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The artists have been taking part in the A.C.E. Program, which is designed to teach, encourage and cultivate artists in Fayetteville.
A.C.E. stands for Arts, Cultural and Entrepreneurial Skills for Artists Workshop. The program is intended to serve as a springboard for visual artists who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. The idea for the local program began with gallery operator Dwight Smith.
Being an artist can be a confusing road to follow at times. With the new age of social media and the internet at everyone’s disposal, many artists have the same kinds of questions and problems like, “where can I submit my work? How can I make my art into a career?”
While getting asked these questions, Smith figured it was time to apply for grants from the Arts Council to collaborate and help local artists.
Up & Coming Weekly got a chance to speak with Smith to learn more about the A.C.E. Program and how it helps the artists who participate.
“The idea was to have a program where we train and provide information in a series of sessions that would give artists all the information that they would need to know in developing their career as artists,” Smith said. “We also open up exhibition opportunities for those artists and show them what’s available here in Fayetteville for them to be able to start, jumpstart their
career,” he added.
The A.C.E. Program started in November of 2022. It was spread out over multiple months to allow intense workshops on one day out of the month. In that one day a month, community artists come to the Arts Council and present the program to participants, and other interested community members. The following Saturday, they presented the program in a more intense training session while discussing homework assignments and answering one-on-one questions.
The program consisted of the following topics: career planning, time management, portfolio building, marketing, promoting yourself, pricing your work, record keeping and legal considerations, funding and grant writing, and business planning.
The program was a version of a three week program from an organization in Minnesota called Springboard for the Arts. They had a program called Work of Art Business Skills for Artists. Smith and his colleague Beverly Henderson were able to tailor the course to be 10 weeks, opening it up more to the public and allowing people to either come to every session or pick the ones most needed for them.
“We had curriculum packets we would pass out to everyone in the sessions. We also would have a PowerPoint that introduces the program and who we are. Also introducing this program as a safe space for artists was critically important for us,” says Smith.
The program participants who will be showcasing their work at the exhibit are the core group of artists that attended every session and went through the portfolio review process to see how they’ve applied all of the teachings.
According to Smith, several artists are involved in other programs around downtown now because they’ve gotten that kind of encouragement from this program to give them that extra push. He said this program is extremely important to the foundation of artists and a precursor to what it takes to be a successful artist.
The public is invited to the free exhibition. Make sure to go see the great progress made by local artists who are a part of this program. The exhibit opens on June 17 at Ellington White Contemporary located at 113 Gillespie Street in downtown Fayetteville.