Workshops

for artists in their final two years of school, taught live, with two practical packets: how to budget a project and how to track the people who support your work. Plus the tax basics for your first paid gigs {what is a W9 & when will a 1099 show up?}. Created in spreadsheets you’re already familiar with.

The admin side of the art life made simple.

You took beginner through advanced ballet before stepping onto the stage in pointe shoes. These packets are the beginner steps for your financial life as an artist.

The last time I heard anyone talk about money in school was a high school economics class, where we played Monopoly. We're always told about the "struggling artist," and right now that is truer than ever. Students deserve an introduction to this conversation, so it stops being "irrelevant" to the arts, or "too scary" to talk about.

As an artist, you are your own business. Even with an agent, you answer the emails, texts and DMs about gigs, keep your schedule from double-booking, and (ideally) track who is paying you and when. It took me almost six years after graduating to do this systematically. Once I could see my whole schedule, professional and personal, next to what I was getting paid and when, I felt a real sense of ease about managing my time and my money.

Nobody Taught Us This

A STORY FROM MY DAYS AT ERYC TAYLOR DANCE

When I was the Lead Administrator at Eryc Taylor Dance (ETD), we ran an annual springboard grant, the New Choreographer Grant. It awarded $1,000 to three to five young choreographers. Over three months they developed their work, mentored by our Artistic Director and team. The grant ended with a live evening performance, with the venue, lighting designer, photographer and videographer covered by ETD.

A $1,000 award is a great starting point, and it had to stretch across dancers, rehearsal space, a collaborator, props and costumes. We asked each grantee to build a budget to track their project and to submit the final version by the end of the grant. Most went over budget, and found themselves in a wonderful learning moment.

  • If they had built a projected budget at the start, they would have seen which expenses to cut, or how much more funding to raise, before losing money.

  • They also learned to document a project from a financial lens. That habit matters every time you apply for a grant or ask a foundation, donor or organization for funding.

Most of them went over budget.

That was the lesson.

Two main packets + the tax basics

Each packet is a guide and worksheet.

The guide walks you through the worksheet, and the worksheet adds everything up for you.

Budget Packet

How much will this cost, and how much more do I need to raise?

  • Project Budget

  • General Operations Budget

  • Cash Flow Forecast

You leave with a budget you can attach to a grant application or a cash flow sheet to manage your monthly expenses on a yearly basis.