on the conference, have a snack, and continue the networking magic
This workshop looks at the art that comes together each day to create the local paper and how it’s digital distribution becomes the voice of the community. We will review the capturing and recording of events artistically and how the digital age has modified the craft. Reinig Morris is director of digital marketing, Newspapers of New England
ThreshHold Cooperative will introduce their plans for the creation of a cooperatively owned cultural center in Turners Falls. This will serve as starting place to facilitate a conversation about the potential of reclaiming the term social sculpture and asking how we can create spaces that support art and artists as a creative actions within a social context.
2D artists will learn about options for putting artwork on merchandise online (Print on Demand – POD). Find out about different POD choices & the variety of items one can print on. Diane will demonstrate the process of preparing for & listing an item at Zazzle. Where from there depends on participants’ needs – demos of other PODs, choosing a POD, opening a shop, marketing, tagging, prepping are possibilities.
This workshop will benefit artists, crafters, and artisans who would like to engage in on-line selling for the first time. The workshop will also aide those who are selling on other marketplace websites who would like to explore Etsy as a selling arena. Participants will gain basic knowledge of opening an Etsy account, creating their first “listing”, and tips for sucessful marketing and promotion.
Montague (with its village of Turners Falls) is the only town in Franklin County to incorporate cultural development into its official economic development strategy. Find out why the town government embraced this approach, what departments spearheaded it, its’ success in a small town in a rural county with limited resources and low population, future plans, challenges, and implementation examples.
Imagining ways to work with new partners in your community engaged cultural projects to build new audiences, new alliances, and new economic development.
Learn to navigate the Recorder to promote your events, businesses and organizations. This workshop will explain the how the use of our local newspaper can benefit artists, businesses and towns with wider exposure, broader participation and more reliable, consistent promotion. George Forcier is managing editor and Adam Orth is features editor of the Greenfield Recorder.
Panel discussion with local musicians who have used various formats to raise money for their projects online. Focus on Kickstarter and Indiegogo and the advantages and disadvantages of these and other platforms.
In this workshop, Artisans of WMASS will host a panel to give an overview of who we are and what we do to a blend of artists, businesses and municipal leaders.
AWM is a non-profit organization that serves as a resource and cooperative organization for artists and artisans within Western Massachusetts. We educate and collaborate with our local communities through public art education and highlight the importance of a vibrant creative culture while raising awareness about the community benefits of the creative economy.
We will discuss our focus areas such as our “Buy Local, Buy Handmade” campaign and our public education work. We will also talk about our goals for growth and development. For example, in the future, AWM is interested in creating a mentorship program that pairs high school and college-aged students with established artists. We are also thinking about possibilities for artist scholarships, annual events and demo days, lecture series and skills workshops, visiting artist/school programs and non-