The Artrepreneur Program in New River Valley

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The Artrepreneur Program in New River Valley

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What happens when a 48-year-old rural arts center decides to close the gap between making art and making a living from it? In this episode, Geoff sits down with Brandon Phillips (Executive Director), John Ross (Board President), and Katie Shepard (Director of the Blacksburg Gallery) from the Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley to talk about their new Artrepreneur Program — an 8-week cohort-based training initiative serving artists in Pulaski and Blacksburg, Virginia.

The conversation covers how the program was built from the ground up using artist surveys and needs assessments, what's actually in the curriculum (pricing, digital presence, business planning, grant writing, and more), and why the cohort model turned out to be the most important feature of all. The team also shares how partnerships with the economic development community have been a game-changer — both for funding the program and for connecting artists to resources most never knew existed.

If you're leading a small arts organization and wondering whether something like this is feasible for your community, this episode is for you.

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