IMAGES : A Festival of the Arts
From to Entrepreneur
IMAGES Festival Program Offers New Talent Path to Success by Aaron London
When most people think about entrepreneurs , they think about Michael Dell launching his computer company from his dorm room or Jeff Bezos coming up with the idea of the online bookstore that would become Amazon .
But the entrepreneurial spirit isn ’ t just about high-tech moguls and cutting-edge technologies . It ’ s about creating something new and as such , artists are just as much entrepreneurs as Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg .
For aspiring artists in the Greater Daytona Region , IMAGES : A Festival of the Arts offers an opportunity to learn about the professional side of creativity with its new Trish Thompson Memorial Emerging Artists Program . The program honors Trish Thompson , a local artist involved with the festival , the Atlantic Center for the Arts and the college , who passed away in 2021 .
The program was a new offering at the IMAGES festival , which celebrated its 46th annual show in New Smyrna Beach this year .
“ We have talked about it for years , but this is our first year doing it ,” said Nance Casey Koch , IMAGES coordinator . “ We wanted to do something a little different this year .”
Koch said the juried art festival created the Emerging Artists Program for people just getting into the arts and found a willing partner in the effort with Daytona State College . “ We wanted to do something this year , so we decided to partner with Daytona State ,” she said . Koch said 23 DSC students applied for the program , a number that far exceeded expectations . “ We were blown away by it ,” Koch said . “ We never expected to get that many .” As part of the festival , the student artists will have a tent with tables and chairs to set up their displays and will receive $ 250 to get whatever they need to put the booth together .
Koch said part of the reason for the Emerging Artists Program is to introduce new artists to the entrepreneurial side of being a creative .
“ It ’ s not an easy life ,” she said . “ A lot of artists show in galleries and of course they all have their websites . It really is an entrepreneurial thing .”
As part of the experience , the emerging artists selected for the program participated in a virtual meeting with veteran artists who shared their insights about being in art shows , setting up display booths , pricing information and other aspects on the business side of being an artist .
Ceramic artist and Daytona State student Janet Montville said
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