Upcoming Free Workshops to Build Your Art Career
By Elizabeth Snell
How will you make art work for you?
Artist INC announces upcoming free professional development workshops in Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas for artists building their art careers. Artist INC Express is a nine-hour commitment and What Works is a short, 1.5 hour commitment.
Key benefits
- Open to artists and creatives of all disciplines
- Short time commitment
- Essential business skills for artists
Artist INC Express
Led by a team of experienced, working artists, Artist INC Express is a nine-hour, hands-on workshop that helps artists address specific needs and challenges they’ll face throughout their careers.
Through discussions, activities, and hands-on exercises, artist facilitators and a network of peer artists helps artists set goals for their practice, write about their work, and build their personal brands.
Artist INC Express is a slimmed down, yet still highly active, version of the popular eight-week Artist INC Live program, completed by more than 700+ artists across seven states since 2019. Artist INC Express explores those same core concepts of how to build a lasting arts practice in a shorter, more flexible format, to help reach a broader audience of artists.
Artists who sign on for Artist INC Express are asked to commit to the entire nine-hour workshop, as exercises build on one another and as participants develop deep relationships with their fellow artists over the three sessions. Participating artists are engaged throughout in group discussions, hands-on exercises, and small group work.
And just know, it’s not over when it’s over. Right away, Artist INC Express activates a network of artists, leading to more peer-to-peer resource sharing, collaborations, and support long after the workshop concludes.
What Works
What Works is a workshop based on sharing the common behaviors of successful artist entrepreneurs. In the 1.5 hour workshop, Artist INC peer facilitators share these behaviors as well as share personal/professional examples of their own and leave artists ready to apply them to their own art practice.
These working artists come from a variety of disciplines and have demonstrated success in the business end of their artistic career and speak directly to artists’ concerns in building sustainable careers. See upcoming dates below.
Find an Artist INC Express or What Works opportunity near you.
Advance registration is suggested—workshops will fill quickly! Mid-America Arts Alliance has hosted Artist INC Express workshops in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, and New Mexico.
Artist INC alumnus and writer Reyes Ramirez. Photography by Alex Barber
Upcoming Dates:
Artist INC Express
Artist INC Express Cape Girardeau, MO (in-person) – June 7-8, 2025
Artist INC Express Springdale, AR (in-person) – June 7-8, 2025
Artist INC Express Lawrence, KS (Musicians) (in-person) – July 7-9, 2025
Artist INC Express Springdale, AR (in-person) – September 20-21, 2025
What Works
What Works – Topeka – April 29, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. – ArtsConnect, 909 N. Kansas Ave, Topeka, KS 66608
What Works – Topeka – May 6, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. – Virtual
What Works – St. Louis – May 31, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. – Virtual
Not an Artist INC workshop in your area?
Contact the M-AAA Artist Services team to bring Artist INC to your community.
Looking for something more in-depth?
Apply for Artist INC Live, an eight-week training seminar designed to address the business needs and specific challenges of artists of all disciplines.
Interested in more artist opportunities including artist residencies and art grants?
Sign up for our artist opportunity e-news. Learn more about Artist INC Express, a program of Mid-America Arts Alliance.
