Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training

Applications for Periscope 2020 are closed. Thank you to everyone who applied!

If you would like to be notified when applications open in January 2021 for the next cohort, or if you have any questions about Periscope, please contact us at (615) 460-8274 or info@abcnashville.org.

PERISCOPE is a year-long intensive training opportunity that empowers working artists to see their creative practice through an entrepreneurial lens.

Led by expert advisors from the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, along with break-out sessions facilitated with Nashville’s top arts professionals, Periscope is designed to be a transformative experience for each artist, sparking the moment when their career will really start to take off.

Periscope provides:

    • Training: 8 weeks of professional development training for working artists
    • Exchange: Artists share best practices with interdisciplinary peers through small group work
    • Mentorship: Each artist is paired one-on-one with a high-caliber mentor
    • Exposure: Year-round opportunities to celebrate the work of alumni artists, plus red-letter visibility at the culminating celebration, the Periscope Pitch + Artist Entrepreneur Showcase

Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training is a program of the Arts & Business Council delivered with our partners:

WHO: The experience is limited to 25 artists, artisans, makers and creative entrepreneurs of all artistic genres.

WHAT: An intensive curriculum that will explore tools to organize, plan, and sustain a creative career, with the goal of developing an individualized business plan to prepare each artist to take their creative endeavors to the next level.

WHEN: Eight consecutive weeks from March-May 2020.

WEEK 1: Setting Goals & Making Connections
Wed., March 25 | 5–7 p.m.
Get an introduction to goal setting before a fun networking mixer with current class members and Periscope alum.

WEEK 3: Building a Compelling Proposition
Thurs., April 9 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Focus on building a compelling unique selling proposition (USP) by learning from audience evaluations.

WEEK 5: The Basics of Getting to Market
Thurs., April 23 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The essentials of building a marketing plan and promoting your work.

WEEK 7: Getting Believers
Thurs., May 7 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Discover the process of talking about your work in a way that will gain believers and make use of other people’s talents.

WEEK 2: What’s Your Idea?
Thurs., April 2 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Analyze your current career position and identify what you need to build the brightest future for your art. 

WEEK 4: Framing Your Concept
Thurs., April 16 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Understanding your work, audience, and business structure to optimize the potential of your creative business.

WEEK 6: Business, Not Hobbies
Thurs., April 30 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Walk through the basics of what generates revenue for you, pricing strategies, and long-term business planning.

WEEK 8: Making The Ask
Thurs., May 14 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Use what you’ve learned to refine your business plan and next steps, and get comfortable pitching your creative endeavors to your audience.

Periscope Pitch + Artist Entrepreneur Showcase: Wed., Sept. 2, 2020
Pitch Preliminary Dates: July 9 & Aug. 6* (*Pitching is optional.)

COST: There is no fee to apply. Once accepted, there is a $250 participation fee (includes all materials). This workshop is valued at $1,000+ and has been generously subsidized by the Arts & Business Council’s funders and our program partners. In order to keep program tuition fees accessible for all, the Arts & Business Council is seeking additional individual and corporate support for the Periscope Scholarship Fund. Learn More OR Provide a scholarship today.

Congratulations to the 2019 class of Periscope: Artist Entrepreneurs! Read more about the Periscope Pitch + Artist Showcase that took place on September 4 over on our blog!

In order to keep program tuition fees accessible for all, the Arts & Business Council is seeking additional individual and corporate support for the Periscope Scholarship Fund. Learn More OR Provide a scholarship today.

Hear from Periscope alumni about the experience:

“Being part of the Periscope group has broadened my circle of friends and colleagues and given me courage to continue the work I do.” – Doris Wasserman, Visual Artist

I really enjoyed being part of the program two years ago, and I think my biggest take-away was a greater ability to focus on core practical goals and distill what I do in a manner than made it more accessible, or at least understandable, for others while at the same time defining my art and myself as unique. 2015 has been a wonderful year so far, and I feel that Periscope has been an important part of it, lending me thrust and perspective. – Ted Drozdowski, Musician

“Being accepted to Periscope has given me a new level of confidence about my creative practice. So many doors have been opened since the completion of the course, and I now see my work as something of value for which I should be paid a living wage. My audience has expanded drastically and I’m collaborating with new partners that I never knew would want to work with me. The word “transformative” is hokey, but I really don’t know any other way to describe the benefits of being included in this class.”

Watch the Periscope 2019 Recap Video: