Creative Capital prepared these notes for Creative Capital grantees, which may be useful for all grant seekers.

Expenses: Pay yourself! This is a new concept for some artists, but it's smarter to figure out now what your time is worth, represent this time in your project budget, and raise money based upon these real costs than to underbudget the project and wind up maxing out your credit cards with expensive, last-minute charges and cash advances. Here are two ways to represent your time in your project budget:
more...

1. What is the difference between copyright and trademark?

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design, or combination thereof, which serves to identify and distinguish a source of goods or services of one party from another. A copyright protects original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and certain other intellectual works.

2. How do I copyright my work?
more...

This issue’s installment of Ask Artemisia answers questions concerning venture philanthropy and funding credits.

What is venture philanthropy? Do any of these funders make grants in the arts?
more...

There are basically six types of businesses, 'the self-employed', 'the builder of businesses', 'the inventor', 'the franchise owner', 'the marketer', and 'the speculator'. Most artists fit into the self-employment category which we will address here. It is known legally as the sole proprietorship. You and you alone own all the assets and assume all the liabilities.

Things to Consider:

• A place to live.  Do you want your studio separate from your living space?  Do you use toxic media in your work? more...

Keeping track of who owes you money will reduce a lot of headaches in the future.  Create a bill of sale for each work you sell.  Make sure you use a contract for every agreement you enter into.

If you make special payment plans for certain individuals, make sure you include that payment plan in the bill of sale.  You should always retain the work until the final payment is made.

Always get a list of the work located at a dealer, a gallery, or an art consultant.  Keep in touch with them regarding sales.  Know where you work is.

A bill of sale should include the date, the name, size, description and medium of the work, who buys the work, including address and phone/e-mail.  The price of the work and the terms of payment are important, as well as any delivery information.

All purchasers of your work should know about the Visual Artists Rights Act and any state Resale Royalty Acts when they acquire the work.  more...

By Ilana Stanger, courtesy of New York Foundation for the Arts
I love the question, "Where are you from?" I have the coolest answer: Brooklyn. It wasn't always so cool. As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, I felt I had the worst of two worlds: the danger and dirt of a city, the isolation and boredom of a suburb. Granted, back then
Brooklyn carried social cache, mostly of the "you must be tough" kind. more...

smARTstart is a compendium of on-line resources that addresses questions that emerging and small arts organizations might have about operating as a not-for-profit organization.  Inspired by and adapted from the Virtual Arts Incubator (VAI) project developed by the Arts Services Office at the Cincinnati Fine Arts Fund, smARTstart draws from VAI material, additional material developed by expert legal, nonprofit and business volunteers in Chicago, and on-line resources available through arts service providers from around the country.  By culling from the best resources available on-line more...

ACCESS TO START-UP CAPITAL IS EASIER THAN YOU THINK! 

Columbia College Chicago Arts, Entertainment & Media Management Department’s Ecenter* is offering “ECENTER LOAN APPLICATION DAY” more...

By day I am a cool-headed consultant, advising arts organizations and leading workshops with titles such as "How to Write a Mission Statement That Succeeds." But tonight I am a frustrated board member, just back from another meeting that leaves me wondering about the future of this organization and our capacity to help it move forward. Without a clear sense of mission, we are hamstrung. There is no coherent viewpoint from month to month, and therefore no consistent criteria for making decisions, plans, or innovations. more...

As a coach and a longtime journalist, I know that the most powerful question is: “What did you learn?” You’ll get an answer every time that is real, and relevant.

That’s why Donna Walker-Kuhne’s book on audience development is a must-read. The heart of the book is a series of case studies drawn from the author’s own career, which began as a volunteer for a local arts center and continues as the principal of an international consulting firm.

Walker-Kuhne makes it real. She shares her challenges, her successes, and her mis-steps in an effort to help the rest of us “engage, educate and activate (primarily, but not exclusively) audiences of color.” The book, she continues, is also “a guide for anyone involved in the art of marketing any product who has the wisdom to understand that the world is changing, that there is now, more than ever, a specific need to embrace everyone” (p. xii).
more...