Make your art work with these opportunities to build your art career
Poet Gustavo Adolfo Aybar, an Artist INC Live alum, explains the impact Artist INC gave his art career: It lent him a “perspective that I believe almost every kind of artist needs. So few of us had a business aspect to our education, it’s the perfect opportunity to gain that knowledge.”
Artist INC Live is one of the training programs that Mid-America Arts Alliance offers through its Artist Services division to help artists, musicians, and performers take control of their careers. Currently, across the Midwest and beyond, several opportunities are open for artists to learn how to expand their business practices and turn their art practices into sustainable art careers. Of note, opportunities have grown beyond the borders of M-AAA’s six-state region with new Artist INC programming in New Mexico.
Like all M-AAA’s artist services programming, these sessions and workshops immediately activate a network of artists in their community leading to additional peer-to-peer resource sharing and support, long after the workshop concludes.
Artist INC: Not your regular business class
Unlike other entrepreneur- and business-focused classes, Artist INC is tailored for the needs and challenges of working artists of any discipline—and are offered in different formats and time commitments. Artists learn and grow together in small groups led by peer facilitators.
Catalyze: Business training plus grant funding
For artists living in central Arkansas, a new professional development initiative called Catalyze has been made possible through the support of the Windgate Foundation.
Like Artist INC, Catalyze also connects artists of all disciplines to tools, resources, peers and opportunities necessary to develop their entrepreneurial skills and to strengthen their artistic practices. Plus, it provides up to $10,000 in practice-based grant funding.
Upcoming Sessions and Workshops
Artist INC Live, eight-week, in-person sessions
Who it’s for: Artist INC Live (AIL) is open to artists and creatives of all disciplines. AIL has a competitive application process, a substantial time commitment, and requires participants to be within a specific community. Artists should reside within a 60 mile commute from these program locations. We encourage artists who did not get accepted to AIL to attend Artist INC Express. All sessions are in person.
Gathering for one evening a week for eight weeks, participants learn strategic business skills specific to their art practice and how to apply those skills cooperatively with their peers. Using a groundbreaking class design, Artist INC Live guides artists as they learn and grow together through artist facilitator mentoring, small group application activities, as well as large group discussion and multimedia lecture.
Cost: $150
Artist INC Live Topeka, Tuesdays, May 9–June 27, 2023, (6:30–9:30 p.m. CST in person), in partnership with ArtsConnect
- Where: ArtsConnect, 909 N Kansas Ave, Topeka, KS 66608
- Apply here for Artist INC Live Topeka by March 7 at 5:00 p.m. CST
Artist INC EXPRESS (AIX), virtual, nine-hour workshops
Who it’s for: Artist INC Express is open to artists and creatives of all disciplines and at all stages of their careers. In a non-competitive atmosphere, the goal of AIX is to make the Artist INC trainings and resources more accessible: free, virtual, open registrations, shorter time-frame, and a wider reach across region with the goal of building wider networks—beyond metropolitan areas and into to rural communities that may be underserved and under resourced. All sessions are online.
For those who can’t yet commit or access an eight-week Artist LIVE program, Artist INC Express provides a two- to three-day, deep dive alternative. Artist INC Express is an intensive, nine-hour workshop created to address the specific professional needs and challenges that artists of all disciplines face.
Led by professional artist facilitators, the workshop is highly interactive and includes activities and discussions focused on goal setting, writing about your work, and building a personal brand—the building blocks for a sustainable art practice and a successful arts business.
Cost: Free
Artist INC Express workshops by state
Arkansas
Artist INC Express Arkansas (February 17-19, 2023), in partnership with Arkansas Arts Council
- Where: Virtual
- Priority registration for Artist INC Express by February 10 at 5:00 p.m. CST
Kansas
Artist INC Express Kansas SOLD OUT (March 3-5, 2023), in partnership with Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission
- Where: Virtual
- Priority registration for Artist INC Express (SOLD OUT) by February 24 at 5:00 p.m. CST
New Mexico
Info Session for Artist INC Express (February 7, 2023 at 10:00 am MST, Mountain Standard Time) in partnership with New Mexico Music Commission
- Where: Virtual
- Registration Link
Artist INC Express New Mexico (February 10-12, 2023), in partnership with New Mexico Arts
- Where: Virtual
- Priority registration for Artist INC Express by February 7 at 5:00 p.m. MST
Artist INC Express New Mexico (February 28-March 2, 2023), in partnership with New Mexico Arts
- Where: Virtual
- Priority registration for Artist INC Express by February 21 at 5:00 p.m. MST
Artist INC Express New Mexico – Music (March 21-23, 2023), in partnership with New Mexico Music Commission
- Where: Virtual
- Priority registration for Artist INC Express by March 14 at 5:00 p.m. MST
Artist INC Express New Mexico (March 24-26, 2023), in partnership with New Mexico Arts
- Where: Virtual
- Priority registration for Artist INC Express by March 17 at 5:00 p.m. MST
Artist INC Express New Mexico (April 18-20, 2023), in partnership with New Mexico Arts
- Where: Virtual
- Priority registration for Artist INC Express by April 11 at 5:00 p.m. MST
Artist INC Express New Mexico – Music (April 28-30, 2023), in partnership with New Mexico Music Commission
- Where: Virtual
- Priority registration for Artist INC Express by April 21 at 5:00 p.m. MST
Missouri
Artist INC Express St. Louis (February 24-26, 2023), in partnership with Regional Arts Commission
- Where: Virtual
- Priority registration for Artist INC Express by February 17 at 5:00 p.m. CST
Artist INC Express St. Louis (April 14-16, 2023), in partnership with Regional Arts Commission
- Where: Virtual
- Priority registration for Artist INC Express by April 7 at 5:00 p.m. CST
Interested artists should register or apply quickly, as there is limited availability.
What Works, in-person, an hour and a half session
Who it’s for: What Works is open to artists and creatives of all disciplines and at all stages of their careers. In a non-competitive atmosphere, the goal of What Works is to provide an introduction to the Artist INC trainings and resources. The format includes a presentation as well as time for questions and discussions. What Works may be in-person or online.
What Works – Topeka, Kansas (January 25, 5:30-7:00 p.m.) hosted by ArtsConnect
- Where: In-person at ArtsConnect, 909 North Kansas Avenue, Topeka, KS 66608
- RSVP on Facebook
What Works – Topeka, Kansas (January 30, 5:30-7:00 p.m.) hosted by ArtsConnect
- Where: In-person at ArtsConnect, 909 North Kansas Avenue, Topeka, KS 66608
- RSVP on Facebook
Cost: Free
Catalyze, up to $10,000 grants and training for artists in central Arkansas
Who it’s for: Catalyze is open to full-time residents (minimum one year) of Arkansas counties: Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Garland, Grant, Hot Spring, Jefferson, Lonoke, Perry, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Saline, Van Buren, White, and Yell. Artists must be over 21 years of age and creating work in any artistic discipline with at least three years of art practice outside of university. 
Made possible through the generous support of the Windgate Foundation, Catalyze provides practice-based grant funding, professional development, and coaching to artists of all disciplines in central Arkansas.
Catalyze is a year-long program beginning in June 2023. Applications for the first cohort are due at 5:00 p.m. on February 24, 2023. Applicants will be notified in early May 2023.
- Where: Central Arkansas. The Catalyze Retreat, required for awarded grantees, will be held in Little Rock, AR from June 24-25, 2023.
- Cost: There is no cost to artists or a matching grant requirement.
- Apply here for Catalyze by February 24 at 5:00 p.m.
Free Information Sessions: Learn more about the Catalyze grant and the application process by attending one of the following free “How to Apply Yourself” grant application information sessions. Sign up in advance to reserve your space.
- Thursday, January 26, 2023–VIRTUAL on Zoom 12:00–1:00 p.m. CST
Register on Zoom - Wednesday, February 8, 2023–LIVE at Emergent Arts, 5:30–6:30 p.m. CST
Emergent Arts, 341-A Whittington Ave., Hot Springs, Arkansas
Register on Eventbrite - Thursday, February 9, 2023–LIVE at ArtSpace on Main, 5:30–6:30 p.m. CST
ArtSpace on Main, 623 Main Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Register on Eventbrite - Friday, February 10, 2023–LIVE at Brandon House, 4:30–5:30 p.m. CST
Brandon House Cultural and Performing Arts Center
12120 Colonel Glenn Rd Suite 6400, Little Rock, Arkansas
Register on Eventbrite - Saturday, February 11, 2023–LIVE at Argenta Community Theatre–10:00–11:00 a.m. CST
Argenta Community Theatre, 315 Main St, Suite B, North Little Rock, Arkansas
Register on Eventbrite
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M-AAA’s Artist Services division oversees a full suite of arts training, including Artist INC, Interchange, Artists 360, and Catalyze. Now in its twelfth year, Artist INC has been completed by more than 1,500 regional artists. Artist INC is supported in part by grants from the Windgate Foundation, the Hallmark Corporate Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Learn more about Artist INC at www.artistinc.art.
Learn more about Catalyze at maaa.org/catalyze.