CREATIVE ECONOMY
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the arts industry contributes more than $763.6 billion to the American economy each year, that's more than agriculture, transportation, or warehousing. How? Consider the ripple effect of even a simple trip to the movies, hear a band, or head to the theatre: do you hire a babysitter? grab a bite to eat? gas up on the way? Give people something to do, and they will stay, live, work, retire here. Not convinced? Just ask a real estate agent the questions they field from clients looking to move to our community.
- Art in Public Places (exhibit series)
- Business Skills Workshops (teaching artists to treat their art like a business)
- Cotton District Arts Festival
ART IN PUBLIC PLACES
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is our Exhibit Series. Artists are provided public space to sell their work. SAAC hosts a reception and publicity for each event, handles the collecting and reporting of sales taxes, and takes a substantially reduced commission of 20%. These 6-7 shows each year exhibit a wide-range of talent and media, including a number of award-winning Southern artists.
Our Submittable Page includes open calls for group shows as well as opportunities to submit your work for a potential solo show. Take a look! |
General Rules
Unless otherwise posted in the call, these guidelines apply to all open submissions. Requirements for solo shows may vary.
Artists may submit up to 3 pieces for consideration. Each submission must include JPG files of each work and labeled with Artist Name, Title, Medium, Dimensions, Price. If accepted, works must be gallery ready at the time of drop-off. That means 2D works must be mounted or framed or otherwise professionally displayed, ready to hang / display using a wire hanging system. No sawtooth hangers may be used. Unless otherwise noted, calls are not limited by medium, although no piece should exceed 48" in any one direction nor weigh more than 75 pounds. Absolutely no craft kits. With limited exception, works must be listed for sale.
Works in previous AiPP shows may not be submitted again.
NOTE: If you ship your work, you must provide for pre-paid return shipping, in the event your work does not sell. Works left after 30 days of the close of an exhibit become the property of SAAC.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
Artists may submit up to 3 pieces for consideration. Each submission must include JPG files of each work and labeled with Artist Name, Title, Medium, Dimensions, Price. If accepted, works must be gallery ready at the time of drop-off. That means 2D works must be mounted or framed or otherwise professionally displayed, ready to hang / display using a wire hanging system. No sawtooth hangers may be used. Unless otherwise noted, calls are not limited by medium, although no piece should exceed 48" in any one direction nor weigh more than 75 pounds. Absolutely no craft kits. With limited exception, works must be listed for sale.
Works in previous AiPP shows may not be submitted again.
NOTE: If you ship your work, you must provide for pre-paid return shipping, in the event your work does not sell. Works left after 30 days of the close of an exhibit become the property of SAAC.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
On Display Now!
2023 Spring Showcase (Mar 6 - May 1, 2023)
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The Starkville Area Arts Council is excited to announce our next Art in Public Places (AiPP) Exhibit of 2023, a group exhibit, the 2023 Spring Showcase. This exhibit will be on display beginning March 6, 2023.
The exhibit will kick-off with a reception held on Tuesday, March 7, from 5:30-7 pm in the Starkville Area Arts Council's office in downtown Starkville (122 East Main St). This exhibit will be on display in-person and online on the SAAC website (starkvillearts.net/creativeeconomy) from March 6 to May 1, 2023, in the Starkville Area Arts Council's office in downtown Starkville (122 East Main St.) |
Starkville Sightings (Feb 21 - Aug. 7, 2023)
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The Starkville Area Arts Council is excited to announce our next Art in Public Places (AiPP) Exhibit of 2023, a group exhibit titled Starkville Sightings. This exhibit will be on display beginning Feb. 21, 2023. The theme is Starkville.
This exhibit will be on display in-person and online on the SAAC website (starkvillearts.net/creativeeconomy) from February 21 to August 7, 2023, in the GSDP Lobby in downtown Starkville. |
Upcoming Exhibits
Jacob Crook (May 1 - July 10, 2023)
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The Starkville Area Arts Council is excited to announce our next Art in Public Places (AiPP) Exhibit of 2023, a solo exhibit featuring works by Jacob Crook. This exhibit will be on display beginning May 1, 2023.
The exhibit will kick-off with a reception held on Tuesday, May 2, from 5:30-7 pm in the Starkville Area Arts Council's office in downtown Starkville (122 East Main St). This exhibit will be on display in-person and online on the SAAC website (starkvillearts.net/creativeeconomy) from May 1 to July 10, 2023, in the Starkville Area Arts Council's office in downtown Starkville (122 East Main St.) |
Call for Submissions
July 10 - Sept 11, 2023: Group Show (Theme TBD) (Open Call) - Stay tuned for more info.
AiPP Schedule (2022-2023)
Nov 7 , 2022 - Jan 9, 2023: Annual Winter Showcase Jan 9 - Mar 6, 2023: New Beginnings - Samuel Lawson Jr. Jan 10: New Beginnings Opening Reception Feb 21 - Aug. 7, 2023: Starkville Sightings Mar 6 - May 1, 2023: 2023 Spring Showcase Mar 7: 2023 Spring Showcase Opening Reception April 11: Starkville Sightings Opening Reception May 1 - July 10, 2023: Jacob Crook May 2: Jacob Crook Opening Reception July 10 - Sept 11, 2023: Movement and Dance (Group Show - Open Call) July 11: Movement and Dance Opening Reception Aug 7, 2023 - Jan 8, 2024: Partnership Show (TBD) (Open Call) Sept 11 - Nov 6, 2023: Solo Exhibit (TBD) Sept 12: Solo Exhibit (TBD) Opening Reception Nov 6, 2023 - Jan 8, 2024: 2023 Annual Winter Showcase (Open Call) Nov 14: 2023 Annual Winter Showcase Opening Reception Jan 8 - Mar 4, 2024: Solo Show (TBD) Jan 9: Solo Show (TBD) Opening Recetion Feb 5 - TBD, 2024: Partnership Show (TBD) (Open Call) Mar 4 - TBD, 2024: Group Show (TBD) (Open Call) Mar 5: Group Show (TBD) Opening Reception |
ART MARKETS
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SAAC International Women's History Month Exhibit & Market
(on display until March 31) Help us celebrate International Women's History Month with an exhibit and market. This exhibit will showcase the achievements of women over time and embracing equity.
Join us for a pop-up market and reception for the exhibit on Saturday, March 11 from 2-6 pm in our Workshop at 122 East Main Street in Downtown Starkville. This exhibit will be on display until March 31 at SAAC |
ARTIST TALKS
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SUSAN LENZ - FOUND OBJECT MANDALAS
(MARCH 20 |2-6 PM) Join us for a presentation on Found Object Mandalas with the current Nuxubee Refuge Artist in Residence, Susan Lenz on Monday, March 20 at 12 pm at SAAC.
Susan Lenz is a professional studio artist who uses needle and thread for self expression. She works to articulate the accumulated memory inherent in discarded things, seeking a partnership with her materials, their purposes, values, and familiar associations. The Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, Mississippi State University Department of Art, and the Friends of Noxubee Refuge are partnering on this Artist-In-Residence Program to continue this tradition. The Artist-In-Residence Program at Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge offers professional writers, composers, and visual artists the opportunity to pursue their artistic discipline while being surrounded by the refuge’s inspiring landscape and wildlife. Selected artists stay in refuge housing for two to four weeks during each of three periods from March-April, June-July, and September-October. Learn more about the Artist in Residence program here. |
Susan Lenz
Susan Lenz is a professional studio artist who uses needle and thread for self- expression. She works to articulate the accumulated memory inherent in discarded things, seeking a partnership with her materials, their purposes, values, and familiar associations.
For Susan’s Found Object Mandala Series, she uses multiples of seemingly mundane items to put into perspective the abundance of life and the capacity to keep things as if for a "rainy day". Paper clips, keys, bottle caps, buttons, nails, plastic spoons, and old clock parts are combined with dominoes, film reels, old toys, and holiday decorations. These and so many other, often vintage items, are repetitively hand-stitched into meditative patterns on sections of old quilts,
bringing an extraordinary new life to otherwise everyday things. This work started during the pandemic "sheltering in place" and speaks to the universal desire for a place of belonging and sense of home.
Susan’s work has appeared in national publications, numerous juried exhibitions, and at fine craft shows including the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show and the Smithsonian Craft Show. She has been featured on art quilting television programs and on South Carolina Etv’s Palmetto Scene. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Textile Museum in Washington, DC and the McKissick Museum in South Carolina. Susan has been awarded fully funded fellowships to art residencies including The Anderson Center, PLAYA, Hot Springs National Park, Great Basin National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, the Studios of Key West, Catoctin Mountain National Park, and Homestead National Monument. Her solo installations have been mounted all over the country including the Mesa Contemporary Museum of Art and as far away as the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England. Susan is represented by the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville.
More about Susan HERE
For Susan’s Found Object Mandala Series, she uses multiples of seemingly mundane items to put into perspective the abundance of life and the capacity to keep things as if for a "rainy day". Paper clips, keys, bottle caps, buttons, nails, plastic spoons, and old clock parts are combined with dominoes, film reels, old toys, and holiday decorations. These and so many other, often vintage items, are repetitively hand-stitched into meditative patterns on sections of old quilts,
bringing an extraordinary new life to otherwise everyday things. This work started during the pandemic "sheltering in place" and speaks to the universal desire for a place of belonging and sense of home.
Susan’s work has appeared in national publications, numerous juried exhibitions, and at fine craft shows including the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show and the Smithsonian Craft Show. She has been featured on art quilting television programs and on South Carolina Etv’s Palmetto Scene. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Textile Museum in Washington, DC and the McKissick Museum in South Carolina. Susan has been awarded fully funded fellowships to art residencies including The Anderson Center, PLAYA, Hot Springs National Park, Great Basin National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, the Studios of Key West, Catoctin Mountain National Park, and Homestead National Monument. Her solo installations have been mounted all over the country including the Mesa Contemporary Museum of Art and as far away as the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England. Susan is represented by the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville.
More about Susan HERE
BUSINESS SKILLS WORKSHOPS
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offers real-world, practical advice on treating art like a business. The goal? Show artists how to think like a business so they can sell their work.
In Summer 2020, this workshop series was revamped in collaboration with Yoknapatawpha Arts Council (Oxford) to form the $kills for the Creative Economy Partnership. Under this partnership, SAAC and YAC host monthly workshop series that are open to any Mississippi creatives. Workshops cover various topics including sales taxes, the festival circuit, social media, licensing, and more. As of September 2020, the Series is currently scheduled for the second Tuesday of each month, other than December and July. |
The Next Workshop...
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Wednesday, September 14, 2022
5:30 - 7:30 p.m. VIRTUAL via ZOOM Limited to 12 participants 1-1 Sessions Available Need funds for that big art project? Want to buy equipment for your studio? Can’t afford to go to that residency but don’t have the money? Grants are free money, but you can’t get one if you don’t apply! Learn how to navigate a grant application and tell your story so funders will support your work. This workshop will cover the basic common components of grant applications and will include 1:1 review sessions up to 90 minutes to help tailor a specific application. Spaces are limited. Registration ends Sept. 13 |
COTTON DISTRICT ARTS FESTIVAL
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The Cotton District Arts Festival showcases the best talent in arts, music, food, and more, from across the Southeast. Featuring a variety of artists, musicians and otherwise, CDAF has been consistently named Best Fair/Festival by Mississippi Magazine. Vendors and patrons alike flood the streets of Starkville in events such as the Pet Parade, the Juried Art Competition, Student Art Competition, and many more.
Are you excited for #CDAF2022?
Head over to the festival website for the latest updates! |
#CDAF2021 Date Announced!
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SUNDAY FUNDAY
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This grassroots community event, created by artists, is a former SAAC grantee. SAAC now serves as *“fiscal sponsor”: Sunday Funday controls its program and SAAC provides financial oversight, which, in turn, gives donors a potential charitable deduction.
If you're interested in donating to support Sunday Funday, please contact SAAC! *What is a "fiscal sponsor"? Quite simply, it's a legal relationship between an established charity and a project (or an individual) where the charity provides financial or legal oversight in exchange for a fee. That's it! The sponsored project remains fairly autonomous, and most donors benefit from the tax-exempt status of the charity. At a minimum, both the sponsor and the project must have similar missions (as written and documented, not over beers at happy hour). If you are interested in learning more about SAAC's fiscal sponsorship of Sunday Funday!, then please contact the SAAC offices at 662.324.3080. Be sure to ask your financial advisor about whether your donation is tax deductible - we can't give you that advice!
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