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Local small businesses blossom through innovative tools Monday, June 30, 2008

To the casual observer, Pejoux Designs, a burgeoning floral design business in Chattanooga, looked successful. Owner Julie Tolbert had plenty of customers and was breaking even every month. But in March 2008, after being in business for eight months, something was still missing: Pejoux wasn’t turning a profit, and still had $5k+ in start-up debt.

Typical of many creative entrepreneurs, Tolbert had great ideas and credentials; but an education in sculpture and floristry had not prepared her to manage a business. So, in March of this year, Julie enrolled in an entrepreneurial training program called SpringBoard. In the three short months following her graduation, Pejoux has become a debt-free, profitable enterprise.

SpringBoard, a program of CreateHere, is not a typical business planning course. Geared toward small-business owners and creative hopefuls who want to understand the foundations of business, it involves the entrepreneurs and teachers in what leader Sheldon Grizzle calls a “facilitated dialogue” aimed to help people turn their personal passion into profitable and sustainable work. SpringBoard adopted its curriculum from a similar initiative in Asheville, which has helped over 1,000 businesses and resulted in over $50 million in economic impact.

In Chattanooga, the program is 31 graduates and four months strong, and is already having effects on the small business sector of the city. Monday, June 23, marked the end of the third round of SpringBoard classes. From artistry to economics, these folks have a lot in common. All have grand ideas, a lot of creativity, and, now, both a basic understanding of how businesses work and a new network of fellow entrepreneurs.

This third SpringBoard course was taught by Brent Jackson, an MBA student who helped get Niedlov’s off the ground, and Sheldon Grizzle of CreateHere. The class meets three hours once a week for eight weeks. A typical evening begins with a thirty-minute guest lecturer from the business community. Then the facilitators jump into the night’s topic with group discussions and experiential learning. Each participant also receives two free consulting sessions to discuss their individual business plan with one of the SpringBoard staff.

Portrait artist Mia Bergeron, a recent graduate, says that SpringBoard course is “desperately needed,” and would encourage anyone to enroll. A fourth round of SpringBoard begins July 7. Jackson and Grizzle will co-facilitate the course again. Guest lecturers for this class include local lawyers, bankers, marketing specialists, and accountants. Registration is ongoing until the start date, but will close as soon as space in the course runs out.

What: SpringBoard Business Training Class, Round 4.
Where: CreateHere Studio, 55 East Main Street, Suite 105, Chattanooga, TN 37408
When: Once per week, July 7-August 25; 6:00-9:00 p.m.
Cost: Sliding scale from $100 to $500
For more information: contact Sheldon Grizzle at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), call the CreateHere studio at (423) 648-2195, or visit http://www.createhere.org.

Posted by Administrator in Collective Rethink
A Man Named Pearl Thursday, June 26, 2008

The AEC Back Row Film Series kicks off Saturday, June 28th with a demonstration, film screening and talk by renowned topiary artist Pearl Fryar.

The documentary A Man Named Pearl tells the inspiring story of self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar, whose unlikely journey to national prominence began with a bigoted remark that inspired him to create a message of peace and goodwill through his garden sculptures. Pearl and his gardens have been featured in the New York Times and Smithsonian, and on NPR and CBS Sunday Morning. This award-winning documentary, co-produced by Shaking Ray Levi Society, offers an upbeat message about respect for both self and others, and shows what one person can achieve when he allows himself to share the full expression of his humanity.

Tickets are going fast! Call the AEC or visit http://www.backrowfilms.com to get your tickets early.

When: Saturday, June 28th
Where: The Tennessee Aquarium

5:00 PM Free Topiary Demonstration by Pearl Fryar on the Tennessee Aquarium Plaza
6:30 PM Film Screening and Discussion with Pearl Fryar in the Tennessee Aquarium Auditorium - use members’ entrance

Cost: $5 for AEC and Aquarium members; $10 for non-members.

Presented by green|spaces

Posted by Administrator in Collective Rethink
Vocational freedom granted to twenty-three MakeWork artists Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Across the street from the brick shell of the old Levin building on Main Street, one of CreateHere’s first MakeWork grant recipients is planning a mural. Shaun LaRose’s wall painting, which highlights Chattanooga’s environmental consciousness, will go up on the newly renovated building at the corner of Mitchell and Main. LaRose’s mural will help beautify the neighborhood surrounding some of Main Street’s most available spaces. LaRose is a good example of a community-centered artist, exactly the kind the MakeWork program seeks to foster.
CreateHere is pleased to announce the awarding of $150,000 in total funding to twenty-three such area artists as part of the 2008 MakeWork arts grants program. From cheese makers to a documentary videographer to sculptors who need financial help to rent their studio space, a huge variety of artists are benefiting from the first round of CreateHere grants.
Susan Seaton is a painter who will use her grant funding on a new project: capturing the world of a mentally challenged man in oils. “I feel incredibly grateful,” she says. “I feel a strange weight off my back, with this free space, unencumbered by the need to look for a job while I do my art. So I’m more focused. At the same time, I feel an awesome sense of responsibility to those who selected me, for the bigger picture of what this does for Chattanooga. This is for future artists too, and the longevity of the program.”
MakeWork is an arts grant program launched by CreateHere in January 2008. Artists within a 50-mile radius of Chattanooga were encouraged to apply for the grants in a variety of artistic endeavors divided into three categories of need: Studio Assistance, Career Advancement, and Projects. By mid-spring, over $878,000 in funding had been requested by 96 applicants. Beginning at the end of March, the proposals were submitted to juries of local and out-of-town experts in various fields of arts and culture.
“I was impressed by the high caliber of the grants,” said juror Ellen Simak, Chief Curator at the Hunter Museum of American Art. “That made the selection process very exciting but very difficult…What CreateHere is doing is valuable for…enlivening the arts community in Chattanooga.”
The MakeWork grants, ranging from $2,160 to $17,300, will be disbursed to the selected artists in installments over ten months, beginning in July. Grant recipients are urged to showcase their work in the community throughout the grant year and obligated to participate in CreateHere’s SpringBoard entrepreneurial program to explore the sustainability of their given disciplines.
A complete list of MakeWork grant recipients is attached.

Posted by Administrator in Collective Rethink
Surface Issues Monday, June 02, 2008

Surface Issues // May 28th - July 11th

“Surface Issues” is CreateHere’s latest exhibit, exploring the way 14 local artists and artisans think about the surfaces of their work. “Surface Issues” presents an eclectic mix of painting, sculpture, video installation, decorative and functional art. The presentation of work is refreshing, while the overall resonance is quite progressive.

Drop by and check out the show Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 PM! Come back and join us for a reception celebrating the artists on Friday, June 20th from 5 until 7 PM. More details to come…

Posted by Administrator in Collective Rethink