The Arts Business Institute serves a crucial, common need in the fine art and maker communities – practical business education for creative entrepreneurs. Each of our live workshops and online courses presents successful strategies and provides proven tools for launching and growing a local business to a national brand.

Our Unique Strategy

Most creative people struggle with the day-to-day tasks involved in running a business. The Arts Business Institute provides live seminars and online courses that break down those-overwhelming tasks.

Each workhop is customized to meet the needs of a specific audience. Unlike most local small business mentors, the Arts Business Institute provides sector and market specific strategies in the areas of marketing, branding, production schedules, pricing and cost of sale.

ABI uniquely offers seminars that are designed to provide creative entrepreneurs with strategies to handle both the complex and mundane left-brained business tasks that many artists avoid. ABI workshop presentations break down challenging tasks into a clear manageable process.  

Cost $0
Most non-profit arts and educational partners use the workshop event as a fundraising opportunity.  Just 30 paid workshop attendees cover most of the expenses. Local  community grants and corporate donations provide profit or scholarships for low-income participants.  A refundable deposit is required to schedule a workshop. 
 
Our Partners
The Arts Business Institute partners with art nonprofits, business development centers and art education organizations across the nation to provide specialized technical assistance and business education for studio artists, craft professionals and creative entrepreneurs seeking to grow their businesses to a national audience of collectors and galleries.
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Workshop Locations
Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Maine, Maryland, Massachussetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, DC and West Virginia. More…
 
International: Canada, Ireland, Italy, Barbados, Bahamas.
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ABI brochure cover
 
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Curriculum
The Arts Business Institute offers a structured curriculum developed by industry experts over the past 15 years. Courses include
Making Work That Sells
Creative Marketing for Artists
Sales Strategies
The New Marketplace
Building Gallery Relationships
Pricing for Profit
Wholesaling 101
Selling Art Online
Art Licensing & Copyright
The Corporate Art Market
Booth Design
Who Is Your Customer
Niche and Alternative Markets
Building an Effective Art Website.
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.Workshop Sponsors
National Endowment for the Arts, Handmade in America, Appalachian Regional Commission, American Made Alliance, The Lehmann Foundation, The American Made Show, State of Hawaii, Tennessee Valley Authority, Clark Hulings Foundation, The Rosen Group, and Square. Our workshop sponsors often provide marketing support, workshop space, lunch or break refreshments, organization grants and/or individual artist scholarships.
 
Presenting Partners
Valley Arts District (NJ), Handmade in America (NC), Tennessee Craft (TN), Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (PA), StARTup Incubator, Florida CraftArt (FL), Washington Artworks (DC), Maine College of Art) (ME, Maine Crafts Assn (ME), Volcano Art Center (HI), Arts Service Initiative of Western New York (NY), Glass Alliance of Northern California (CA), Naples Art Assn (FL), Rhode Island School of Design (RI) and others. Most presenting partners provide local marketing support and a location for the workshop.
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Arts Business Institute faculty members range from artists and painters to webmasters, bloggers, accountants and gallery owners. One of the many benefits of working with ABI is the ability to choose from the most accomplished presenters. ABI faculty is hand-picked from the art community and they work together as a team to present the most up-to-date topics in a professional manner. The faculty members understand that each artist has a unique set of needs, and they strive to provide information to the broad group of artists as well as on individual levels. More…
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 Follow-Up
The Arts Business Institute tracks graduates with mentoring, networking and online tips and services. Results:  The goal of every workshop is to provide artists with the business tools that they need to succeed from online networking, workshops, to long term mentor support.  Talk to any one of our 6,000 successful graduates who credit ABI with their launch success.
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