Westchester Community College is offering photographers, painters, jewelers, potters and all other creative types a series of weekend bootcamps to learn what it takes to turn their craft into a business.
The one- or two-day “Creative Entrepreneur Bootcamp,” launched in September by WCC”™s Center for the Arts in White Plains, offers courses in marketing, launching a business, building a website and creating multimedia.
People in creative fields have more options than ever on how to sell their work, including on eBay, Etsy or through personal websites. But Lisa Santalis, interim director for WCC”™s Center for the Arts, said that people with art backgrounds can still face difficulties when they cross over into the business world.
“They may have never received business training,” Santalis said. “So we thought this could be a way to help artists take their craft to the next level.”
A two-day bootcamp titled “Start-up Your Own Creative Business!” offers guidance on writing a so-called elevator pitch, creating a business plan and finding clients. Another, titled “Build Your Website Today,” provides a guide on creating and customizing a personal website.
There are seven programs total, running through December. The courses cost either $180 for a one-day program or $360 for the two-day program. The bootcamps are not for college credit.
Santalis said the classes can appeal to a younger generation that is more likely to have an entrepreneurial outlook on their art or craft.
“It”™s not so much just their hobby or for personal enjoyment,” Santalis said. “They are looking at it as, well, maybe I can make a little extra money at this. And it could be fun to use technology to bring their art form to the level of more of a product.”
The Westchester Community College Center for the Arts is an extension of the community college”™s main campus in Valhalla. Launched in 1926, the center offers a mix of credit and non-credit courses, mostly focused in visual arts, computer arts, design and craft media. The arts center is located in the Westchester County Center.
This is the first bootcamp-style business courses the center has offered, Santalis said.
“We”™ve pretty much focused on the arts strictly, so this is a way to branch out into entrepreneurship and how the two relate,” she added.
More information on the courses can be found at sunywcc.edu/weekendstudies.
