Beckley, W.Va. (Dec. 13, 2022) – The West Virginia Hive is working in partnership with the Tamarack Foundation for the Arts (TFA) to support their TFA ‘Arts Business Accelerator’, a six-month training program set to kick off with a two-day bootcamp to be held at the Beckley Arts Center in February 2023. Local artists and creative entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply. Those in the cohort will receive at no charge small-business development training, coaching, access to accountants, learning workshops, monetary subsidies to access markets, and networking opportunities from a seasoned professional over a six-month period.

Judy Moore, executive director of the WV Hive and a board member of the Tamarack Foundation for the Arts, said the deadline to apply for the training protocol is January 20, 2023. “We want to get the word out so as many eligible artists as possible can participate in this session,” said Moore. She added that the training program is limited to 20 participants and is focused on women from low to moderate income households and members of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) community who live in or own a business in the program service area, which includes Boone, Fayette, Lincoln, Logan, Mingo, McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, and Wyoming counties.

Kandi Workman, TFA Program Manager, said “those of us in the local arts community recognized a need to support the development of women and BIPOC-owned small businesses within southern West Virginia counties and areas declared distressed or at-risk by the Appalachian Regional Commission.” She said the TFA Arts Business Accelerator is made possible through a grant from the Truist Foundation.

The registration form is available here: https://forms.gle/B3UFzmedu51goibj7

Full details and information on how to apply can be found on the TFA website: https://tamarackfoundation.org/workshops-trainings/

Questions about the program and the application process can be directed to Workman at TFA: kandi@tamarackfoundation.org

The professional trainer, Elaine Grogan Luttrull of Minerva Financial Arts in New York, met the local arts community in February this year when she presented at TFA’s Lunch and Learn, hosted by Angelica Gilleran of Strong Rapport.

Other hosts of Grogan Luttrull’s workshops and master classes have included the Kennedy Center’s DeVos Institute of Arts Management, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the Foundation Center, the Arts & Business Council of New York, Americans for the Arts, the Ohio Art League, the Ohio Arts Council, the Indiana Arts Council, the Juilliard School, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Rhode Island School of Design, Theatre Communication Group, the ARTrepreneur Workshop Series, the City of Bloomington’s Entertainment and Arts District, and the Greater Columbus Arts Council.

“There is plenty of entrepreneurial training available, but there are only a few programs that offer entrepreneurial training that is truly tailored for creative individuals,” said Grogan Luttrull. “There are even fewer that offer the training to a small cohort of creative individuals at once, enabling them to support each other along the way. This program developed by the Tamarack Foundation for the Arts does just that by centering the creative community as the designers and the beneficiaries of this program.”

Lori McKinney, co-founder and executive director of RiffRaff Arts Collective in Princeton, is excited about the program coming to southern West Virginia. “We’re so grateful to TFA for bringing this type of high-quality professional development experience to artists, particularly in the realm of finance, which so many have been challenged to juggle amidst their creative pursuits,” said McKinney. “We have remarkable talent in this region, and empowering artists with financial tools will enable them to grow their businesses and maximize the impact they and the arts sector as a whole can have on our local economy.”

TFA Director Renee Margocee added, “The Tamarack Foundation for the Arts is pleased to offer this unique program designed to support and empower artists with the skills needed for establishing arts-based businesses and growing the state’s creative economy.”

WV Hive’s Moore said, “At the WV Hive we have seen the positive business potential of regional artists, so I would encourage people of all experience levels to apply