Purpose: The Artist Award recognizes the business skill of professional artists, arts groups, or arts based businesses. Artists will be judged on their commitment and growth with the entrepreneurial side of their art careers. The intention of this award is to recognize the unique challenges of planning, marketing, and sustaining arts based enterprises. Artists are encouraged to apply, even if they don’t consider themselves to be business owners or entrepreneurs. Four finalists and one top winner will be recognized

Awards: The Artist Awards’ top prize is $3000, and a choice of 2 avenues of free business support (website development, marketing, business advising, accounting, space…), a free year of COSE membership, exhibit, show, or presentation (depending on the artistic medium) in the new Positively Cleveland Visitors’ Center on Public Square, and an article in the COSE Update. Finalists receive a small commissioned artwork.

Nomination/Application Process: A public call for nominations will be announced in January 2008. The deadline for nominations is January 30th, 2008. Nominees will be asked to fill out a questionnaire for judging. Self applications are also welcome. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2008.

Eligibility: Any artist, artist group, arts organization or arts based business who has applied some level of business practice and planning to their artistic career. Applicants must be devoted to professionally creating and presenting their artistic work: this includes, but is not limited to making visual artwork, performing, writing, choreographing, and creating digital media. Applicants must have made an effort to incorporate sound business practice into their profession, and can fulfill the following:

Criteria

• Artists will be judged based on their commitment to sustaining their creative careers through showing the following:
• Artist(s) are earning revenue from their creative enterprise. Revenue can validated. (please note: other sources of income do not disqualify from the competition).
• Applicant(s) have at least started the process of business planning: examples include, but are not limited to setting career goals, creating a business plan, participating in strategy sessions with a mentor, taking business related courses
• The artistic work is at the stage where the public or clients can view it, buy it, hire the artist, attend a program, etc.
• Applicant(s) can show some form of marketing material such as business cards, brochures, and web presence, and plans for future development of other marketing material