Blog - Online+Resource

View the recording of our PRO Network presentation with Tom Ferraro.

In this workshop, artist Tom Ferraro discusses the development and techniques used by the Looking Glass Art Project, a program designed to engage community stakeholders in the creation of public art. Since 2012, Tom and co-founder or the Looking Glass Art Project, Ed Grout, have led over 20 community-driven public art projects throughout Northwest Pennsylvania. This workshop will provide a snapshot of how the Looking Glass Art Project has adapted their process, originally designed to engage seniors, to include diverse groups of community participants. Topics include lessons in Lifelong Learning, finding community partners, identifying big ideas, adapting to various community groups, working to the strength of your participants, the role of the professional artist in the production of public art. Tom compares and contrasts their processes using examples from a variety of past and current projects.

Thank you to all who attended "The Crown We Wear: Black Hair as Art in Life" on October 13.

Florida artist Sharon Norwood participated in a conversation with master stylist, educator and author, Danielle Slade, the owner of Erie’s So Fancy Hair Salon. The moderator of this dialogue is Dr. Rhonda Matthews, Edinboro Associate Professor of Politics. Matthews is a political sociologist, with specialty areas in gender, theory and popular culture.

Norwood creates work “that challenge our passive ways of looking.” Her sculptures, drawings, ceramics, and fiber works address a specific “social, political and cultural context” while engaging issues of “race, gender, beauty and class.” Her frequent use of a curly line is sometimes “a metaphor for the black body” and other times a decorative and formal expression, simply “a beautiful mark.”

Thank you to all who attended on Thursday, October 15 at 12:00 PM. This virtual roundtable featured Leslie Sotomayor, Roger Solano, Stephanie Diez-Morel, and Sheila Lorenzo de la Pena. This was hosted in connection with Edinboro University's Latinx Heritage Month.

There are four things that every working artist should have, and creating them can seem like a boring or daunting task.
On July 23, Erie Arts & Culture held a virtual event led by Ian Thomas about writing your bio and artist statement, building your CV, and developing your portfolio. Ian provided insight on what to include and what to avoid. His presentation included examples representing the good, the bad, and the ugly.

View our webinar recording our of PRO Network Budgeting & Banking for Artists Navigating the Unknown with Debt-Free Denae webinar.

Erie Arts & Culture is committed to growing the capacity of our region's creative and cultural professionals. As an agency, we identified financial literacy, the knowledge necessary to make important financial decisions, as one of the key topics that we wish to advance through ongoing educational workshops and webinars. Financial literacy is important because it equips us with a greater understanding of how to manage money effectively. Education in this area builds a foundation for recognizing how our financial decisions and the actions we take—or don't take—impact our current and future success and abilities to achieve our goals.

Please join Erie Arts & Culture for a virtual discussion on May 28 at 4:30 PM about how artists and non-profit organizations can identify funding opportunities and prepare their applications accordingly.

On May 20, 2020, Erie Arts & Culture hosted a virtual conversation about how COVID-19 and social distancing have impacted the cultural and creative sector in Erie, PA, and what the path forward looks like. The panel featured non-profit leaders and artists from a variety of backgrounds who are adapting to the unique challenges and opportunities presented to the creative sector at this time in history.

Erie Arts & Culture presented the second installment of the Creative Catalyst Speaker Series with Kemi Ilesanmi on May 6, 2020. Kemi is the Executive Director of The Laundromat Project, a non-profit arts organization located in New York, NY. For the past 15 years, the organization has worked to advance artists and neighbors as change agents in their own communities. The Laundromat Project makes sustained investments in growing a community of multiracial, multigenerational, and multidisciplinary artists and neighbors committed to societal change by supporting their artmaking, community building, and leadership development. The conversation with Kemi was moderated by Kristen Weeks, the Program Manager of Erie Arts & Culture’s New Horizons initiative.

Please enjoy this recording of our webinar conversation with Jonathan D'Silva of MMI Intellectual Property about how copyright, licensing, and other IP issues affect creative professionals. Presented by Erie Arts and Culture's PRO Network initiative (Professional development, Resources, and Opportunities), this is one of a group of sessions we hope will help build the professional capacity of our region's creative and cultural professionals.