Programs & Services

General Professional Resources

ACCION USA: ACCION USA’s mission is to make access to credit a permanent resource to low- and moderate-income small businesses owners in the United States.
Art Calendar: Art Calendar offers artists practical advice on business topics and advanced technical applications, listings of Calls to Artists and an online art business community.
ArtBizCoach.com: Artist Marketing and Self-Promotion: On-line art marketing courses and resources as well as, personalized support and workshops offered by Alyson B. Stanfield.
Artist Help Network: A list of national organizations as well as agencies that offer studio insurance.
Artist Trust – Artist Information Services and Resources: A continually updated collection of vital resources for artists. Some are for Washington State artists only, but there is much for artists from other parts of the country.
Arts and Crafts Business at About.com: This site includes articles and other resources useful to running a craft art business.
Arts Business Institute: A non-profit educational organization established by the Rosen Group, ABI provides educational resources to the arts community in the U.S. and Canada through annual retreats and business skills workshops held in conjunction with local arts organizations.
ArtScams.com: ArtScams.com is a resource created to help artists avoid falling victim to the many scams that proliferate the art market and the Internet. We are not affiliated with any law enforcement agency, and the information provided here is not intended as a substitute for legal advice.
Ask Harriete: Artist Professional Guidelines Q&A: Metalsmith Harriete Estel Berman’s questions and answers on professional guidelines for artists. Advice for artists, crafts people and the arts community. Information to assist artists and crafts people in their professional develop.
Bruce Baker’s Business Development Workshops and Resources for Artists: Bruce Baker teaches workshops throughout the United States and Canada on marketing for artists. Many art marketing resources are also available at his website.
Business.gov: Business.gov, managed by the SBA in conjunction with the over 40 federal agencies that regulate business, provides customer service for small businesses interacting with the federal government.
Canada Cultural Human Resources Council: Artist Career Strengthening Resources: Many of the resources on this site are useful to artists in the US as well as Canada. Includes booklet, “The Art of Managing Your Career in Crafts.”
Center for Cultural Innovation: CCI helps self-employed artists, small arts businesses and the nonprofit arts sector start, manage and grow their own businesses.
cerfnews: A River Worth Crossing: A cerfenews article about learning basic business practices to help sustain your career.
cerfnews: Refreshing Your Perspective: A cerfnews article on ways that craft artists can create new opportunities.
cerfnews: What’s the Buzz About CDFIs?: A cerfnews article about how community development financial institutions (CDFIs) can help craft business owners succeed.
Chicago Artists’ Coalition Publications For Artists: The Chicago Artists’ Coalition offers a variety of helpful publications for artists, including the Artists’ Self-Help Guide.
Claystation.com: The goal of the Claystation is to be the best navigational tool that guides one with ease through a united world wide web of ceramics.
Craft Organization Development Association (CODA) Member Directory: Many craft guilds offer business education opportunities. Use CODA’s directory to link to a craft guild near you.
CraftSmarts: Business Help for Arts Professionals: This site includes many useful business tips for the professional craft artist.
Creative Capital’s Professional Development Program: Creative Capital’s Professional Development Program (PDP) shares with a broad community of artists some successful tools and strategies for improved self-sufficiency.
Entrepreneurs’ Help Page: This web site distributes basic information on legal, financial, and management issues that commonly affect people who are just starting up their businesses.
Estate and Legacy Planning for Artists: A compendium of estate and legacy planning resources for artists. These resources were compiled by textile artist Gwendolyn Magee.
Federal Citizen Information Center: FCIC provides the answers to questions about the federal government and everyday consumer issues.
Fractured Atlas: Professional Resources: From healthcare to publicity to collaborative production grants, Fractured Atlas supplies critical tools for independent artists and arts organizations so they can focus on their creative responsibilities.
Freelancers Union: Freelancers Union is a nonprofit organization that represents the needs and concerns of America’s independent workforce through advocacy, information, and service.
Getting Your Sh*t Together: Software and Services for Artists of All Kinds: Getting Your Sh*t Together is an artist run company that applies the creativity of an artist’s mind to the complex and daunting world of professional practices in contemporary art. The company’s mission is to support artists and arts organizations with an integrated mix of software, services and information in order to keep artists working.
HAND/EYE Fund: Artisan Grants: The HAND/EYE Fund grants assist artisan cooperatives with one-time investments for equipment, training, or other basic needs, and small artisan businesses with longer term business development.
IRS: Small Business and Self-Employed One-Stop Resource: A compendium of online resources on starting, financing, and managing a small business, especially in relation to taxes.
Marlene Richey: Art business development consultant: Marlene has been a jeweler and in the jewelry business for more than thirty years. She provides business consulting, classes and virtual assistant services to artists. She also has published a book — “Profiting by Design”
Microenterprise Programs Directory: Microenterprise programs around the country help small business owners and low-income entrepreneurs gain access to the training and financial resources they need to succeed. Use this website to find programs near you.
National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE): The National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) foundation dedicated to helping all Americans acquire the information and gain the skills necessary to take control of their personal finances.
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA): Business of Art: Includes a variety of articles and interviews pertaining to the business of art.
New York Foundation for the Arts: NYFA Source: NYFA Source provides online access to the nation’s most extensive databank of grants, emergency relief, residencies, publications and sources of information for artists of all disciplines.
PBS Frontline: The Secret History of the Credit Card: A credit card can be a useful tool in running a craft business, but too much credit card debt can lead to serious financial problems for your business and your family. In this program, Frontline and The New York Times examine how the credit card industry became so pervasive, so lucrative, and so politically powerful.
Peer-to-Peer Lending: Kiva Microlending: Kiva, an online microlending service that has facilitated low-interest loans to small businesses and entrepreneurs in developing countries since 2005, started offering its service to low-income entrepreneurs in the United States in 2009.
Peer-to-Peer Lending: Lending Club: Lending Club is a social lending network that brings together investors and creditworthy borrowers to provide personal loans at rates that are generally better than those offered by traditional banks.
Peer-to-Peer Lending: MicroPlace: MicroPlace, an eBay company, offers individuals an opportunity to invest a portion of their savings in investments that have the potential to generate a financial return while having a social impact by targeting loans to low income business people.
Peer-to-Peer Lending: Prosper: Prosper is a leading online destination for borrowing money and investing in loans. Prosper’s auction model provides an open and transparent way to get a personal loan or invest in loans on terms that can be favorable to everyone involved in the transaction.
Professional Growth for Artists: The Arts Resource Network provides links to a range of information about the arts and arts opportunities. Find information and resources to help you increase your skills in creating, facilitating and promoting your work.
Publications: Allworth Press Business Books for Artists: Allworth Press provides practical information books for the creative community.
Publications: Chester Book Company, Craft Books: Offering books for all who create, collect, teach, and love craft.
Publications: CraftMarketer Marketing Books for Craft Artists: The Craftmarketer’s books on marketing crafts by James Dillehay.
Publications: Making a Living in Crafts by Donald Clark: Artisan marketer, Donald Clark, helps guide and inspire you, your students or your craft organization turn artistic passion into profit.
Publications: The Crafts Report Magazine: A monthly magazine that focuses on business information for craft artists.
Recession Art: Artist Trust Artist Survey Results: The Artists and the Economy Survey was conducted by Artist Trust during March and April of 2009. The summary of the survey results includes some useful insights as to how artists are dealing with the recession.
Recession Art: CERFnews Article on Creativity in Challenging Times: Some artists share their strategies for a recessionary renaissance.
Recession Art: Leveraging Investments in Creativity's 2009 Artists and the Recession Survey Findings: Over 6,000 artists responded to the Artists and the Economic Recession Survey, commissioned by Leveraging Investments in Creativity, in collaboration with Helicon Collaborative and Princeton Survey Research Associates International. This is a link to the summary report.
Recession Art: SBA (NY) Recession Survival Guide for Small Business: Put together by New York State’s Small Business Administration’s development center business advisors, the guide includes helpful recession-specific tips, techniques, and experiences that can help any small business owner weather tough financial times.
Recession Art: Tips for Weathering the Storm: Woodshop News contacted the owners of several small cabinet and furniture shops that the magazine has recently profiled to find out what measures they are taking to weather the current economic crisis.
Recession Recovery: SBA, Economic Recovery Resources: The Small Business Administration is charged with implementing many of the programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, including America’s Recovery Capital Loan Program (ARC loans) and micro-loans through qualified nonprofit community lending institutions.
SBA Podcasts on Small Business Topics: Podcasting is a way to receive audio files over the Internet to your desktop. The SBA offers podcast feeds to you on a range of small business topics. New podcasts monthly.
Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE): SCORE (Counselors to America’s Small Business) is a nonprofit association dedicated to providing entrepreneurs with free, confidential face-to-face and email business counseling.
Show Guide Scams: StopECG is a web-based group opposed to a show guide companies that mail misleading promotions to show exhibitors. The promotions are made to look like they are from the producers of the shows the exhibitors are to be in. The promotions can easily be cons.
Small Business Administration (SBA): A great compendium of online advice on starting, financing and managing a smalll business.
Small Business Development Centers: Part of the Small Business Administration, SBDCs offer one-stop assistance to individuals and small businesses by providing a wide variety of business information and guidance in central and easily accessible branch locations.
Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG): Professional Guidelines: SNAG’s Professional Guidelines provide legal, professional and practical advise and checklists for the jewelry and metals community as well as the crafts community in general.
Springboard for the Arts: Springboard for the Arts’ mission is to cultivate a vibrant arts community by connecting artists with the skills, contacts, information, and services they need to make a living and a life.
State Arts Agency Directory: Many state and local art agencies provide business education opportunities for craft artists. Use this site to link to your state arts agency.
T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity: A free eBook by David Parrish for creative entrepreneurs to refer to and find information, examples from other businesses, and practical tips about using powerful business ideas in a creative context.
The Artist’s Rights Society: Copyright Basics: The Artists Rights Society is a copyright, licensing, and monitoring organization for visual artists in the United States. Included at their web site is information on copyright basics for artists.
The Home Jewelry Business Success Resource: Thousands of tips for marketing handcrafted jewelry by jewelry artist Rena Klingenberg.
The Motley Fool: The Motley Fool online forum is designed to help participants obtain financial information and discuss ways to make investment and personal financial decisions.
World Wide Learn Online Courses: World Wide Learn offers a comprehensive directory of online courses, accredited online degrees, continuing education, online training, and online education.