The ‘Round the Mountain Artisan Network announces a series of capacity building trainings available to artisans and businesses throughout Southwest Virginia.
The series is intended to boost the creative economy by providing local artisans with entrepreneurial and marketing skills to allow for expansion and increased sales. The sessions cover business-related topics like pricing items, digital marketing, branding, wholesaling, strategic planning, and much more. A total of five training sessions will be held over a four-month period throughout communities in Southwest Virginia. The sessions will be available both in person and virtually.
“Our ‘Round the Mountain artisans are extremely talented and carry on generations’ worth of heritage craft making,” ‘Round the Mountain Executive Director Kim Davis said. “Part of our goal in developing the creative economy is making sure there are resources in place to support artisans who want to become part-time or full-time entrepreneurs.”
The capacity-building trainings are a part of a larger plan for the development of the heritage arts in Southwest Virginia. It accompanies the Southwest Virginia Artisan Conference to be held April 25-27 in Abingdon and several strategic planning initiatives.
The trainings are funded through several grants provided by the Appalachian Regional Commission, Virginia Tourism Corporation, Virginia Commission for the Arts, and Virginia Humanities.
All four workshops cost $40 for member and $100 for non-members.
The first training, set for 6 to 8 p.m. at Rural Retreat Train Depot on March 18, is titled Profit Is Not A Dirty Word.
Tiffany Coley will worth with artists on how to price work to make a profit.
Coley is a jeweler and silversmith with more than 15 years of teaching and sales experience in Durham, North Carolina.
On April 9, Jackie Sanders will lead a Digital Content Creation For Artists course from 6 to 8 p.m. at Big Stone Gap Visitor Center.
Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Sanders is an abstract artist who earned an MFA from Virginia Tech.
On April 25, a 1 to 5 p.m. course on From Craft Hobby to Business will be conducted by Cynthia Deis and Coley at Abingdon’s SWVA Cultural Center.
On May 14, Deis and Coley will host a 6-8 p.m. session at Floyd Center for the Arts on Selling wholesale and bulk sales for artists.
Deis is an artist with experience in working with catalog and large retail customers.
The final course planned, on June 3 at Marion’s Wayne Henderson School of the Arts, from 6 to 8 p.m., will have Jennifer Reis talk about strategic planning for artists. Reis is an assistant professor of arts and entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
