Periscope: Rural Artist Development (RAD) was an online training and mentorship opportunity uniquely designed to be a transformative experience empowering rural Tennessee artists with the entrepreneurial skills to help them thrive. A four-year initiative, Periscope RAD training sessions were led by expert business professionals and small group work is facilitated by top arts professionals from across Tennessee.
Meet the Periscope RAD Class of 2025!
Periscope RAD artists received:
- Training: Eight weeks of professional development training customized for working artists living in rural communities;
- Exchange: Artists shared best practices with interdisciplinary peers through small group work;
- Mentorship: Each artist was paired one-on-one with a high-caliber mentor for six months;
- Exposure: Year-round opportunities to celebrate the work of alumni artists through the Arts & Business Council and Tennessee Arts Commission.
- Free Tuition: The program fee was waived thanks to the generous support of the Tennessee Arts Commission.
“This program was really great – I learned to value my work and that I was under-pricing my work. There is a lot of work that I feel that I need to do and this program helped me think outside the box.” – Periscope RAD artist, Class of 2024
WHAT: An intensive curriculum that explored tools to organize, plan, and sustain a creative career, to develop an individualized business plan to prepare each artist to take their creative endeavors to the next level.
WHEN: Eight consecutive weeks followed by six months of one-on-one mentorship.
WHERE: Training sessions were held online via Zoom and course materials were provided through the Google Classroom online learning platform.
“I came into the Periscope RAD program with excitement and a desire to learn and grow. I expected it to be valuable for both personal and professional growth. I was not disappointed. The variety of instructors and content challenged me to explore and grow in areas of weakness. However, for me, the greatest benefits were the opportunities to make connections, to learn from the other participants in my cohort, and to lean on the support and encouragement my mentor offered.” – Periscope RAD artist, Class of 2023
TRAINING SCHEDULE
Get oriented to Periscope: Rural Artist Development, meet your fellow cohort members, and begin setting some goals.
Analyze your current career position and identify what you need to build the brightest future for your art.
Focus on building a compelling unique selling proposition (USP) by learning from audience evaluations.
Understanding your work, audience, and business structure to optimize the potential of your creative business.
The essentials of building a marketing plan and promoting your work.
Walk through the basics of what generates revenue for you, pricing strategies, and long-term business planning.
Discover the process of talking about your work in a way that will gain believers and make use of other people’s talents.
Use what you’ve learned to refine your business plan and get comfortable pitching your creative endeavors to your audience.
Periscope RAD offers a statewide network of alumni:
Tennesee Rural Counties: Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Campbell, Cannon, Carroll, Carter, Cheatham, Chester, Claiborne, Clay, Cocke, Coffee, Crockett, Cumberland, Decatur, DeKalb, Dickson, Dyer, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Gibson, Giles, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, Hancock, Hardeman, Hardin, Hawkins, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lake, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, Macon, Marion, Marshall, McMinn, McNairy, Meigs, Monroe, Moore, Morgan, Obion, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Polk, Rhea, Roane, Robertson, Scott, Sequatchie, Smith, Stewart, Tipton, Trousdale, Unicoi, Union, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne, Weakley, White
Periscope: Rural Artist Development is supported by funding from the Tennessee Arts Commission.
The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville and Tennessee Arts Commission offer special thanks to:
