Artisans at The Art Garage

By Janelle Fisher

City Pages Editor

Nearly a year ago, the third cohort of artists began their journey through the NWTC Artisan and Business Center’s Artisan Residency Program. Now, they’re completing the final piece of the program — an exhibition of their work at The Art Garage.

This year’s cohort of artists began their journeys in the Artisan Residency Program at the end of last summer, and over the past year have gotten a crash course in what it takes to run an art-based business.

“We start with them at the end of the summer and we bring in a bunch of different mentors,” Carrie Dorski, Artisan Center operations coordinator, said. “They cover everything from goal setting, setting up your studio, marketing, branding, websites, actually starting your business, paying taxes, all of that stuff. They spend the whole year doing that while they’re also making art and figuring out what their business looks like.”

The culminating experience for artists in the Artisan Residency Program before they venture out into the world as art entrepreneurs is a showcase exhibit at The Art Garage.

“As we move through the year, we tackle all of those topics, and then it culminates in this exhibit here,” Dorski said.

See the captions below to learn more about each artist from this year’s cohort and what they’ve been working on during their year in the Artisan Residency Program.

Applications to be a part of the Artisan Residency Program’s next cohort are still open, but only through this Sunday, June 11. To learn more about the program and to apply to be a part of it, visit nwtc.edu/about-nwtc/nwtc-locations/artisan-and-business-center/artisan-residency-program.