This year the Lawrence Arts Center piloted an Artist/Entrepreneur program for high school students called stARTup. In this program, we partnered with KU, Kansas City Art Institute, local galleries and businesses, artists, and industry leaders to build a solid foundation of business and art skills for emerging artists. The capstone of stARTup is for each student to put on their own Final Friday solo exhibition in partnership with a downtown gallery.

The April and May Final Friday will feature 14 stARTup shows at local galleries. These young artists did their own design, marketing, networking, and show hanging in partnership with many local businesses including Phoenix Gallery, Signs of Life, Essential Goods, Z’s Espresso, Lawrence Public Library, KU Center for Entrepreneurship, and many others. We plan on continuing this program each and every year for local high school students as it is a great way to integrate them into the local economy and culture.

stARTup introduces high school students to the basics of starting a small arts-based business. Students learn to write business plans, build a budget, apply for grants, draft marketing plans, and develop mentorships with professional artists and entrepreneurs, as they work towards exhibiting their personal artwork in a solo exhibition.  With stARTup, students improve their creative problem-solving abilities, self-confidence, and business acumen, while sowing the seeds of a possible future career in the arts. Contact Neal Barbour at neal@lawrenceartscenter.org for more information or to enroll.

APRIL EXHIBITIONS INCLUDE:

Abby English/Nature of Industrialization/Photography and Printmaking/Yantra, 840 Mass/April 28

Paxton Brittingham/Garden of Grace/Screenprinted, Painted, and Fiber Caligraphy/Phoenix Gallery, 825 Mass/April 28

Emily Cruse/Plunging into Chromacity/Painting/Lawrence Arts Center Lower Gallery/April 28

Seth Peters/ The Uncanny Valley/Illustration and Sculpture/Lawrence Arts Center Front Gallery/April 28

Katelyn Hammer/Untitled/Charcoal Illustration/Z’s Espresso, 10 E. 9^th St./April  28