Business Skills Workshops
Real world, practical advice on approaching galleries, finance, self-promotion, sales taxes, and more. Think like a business, because your art IS a business and CAN support you.
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. |
Past Workshops
December 1, 2020: Q&A with Arts Festival Pros
FREE Q&A with a panel of Starkville and Oxford professionals. FREE business skills workshop for arts festival artisans.
Join us via Zoom for a 1 hr virtual Q&A with panelists from Starkville and Oxford on December 1, 2020, at 5:00 pm. This FREE workshop titled " Festival Q&A" will teach you how to submit a winning festival application. Reserve your ticket now, (only 30 available)!
Panelists: Cindy Aune, Mary Switzer, Alexis Clark
This workshop is presented by SAAC, YAC, and the MS Presenter's Network as part of the $kills for the Creative Economy Series.
FREE Q&A with a panel of Starkville and Oxford professionals. FREE business skills workshop for arts festival artisans.
Join us via Zoom for a 1 hr virtual Q&A with panelists from Starkville and Oxford on December 1, 2020, at 5:00 pm. This FREE workshop titled " Festival Q&A" will teach you how to submit a winning festival application. Reserve your ticket now, (only 30 available)!
Panelists: Cindy Aune, Mary Switzer, Alexis Clark
This workshop is presented by SAAC, YAC, and the MS Presenter's Network as part of the $kills for the Creative Economy Series.
In lieu of an October workshop
- The Mississippi Arts Commission's 2020 State Arts Conference (which is free), starts tomorrow morning. The first videos of the 2020 Virtual State Arts Conference will appear on arts.ms.gov/artsnow. Registration is still open. Each day of the conference, videos will appear on the conference webpage and will be available for two weeks after the conference. You can access them anytime and learn when it’s convenient for you.
- WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020: Adapting Now: The Arts in a COVID-19 World
- THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020: I.D.E.A. Now: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access in the Arts
- FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2020: How-To’s Now: Surviving and Thriving in 2020 - The Clark Hulings Fund for Visual Artists is hosting an online conference starting October 19: Virtualize Your Art Career. Geared more toward visual artists, this organization offers a range of fee-based workshops.
If you wish to attend a fee-based professional development workshop, don't forget to check out our mini-grant program for Oktibbeha County artists! Visit this page for details.
September 16, 2020: How to Make Your Art Financially Stable
with Eric Hill of the MSU Center for Entrepreneurship & Outreach In this first workshop, Eric will teach participants how to develop their business model and teach creatives how to transform their artistic passion into a profitable and sustainable endeavor. This workshop is FREE. Attendance is limited.
$kills for the Creative Economy will be a monthly workshop series for Mississippi creatives. Workshops will cover various topics on the business of art including sales taxes, the festival circuit, social media, and more. The Series is currently scheduled for the second Tuesday of each month, other than December and July. The next $kills for the Creative Economy workshop will be on October 13, 2020. |

ABOUT the PRESENTER
Eric Alan Hill is Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach (CEO) at Mississippi State University. Under his leadership, MSU’s entrepreneurial pipeline has grown more than threefold, launching more than 100 new startups annually and helping them raise nearly $1M private capital each year. Eric found his passion for technology startups at age 16 when he founded HillTech, a web solutions firm that grew to support clients in 15 states before acquisition after five years. He is also co-founder of Coflyt®, an aviation software company, and has led operations of four other startups.
ABOUT Center for Entrepreneurship & Outreach
MSU's Center for Entrepreneurship & Outreach helps students, faculty, and community members start and grow successful companies. They help entrepreneurs link with more than 100,000 living alumni, learn tactical business skills, and launch companies that will help define tomorrow's markets. Through this mission, they facilitate student creation of their own dream job, strengthening a culture of entrepreneurship among the Bulldog family. E-Center graduates have a combined valuation of more than $15M. Learn more about the E-Center at https://ecenter.msstate.edu/.
#SkillsfortheCreativeEconomy #YAC #SAAC #ArtBusinessSkills #starkvillearts #oxfordarts #presentmississippi
Eric Alan Hill is Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach (CEO) at Mississippi State University. Under his leadership, MSU’s entrepreneurial pipeline has grown more than threefold, launching more than 100 new startups annually and helping them raise nearly $1M private capital each year. Eric found his passion for technology startups at age 16 when he founded HillTech, a web solutions firm that grew to support clients in 15 states before acquisition after five years. He is also co-founder of Coflyt®, an aviation software company, and has led operations of four other startups.
ABOUT Center for Entrepreneurship & Outreach
MSU's Center for Entrepreneurship & Outreach helps students, faculty, and community members start and grow successful companies. They help entrepreneurs link with more than 100,000 living alumni, learn tactical business skills, and launch companies that will help define tomorrow's markets. Through this mission, they facilitate student creation of their own dream job, strengthening a culture of entrepreneurship among the Bulldog family. E-Center graduates have a combined valuation of more than $15M. Learn more about the E-Center at https://ecenter.msstate.edu/.
#SkillsfortheCreativeEconomy #YAC #SAAC #ArtBusinessSkills #starkvillearts #oxfordarts #presentmississippi
Did you miss one? Check out our Business Skills Library!
Recordings of past workshops are available for registered attendees and donors through our website through the password-protected button below. Participants should check their email after each workshop for the password to this library. Access to these recording is also available to active donors upon request. For more information, please email John at director@starkvillearts.org.