Daily News

ArtsHub Virtual Summit to Support Artists and Businesses in Western Mass.

WESTERN MASS. — The ArtsHub Virtual Summit: “How to Recover and Thrive” welcomes emerging and established artists, performers, arts managers, and those in creative fields to join in a week-long series of virtual interactive workshops, training, and networking sessions on Jan. 10-14.

The ArtsHub Virtual Summit, designed to provide tools to help those working in creative fields recover from the disruption created by the pandemic and learn how to position their business to thrive as the economy recovers, will present daily sessions with guest speakers at 10 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m.

“You can’t succeed if you can’t be found,” said Lisa Davol, marketing manager for the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and ArtsHub project co-coordinator. “One of the goals of the new ArtsHub website is to provide a comprehensive list of creatives in the region to promote and connect them with each other and with those looking to purchase or hire.”

This is being done through a partnership with New England Foundation for the Arts’ (NEFA) CreativeGround database, and Dee Schneidmann of NEFA will lead one of the ArtsHub Virtual Summit sessions with a focus on how to get listed in the new ArtsHub online directory and how the listing will increase visibility for artists and their work. The summit sessions were created in response to surveys, focus groups, and conversations with artists and arts leaders. Experts in the field were invited to focus on the concept of ‘how-to’ in their disciplines. A full schedule of events, session descriptions, presenter bios, and links to register can be found at www.umass.edu/aes/artshub.

“The ArtsHub will be officially launched at the ArtsHub Virtual Summit and includes feature articles on the region’s artists and organizations, resources such as grants and calls for public art, places to post opportunities such as rehearsal space for rent or studio space wanted, arts calendar, and much more,” said Dee Boyle-Clapp, director of the Arts Extension Service at UMass Amherst and ArtsHub co-coordinator.

The fee for the ArtsHub Virtual Summit is $35 for the early-bird registration (before Jan. 4), and $55 thereafter. The fee provides access to all sessions and online access through January.

“Scholarships are available to a limited number of artists and creatives living and working in the four Western Massachusetts counties of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire upon completion of a simple form submitted no later than January 2,” Boyle-Clapp said. The form is available at www.umass.edu/aes/artshub.

The ArtsHub was made possible by an initial grant from the Massachusetts Office of Business Development and additional support from the Community Foundation of Western Mass.