The room is filled with artists, musicians, actors and actresses intently listening to the speaker onstage, as Katie Leamen shares the story of how she came to be a Writer, Producer, Actor, founding member of the theatre collective No Porpoise as well as Director of Coordination and Communications at the Small Theatre Administrative Facility (STAF) in Toronto.
This was the scene over this past Saturday, on the second day of the two day cultural entrepreneurship workshop (CEW) that was held at the McPherson Lounge in Alumni Hall on Friday October 23rd, and Saturday October 24th. The second annual cultural entrepreneurship workshop was a collaborative effort between the University of Windsor EPICentre, the School of Creative Arts (SOCA), and the Arts Council Windsor Region (ACWR) to provide students with an understanding of entrepreneurship and the skills to help transition to successful careers and grow their current practices.
The previous day kicked off with Project Trio, composer/performers from Brooklyn, NY and was followed by working sessions on the artist identity, and elevator pitch, as well as a grant writing workshop. Students and community members were highly engaged in learning and discussing how to manage the challenges of being an artist entrepreneur, as Saturday drew to a close with a presentation from Vanguard, ACWR’s Youth Arts Collective, and a workshop session on marketing from MBA students, Lubna Amin and Alain Yelle.
