Top, left to right: Millicent Johnnie, Christopher Robbins, Dohee Lee, Chemi Rosado-Seijo. Bottom, left to right: Joshua Kohl, Gregory Sale, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Faye Driscoll.
Ten years ago, we launched Creative Capital’s Professional Development Program (PDP) because we were inspired by our grantees own generosity. As we helped our grantees learn tools and strategies to advance their careers, they were sharing these lessons with their fellow artists. We realized that we needed to share the curriculum we had developed for our grantees with a broader community of artists.
Since then, PDP’s workshops and webinars have reached more than 5,500 artists in 150 communities across the country and internationally. We are now seeing that cycle coming full circle, as more and more artists who have received career guidance through PDP workshops are being awarded Creative Capital grants. Eighteen members of our 2013 grantee class have participated in one or more PDP workshops—that’s nearly a third!
Participating in a PDP program doesn’t give you any special consideration in our grantmaking process, but it does provide some important tools. In our workshops and webinars, artists learn writing, planning, communication, promotion and budgeting skills that can strengthen their proposals and applications for grants, fellowships and residencies. In addition, they are encouraged to develop personal strategies for setting attainable goals, prioritizing which opportunities to reach for at which times, and utilizing the support of friends and colleagues.
Multidisciplinary artist Gregory Sale (2013 Emerging Fields) of Phoenix, AZ, participated in a PDP Core Weekend workshop hosted by the Arizona Commission on the Arts in 2008. Part of the Core workshop introduces a framework for artists to develop a five-year strategic plan for achieving a series of goals. This is often a daunting task, but one that pays off in the long term. Gregory wrote to us: “Seven years ago, when I first took the PDP workshop, I spent three or four months mulling over how I would need to evolve my professional and personal life to set the stage for my future career goals. Then I went on an artist residency and spent the entire first week drafting my strategic plan. Until that time, there had been a few goals that I had been uncomfortable fully embracing. Last year, I checked off the final item on my five-year plan. And believe it or not, receiving a Creative Capital grant was the first item on my new plan. Whew! Off to a great start.”
We are so proud of Gregory and all of Creative Capital’s grantee artists who have also participated in our Professional Development Program workshops. They are tangible proof that investing in your own professional development as an artist does pay off!
luciana achugar: Core Weekend for MAP Fund grantees, 2010
Gabrielle Brechner (Wakka Wakka Productions): Promoting Your Work with Six Points, 2008
David Burns (Fallen Fruit): Verbal Communications with LACE, 2008
Cory Dargel: Core Weekend for MAP Fund grantees, 2009
Faye Driscoll: Core Weekend with The Field, 2011
Invincible (Complex Movements): Core Weekend with ArtServe Michigan, 2010
Millicent Johnnie (Mondo Bizarro): Core Weekend for MAP Fund grantees, 2007
Emily Johnson: Fundraising with NPN, 2008; Core Weekend for MAP Fund grantees, 2010
Joshua Kohl (Degenerate Art Ensemble): Fundraising with NPN, 2008
Dohee Lee: Strategic Planning with Intersection for the Arts, 2008
Gina Reichert (Design 99): Core Weekend with ArtServe Michigan, 2011
Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts: Strategic Planning with NYFA, 2009
Christopher Robbins (Ghana ThinkTank): Real Community Engagement with Creative Time, 2011
Chemi Rosado-Seijo: Spanish Language workshop with Beta Local, 2012
Gregory Sale: Core Weekend with Arizona Commission on the Arts, 2008
Nick Slie (Mondo Bizarro): Fundraising with NPN, 2008
Holcombe Waller: Fundraising with NPN, 2008; Core Weekend for MAP Fund grantees, 2009; Core Weekend with PICA, 2011
Austin Young (Fallen Fruit): Verbal Communications with LACE, 2008
If you’re interested in participating in a PDP workshop or webinar, visit our calendar for a complete list of upcoming offerings. Registration is currently open for our upcoming Internet for Artists workshop in New York.