You don’t have to look far to find awesome art, science, history and cultural projects or organizations that the Arts & Science Council is involved with. The creative economy is growing in the Charlotte area, and our Arts & Science Council (a Knight arts grantee) is an innovative force behind this trend.

For a number of reasons, the way people do business is changing. Of course, this goes for the creative economies and the non-profit sector, too. The Arts & Science Council’s involvement extends throughout Mecklenburg County and includes both the traditional funding models, as well as some very innovative training, programming and services for this community.

This favorite saying — “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for the day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat forever.” — sums up why the Arts & Science Council’s training for local artists, organizations and cultural leaders is so successful. It is actually teaching the creative sector how to be more business-like.

A popular offering among artists is its “Artist as an Entrepreneur” Institute, which assists artists of all disciplines — visual and performing arts — with a wide variety of skills needed to advance in business.

The curriculum for each “Artist as an Entrepreneur” Institute is based on a range of topics, but this year it switched it up a bit based on feedback from program alumni. Instead of three full days packed with information, it broke into half days and invited new presenters. A wide variety of themes are covered in this training, from taxes to business plans. For the latest session, on Friday, April 13, the focus was on marketing and communications strategies.

Our Arts & Science Council is constantly looking ahead for new ideas. In May, it is offering a brand new “Internet for Artists Weekend Workshop for Established Visual, Performing & Media Artists.” This intensive training, led by Creative Capital, will be about using the Internet to build community, promote one’s work and increase administrative effectiveness. It will be held at McColl Center for Visual Art (another Knight arts grantee) and teach participants to expand their online presence and learn to harness the power of Internet tools, such as social networking and media sharing sites, e-commerce, promotional websites and blogs.

It is no surprise that the Arts & Science Council is a major player in showcasing Charlotte’s creative economy to the outside world during our very public hosting of the Democratic National Convention. It has been instrumental in bringing together the best of our area — big and small — and brainstorming innovative ways to work together and highlight our city’s strengths.

The Arts & Science Council, in conjunction with the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, is sponsoring a “Crowdshare” event* on Wednesday, April 25 that will generate an action plan for how our community will use the Democratic National Convention to promote Charlotte as a creative and innovative center. It is inviting members of the creative economy to build connections, share information and generate ideas for the Democratic National Convention Creative Hub. This Hub will showcase key areas of Charlotte’s entrepreneurial innovation and artistic creativity as an important force for economic development in the region.

*Creative Crowdshare: Mapping Charlotte’s Creative Community — Charlotte Creates Date: Wednesday, April 25 Time: 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Location: Mint Museum Uptown, a Knight Arts grantee Register here.