The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville has announced the selection of the 2023 class of Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training (Periscope Nashville), an annual business development intensive that empowers working artists to see their creative practice through an entrepreneurial lens. This year they are celebrating Periscope Nashville’s 10th year of creative entrepreneurship. This year’s class consists of 25 artists working in an array of disciplines including visual art, fashion, music, jewelry, and more.
Artists are chosen for Periscope Nashville through a competitive application process and scored by a panel of community reviewers that includes leading artists, curators, musicians, and creative entrepreneurs in Nashville’s arts, culture and business sectors. Selected artists participate in eight weeks of entrepreneurial training, followed by six months of individualized mentorship by high-caliber business mentors. The program culminates at the annual Periscope Pitch + Artist Entrepreneur Showcase on September 13, 2023, where artist entrepreneurs unveil their creative businesses to the community.
“This year’s class of Periscope artist entrepreneurs is comprised of 25 talented, diverse artists from a variety of disciplines who all demonstrate a high potential for business success in their creative endeavors,” said Jonathan Harwell-Dye, director of programs for the Arts & Business Council. “They are also the tenth Nashville-based cohort, marking a decade of ABC helping artists by treating them as the small business owners they are, and by equipping them with the entrepreneurial skills to build successful businesses from their art.”
The 2023 Class of Periscope Nashville consist of the following artists (with their pronouns) and their disciplines, alphabetically by first name: Alexa Lipman (she/her) – Visual Art; Ariel Bui (she/her) – Music; Asia Pyron (she/her) – Dance; Beth Barnard (she/her) – Visual Art, Sculpture; Brooke Hoffert (they/them) – Public Art/Creative Placemaking, Visual Art, Curatorial Arts; Bryson Finney (he/him) – Music; Cassy Laessig (she/her) – Visual Art; Dalia Garcia (she/her) – Visual Art; Darius Montgomery (he/him) – Fashion/Textiles, Visual Art; Gina Sicilia (she/her) – Music, Culinary Art; Grace Chee (she/her) – Visual Art; Kayleigh Walder (she/her) – Public Art/Creative Placemaking, Visual Art; Kristin Wiens Keyes (she/her), Public Art/Creative Placemaking; Leroy Ramon Dawson (he/him) – Visual Art; Lisa Jennings (she/her) – Visual Art; Martha Morales Purucker (she/her) – Visual Art; Princella Smith (she/her) – Film/Television, Literary Arts; Renea Weston (she/her) – Music; Sam Drapeaux (they/them) – Visual Art; Sharita Henderson (she/her) – Visual Art; Stephanie Graves (she/her) – Visual Art; Susan Thornton (she/her) – Jewelry/Metals; Thalia Ewing (she/her) – Music; Tree Lily Butcher (she/her) – Visual Art; and Yamil Conga (he/him) – Music.
The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville leverages and unites the unique resources of the arts and business communities to create a thriving, sustainable creative culture in Nashville. They accomplish this through six main programs: Education for the Creative Community, Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts, Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training, Arts Board Matching, Fiscal Sponsorship, and Creative Advantage, among many other resources and opportunities. Learn more about the Arts & Business Council at: www.abcnashville.org or contact 615-460-8274. Learn more about The Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training at: www.abcnashville.org/periscope.
