Building an arts forward community

ACRE awards certificates to over a dozen Venango County artist entrepreneurs

​“Sometimes as artists, we (go) headfirst into everything we make and we don’t think about the business side of it,” Dia Demey said during Tuesday’s reception of the Alliance for Creative Rural Economics program in Oil City.  
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She was one of 13 people recognized for completing the first phase of the extensive training and mentoring program that sets out to help creatives turn their passion into sustainable and successful businesses.
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Funded through Bridgeway Capital, ACRE focuses on the creative economy of rural communities.

​“It requires local activation to be successful,” Adam Kenney of Bridgeway Capital said Tuesday. “You guys are so ahead of the curve.”
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Local facilitator Barbara Pierce, who also helps administer the city’s Artist Relocation Program, gave a rundown of the roller coaster ride the experience has been for she and other 13 participants.
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“Being in the program is a big commitment,” she said.

​Just as they were all gearing up for the work ahead, the federal funding was cancelled and “our program, for a brief moment, was at a standstill. It stopped. Adam rallied his team and found funding to finish the online portion of the program.”
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And that is what they were celebrating on Tuesday – the energy that comes from collaboration, the momentum that drives goals into action, and the education accumulated through zoom sessions and extended resource availability.
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Along with Demey and Pierce, other Oil City area artists to participate in the collaborative were Skyler Austin, John Manders, Scott McCray, Ryan Beichner, Crystal Roser, CJ Hurley, Amanda Pica, Rachel Stine, Cassie Rhoads, Chelsey Rhoads, Tracey Lander Garrett and Kaleb Lewis.  
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“ACRE gave me a direction to go when there were too many options at the crossroads,” Pica shared during the ceremony.
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Next up for the group is finding funding for the second half of the program, which takes the learning from the first part and applies it into establishing or strengthening their art businesses and securing needed capital.

The group will also continue to foster the professional and artistic relationships provided through ACRE.

​Lewis summed it all up for the group, “we can create something strong when we work as a collective.”