The 2021 Class of Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training along with the 2021 Pitch Judges and ABC staff. Photo by Tiffany Bessire.
PERISCOPE is a year-long intensive training opportunity that empowers working artists to see their creative practice through an entrepreneurial lens.
Led by highly experienced instructors from within Nashville’s entrepreneurial community along with break-out sessions facilitated by 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:
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- Training: Working artists receive 8 weeks of professional development training.
- 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 for 6 months.
- 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 disciplines in the Greater Nashville region.
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 2022 followed by six months of one-on-one mentorship culminating in the Periscope Pitch + Artist Entrepreneur Showcase in September.
WHERE: Training sessions are held in person in Nashville and course materials are shared online through Google Classroom.
Thurs., March 24 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Get an introduction to goal setting before a fun networking mixer with current class members and Periscope alum.
Thurs., March 31 | 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.
Thurs., April 7 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Focus on building a compelling unique selling proposition (USP) by learning from audience evaluations.
Thurs., April 14 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Understanding your work, audience, and business structure to optimize the potential of your creative business.
Thurs., April 21 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The essentials of building a marketing plan and promoting your work.
Thurs., April 28 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Walk through the basics of what generates revenue for you, pricing strategies, and long-term business planning.
Thurs., May 5 | 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.
Thurs., May 12 | 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: September 2022
COST: There is no fee to apply. Once accepted, there is a $250 participation fee (includes all materials). The program is valued at $1,750+ 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. Provide a scholarship today!
APPLY: Applications for Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training are due no later than Thursday, February 10 at Noon. Applications received after this time may not be considered. If you have questions or would like to learn more about Periscope, join us for an online information session on January 20 at 6 p.m. CST.
NOMINATIONS: We encourage alumni, partners, and community members to nominate local artists for Periscope. If you know an artist who you think would benefit from our intensive entrepreneurial training curriculum, nominate them and we’ll invite them to apply. Nominations are due by February 3 at Noon.
Periscope Health & Safety Guidelines:
Training sessions for Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training will be held on the campus of Belmont University, and all participants will be required to follow the most current health and safety protocols set by the University. Currently, all individuals are required to wear a mask at all times while indoors on Belmont’s campus. In addition, the Arts & Business Council requires that all Periscope participants, staff, group leaders, and instructors provide proof of full vaccination prior to the beginning of the program, or proof of a negative COVID test prior to each weekly training session, taken within 72 hours of the training session. A person is considered fully vaccinated more than two weeks after receipt of the second dose in a 2-dose series (Pfizer and Moderna) or more than 2 weeks after receipt of a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine. Vaccine boosters are encouraged for all who qualify. All participants must also confirm that they have not been exposed and are symptom-free prior to each week’s training session. These guidelines are subject to change based on the most current data. Guidelines for the Periscope Pitch will be set later in the year. All participants agree to abide by all current and future health and safety guidelines set by the Arts & Business Council, its partners, or its representatives.
“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 that 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.”
