Career Skills and the Business of Art

Indiana Resources
National Resources
Legal Issues
Taxes and Accounting
Health Issues

Indiana Resources on the Business of Art

Arts INform
Bi-monthly newsletter from the Indiana Arts Commission with a one-page focus on an informational topic of interest to arts organizations or self-employed people in the arts. Includes online sources for further information.

Artist Professional Development Series
A series of free workshops sponsored by the Arts Council of Indianapolis and Primary Colours, designed specifically for the emerging career artist. Past topics have included tax and copyright issues, basic business practices, photographing slides for submissions, writing grant proposals and more.

The Art of Business
An outreach and assistance program that fosters discussion among local artists about their work and helps them in the preparation of artists' statements, grant applications, promotional materials and more. Free of charge and cosponsored by the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art and the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

Artists After Hours (Bloomington)
Type “Artists After Hours” into the search box.
Sponsored by the Bloomington Area Arts Council. “A free, monthly, informational networking session for artists of all disciplines to share expertise and regularly engage in lively discussion.” Usually held on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 5:30pm at the John Waldron Arts Center.

Artists After Hours (New Albany)
A gathering for Southern Indiana professional and amateur artists in any medium.
A free opportunity to network, socialize, and share ideas and concerns. Check the message board on the Arts Council of Southern Indiana website (above) for details, or e-mail ebrown@artscouncilsi.org.

Artists Anonymous (Indianapolis)
Monthly gathering at the Harrison Center for the Arts provides artists the opportunity to gather, connect and share ideas and information. Meets the third Wednesday of the month at 7pm in the gallery, 1505 North Delaware in Indianapolis. There is no cost to attend. For more information, e-mail Quincy Owens.

Arts Place, Inc
Offers an ongoing series of technical assistance workshops for artists and arts providers. Located in Portland, Arts Place, Inc. is a regional arts organization serving East Central Indiana and West Central Ohio. For more information, check the website or e-mail Eric Rogers, Director

Go to Top of Page

National Resources on the Business of Art

Artist Help Network
A website with lots of career resources for people working in the “fine arts,” as well as applied arts, arts administration, and other arts-related fields. Includes accounting/bookkeeping, art law, studio insurance, pensions, health hazards, housing and studio space, photographing and presenting your work, and many other topics. No fee.

Artists at Work / Musicians at Work Forums
Download audio recordings of Chicago events: Artists at Work; Musicians at Work

CAR: Chicago Artists Resource E-News
Scroll down to link for newsletter sign-up. Free newsletter from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.

Craigslist
Community forums for artists and musicians, and Arts discussion forum.

Business of Art Articles from NYFA Source (all disciplines)
Articles on the following topics: Careers, Exhibiting & Performing, For Art Students, Fundraising, Housing & Studio, Insurance, Legal, Marketing, Money, Web Site Development, and more.

Go to Top of Page

Legal Issues

Creative Arts Legal League
A legal services organization of volunteer attorneys who are dedicated to providing legal services to the artistic community in Indiana. People eligible for legal services through C.A.L.L. are Indiana artists who are in need of legal services related directly to their artistic endeavors, and who meet income eligibility requirements.

C.A.L.L. also sponsors seminars on How to Collect and Remit Sales Tax; Business Taxes; How to Review Contracts; and How to Register Domain Names, Copyrights and Trademarks.

Legal Line
Speak with a qualified attorney who will help answer questions and give advice on legal matters. A free service offered from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month. Call (317) 269-2000.

Liability Insurance from Fractured Atlas
Members are eligible to purchase insurance coverage for arts events and film productions, at reduced rates. Membership fee.

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Click on Resources for sources of information on the following topics: Intellectual Property, Copyright, Trademark, Contracts, Entity Formation, For Profit, and Nonprofit.

Go to Top of Page

Taxes and Accounting

Living and Working with Disabilities
IRS Publication 3966: Presents basic information about existing tax credits and benefits that may be available to qualifying taxpayers with disabilities. Publication 3966 en Espanol These publications are in pdf format.

Tax Highlights for Persons with Disabilities
IRS Publication 907: Information about aspects of tax law that may be of interest to people with disabilities: income, itemized deductions, tax credits, and household employees. More detailed than #3966 above.

Internal Revenue Service Live Telephone Assistance
Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. your local time. Individuals: call 800-829-1040. People with hearing impairments: call 800-829-4059 (TDD).

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA)
Offers free tax help to low- to moderate-income taxpayers. To locate a VITA site near you, call 1-800-829-1040.

Taxpayer Advocate Service
An IRS service for individuals to address taxpayer problems not resolved through normal IRS channels, assisting taxpayers who are facing hardships, and identifying issues that impact taxpayer rights. See more information in
IRS Publication 1546. Call the service at 877-777-4778 or 800-829-4059 (TTY/TTD).

Artist Help Network: Publications on Accounting and Bookkeeping
Click on Money, then Accounting and Bookkeeping. List of publications with links to purchase them online.

Professional Development Workshop for Artists: Income Tax
This document presents content from a tax workshop for performing and visual artists offered by the Arts Council of Indianapolis in 2008.

Health Issues

Health in the Arts Archive
Need to know about ergonomic squeegees? Natural dyes? Safe materials for teaching? Hundreds of articles on health and safety issues for artists, originally published as part of the Art Hazard News, are now available on the Chicago Artists Resource site. Articles are organized by discipline (music, education, sculpture, dance, etc.), by specific materials, and also by general topics that are of concern to all artists. Browse or search by keywords.

Health Insurance - See Self-Employment.

Marketing

See Promoting Yourself and Your Work

For career skills information pertaining to a particular arts field, go to Information Sources by Arts Specialty.

Self-Employment

Go to Top of Page