Startup Junkie and ARt DeCentrale are hosting a panel discussion called Public Art 101 in Bentonville tomorrow evening. The talk will feature city arts and culture leaders, as well as experienced public artists, who will explain the process by which artists collaborate with organizations, institutions or city governments to create and install public artworks.
Ozarks at Large’s Jack Travis connected with Startup Junkie’s director of community events and partnerships, Daniel Koonce, to learn more about what folks can expect.
Koonce: This event is going to be tailored toward artists in Northwest Arkansas. Something we've been emphasizing at Startup Junkie this year is a term we like to call artpreneurs. We consider artists who are solo and try to make money off of art as entrepreneurs. We just kind of combine the words into entrepreneur, and I think it's pretty catchy. So anyone interested in art in Northwest Arkansas, potentially making money or making a career out of art, should come to this event.
It's going to be a panel. We have a bunch of the big art figures in Northwest Arkansas. We have representatives from Fayetteville, Rogers, Lowell and Bentonville all going to be there talking about public art and why it's important and how to get connected.
Travis: And where is this occurring?
Koonce: So this is going to be at the University of Arkansas Learning Lab in Bentonville. I believe it's 704 SE 5th St. It's the Learning Lab, and it's also called the Fuel Space.
Travis: And tell me more about artpreneurs. Are y’all seeing an increased demand for this type of resource? Are people really coming to y’all requesting more information about how to make money off of their art?
Koonce: Yeah. So we've seen a lot of questions this year. You know, "Hey, I'm an artist. I want to make it into a career. I want to start my own art studio, or I want to make money from this. What do I do? What are the first steps?" And honestly, at Startup Junkie, sometimes we don't know. So we've been really diving into it this year. And the best way we thought to kind of answer some of those questions is to bring people who know, bring the experts together who have been in the art space for a while to come talk on this panel and also to answer any questions that solo or local artists have.
Travis: Very cool. And so can you talk about how this plays into Startup Junkie’s greater mission here in Northwest Arkansas?
Koonce: Our mission is really just to help entrepreneurs, small business owners, dreamers launch, grow, and accelerate. We classify artists in that category as well. So anything we can do in Northwest Arkansas to help out entrepreneurs, artrepreneurs, we're going to do that. We're going to give them the information and the tools necessary.
Travis: See, that's interesting because I wouldn't expect an artist to think of themselves as a business person, as an entrepreneur. Do you feel that people have to maybe change the way that they think about what they're doing to find a lot of success in it?
Koonce: Yeah, absolutely. I think for an artist, if you do want to be successful, that's the first step is realizing maybe I do have to treat this like a business. You know, in a perfect world, it'd be awesome just to be painting 24/7 and be selling those. There's a lot of stuff on the side. You got to build a website, you've got to market it, you've got to sell it, you've got to price it. All of those things align perfectly with starting your own business. So the first step is realizing this is a business, I am an entrepreneur. Now what?
Travis: So do you expect people to go to this event, learn a little bit, and then maybe engage with Startup Junkie some more, maybe through a Kiva loan or other initiatives like that?
Koonce: Yeah, absolutely. That's one of the goals, is A, learn a little bit at this event. B, connect with us, learn about the other programs we have. But also C, connect with other people who are like you. You know, if worst-case scenario, you show up to this event and you meet two or three people who are in the same boat as you, have the same interests as you, you make valuable connections. We see that as a win.
Travis: Absolutely. Can you share a success story? Maybe not with artists, but just with anyone, any business, any local entrepreneur that has gone to a Startup Junkie event and then had an experience like that?
Koonce: Yeah, absolutely. That's a great question, Jack. So this one's not an artist, but our friend Wendy, she just started a company, Wendy Elster Meyer. She started a company called Jane Wick. They basically make gun bags for women who want to go to the range, but maybe they don't need the heavy utilities and the heavy bags that men use. She saw that there was a need for this product. And a couple of years ago, she came to one of our pitch competitions where you just have 60 seconds, you give your idea, you can maybe win a prize. Just a few years ago, she actually won that competition, and she just had her grand opening launch a couple weeks ago. And so it's been really cool to see her win a competition that we held, meet people through our network, and she's obviously put a lot of work in herself, but her business is up and rolling now, and she's got a lot of partners in the area.
Travis: All right, one more time. Can you just share what people need to know about Tuesday's event? The who, what, when, where?
Koonce: It's going to be at the Learning Lab in Bentonville. The address is 704 SE 5th St. It's going to be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. If you're an artist, if you're interested in art, or if you just have a buddy who's interested in art and you like charcuterie, you like free wine, and you want to meet some people, learn some things, come to this event.
That was Startup Junkie director of community events and partnerships Daniel Koonce speaking with Ozarks at Large’s Jack Travis. You can visit here for more information about tomorrow's event, taking place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the U of A Collaborative Learning Lab in Bentonville.
