Kentucky: Arts Entrepreneurship Training

In a new public-private partnership, the Kentucky Arts Council (KAC) is harnessing the technology and know-how of Etsy, the on-line global marketplace for creative entrepreneurship, to help Kentucky artists, craftspeople and other creators launch and grow their own small businesses. In conjunction with Etsy, the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, and Hazard Community and Technical College, KAC is presenting the Etsy Craft Entrepreneurship Training Program. Participation in the five-session program is free. Participants learn the basic skills of starting an on-line arts business from the firsthand knowledge of a local arts entrepreneur as well as from the many examples of Etsy’s 1.4 million users, who collectively reported $1.93 billion in gross sales in 2014. By offering the training, KAC not only is helping local creatives tap into an established international market, but also is nurturing Kentucky’s growing creative economy. The trainings are one way KAC is addressing the recommendations from its 2014 Kentucky Creative Industry Report, which called for helping artists and craftspeople market their work through both traditional and alternative means, expanding business services for creative entrepreneurs, and providing education on how to best use the Internet, mobile apps and social media. For more information, contact KAC Creative Industry Director Emily B. Moses.