I’m very pleased to have been selected to be a part of the 2011 Artist Inc. Seminar. The Kansas Arts Commission is partnering with KCArtistLink and the Wichita State University Center for Entrepreneurship to offer this 8-week seminar training to arts professionals in a variety of disciplines. Particularly focused on business skills applicable to arts practices, this seminar will enable learning through artist-facilitators, small group activities, and large group discussions.

After just the first week of this seminar, I am already excited about the possibilities opening up and about the motivation to work on setting short-term as well as mid-range and long-term career goals. Finding myself at something of a professional cross-roads, I am hopeful that the seminar discussions will help me evaluate my career desires and potentials.

And finally, I feel particularly fortunate to be selected for participation in this program at a time when the entire future of the Kansas Arts Commission appears in doubt. The new Kansas governor has seen fit to recommend the dissolution of this public entity, and while I and many others are writing letters and otherwise protesting this decree, the KAC has at least temporarily suspended all grant funding for the 2012 year.