creativity and vision in the artistic product. This, in a field that is rapidly becoming recognized as critical to our way of life: that of the arts, and creativity, and how to solve the complex problems of the modern era.”

Nevada County Arts Council has also invited Julie Baker, CEO of Californians for the Arts and California Arts Advocates, to help set the scene for the day. Baker and Tudor will share a broad overview of what’s made 2022 historic in terms of public funding for the arts across the state, and how these translate as opportunities for California’s diverse populations, and our own creative communities, closer to home.

Key opportunities for engagement with Nevada County’s coveted California Cultural Districts will be shared on the day, including how artists can submit their free artist listings in its new journal, MUSE, and how to become, at no cost, part of the county’s new online Artist Directory.

Nevada County Arts Council has invited artist Jose Di Gregorio and writer Patricia Eagan for a conversation about community living for artists. Says Tudor: “Both live in affordable, mixed-use, transit-oriented communities for artists, and have different experiences in terms of urban versus rural. Together, they will share the potential for communal living for artists and what this means in terms of fair housing and community renewal and revitalization.”

Jesse Locks, board member at Nevada County Arts Council, says, “It doesn’t matter what your artistic discipline is, or where you are in your career as a creative, The Business of Art will offer important time with peers and unbelievable access to really practical professional development sessions. Everyone will take away new, fresh inspiration and knowledge.”

The California Arts Council has selected 14 districts to serve as California’s inaugural state-designated Cultural Districts. Nevada County is home to two of them – Grass Valley-Nevada City and Truckee. Nevada County Arts Council’s role, as State-Local Partner with California Arts Council – and ranked by the state as exemplary among California’s top local arts agencies – is to foster cultural development on the local level and to encourage partnerships through which leadership, professional development, information exchange, and technical assistance can be offered to the creative community.

For a more information on The Business of Art visit nevadacountyarts.org/the-business-of-art.