Artist and Arts Business Recognition

Oftentimes artists, as well as those who run arts-based businesses and nonprofit organizations, can be bashful about what they do for a living. Although it takes a fair amount of self confidence to persevere as an artist, most who do so are not in need of personal accolades or the approval of outsiders. Artists do what they do because it is their calling and they will do anything it takes Read more

Music Business Interview Podcast

Recently I had the chance to sit down with Lynne Hoffman-Engel and talk about her experiences in the music business, from her perspective as a classical musician, record industry producer and now independent consultant and artist manager. Lynne has a diverse background, and has worked very closely as a producer with world famous artists such as Luciano Pavarotti and Esperanza Spalding for music labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, London and Telarc
Please Read more

VLA Redux

Although I may seem like a broken record blogging about the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts all the time, I really do want the arts community to become more aware of VLA’s mission and services. The group, a committee of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, has done a great deal of work over the past few years to increase their visibility and engage with the arts community. Just this past Read more

Oftentimes artists, writers and musicians fall prey to the popular overly-romanticized notion that creative work can only be the result of locking oneself away and solitarily mining for the gem of creative genius within. While it is true that to develop virtuosic technique countless hours must be spent in the studio or practice room—more often than not, alone—in reality artistic and musical work is informed by much of what has Read more

VLA

As mentioned in previous posts, Cleveland and the surrounding NE Ohio area are in no short supply of resources and service organizations that help creative professionals and arts entrepreneurs achieve their goals. Yet another group helping out those in the arts and culture community is the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, a division of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. Founded in the mid-1970s, the VLA’s mission is to “facilitate access Read more

COSE SBC

Say what you will about Cleveland’s weather, sports teams or certain other aspects, but one thing you can’t accuse our area of is a lack of support for the small  business owner.  One such example takes place in one week as the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) presents its annual Small Business Conference (SBC) on October 20 and 21 at the IX Center.  The two-day conference is designed specifically as Read more

Creative Workforce Fellowships

A few weeks back I was part of a strategic planning session with area arts leaders and funders.  We were all asked to look forward and imagine the Cleveland area in 2020, and how we might envision a best case scenario arts and culture community.  More than a few people mentioned that they would like to see the NE Ohio area come to be known for attracting artists and creative Read more

Small Business Summer Reading List

Have you ever wondered what books or resources a professional business coach would recommend?  Seize This Day Coaching’s Diane Helbig provided the COSE Arts Network with this reading list for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners.  Each month Diane moderates our Arts Network roundtables and many times the books listed below have come up in our discussions about wroking professioally in the creative sector.  
Lemonade Stand Selling by Diane Helbig
Toilet Paper Entrepreneur Read more

75 computer geeks, 15 non-profits, 1 amazing weekend

Although many small and medium sized arts organizations are aware of the need to improve their technology, branding, web sites and e-marketing, often times it simply isn’t possible given the understaffed and undercapitalized nature of these nonprofit businesses.  Many times organizations with annual budgets under $500,000 have only 2 or 3 full time employees, whose primary duties include creating and delivering content or programming, managing the day to day business, Read more

Made in the 216

What is an arts entrepreneur?  Is it someone who simply hangs out their shingle and sells their goods or services to the public, or does operating as an entrepreneur in the arts require a more broad skill set, capacity for collaboration and creative thinking than one would normally associate with simply running a business?  Is there an onus on the artist entrepreneur to bring fresh new ideas to the marketplace Read more