Creative Pinellas to Host Arts Business Incubator Open House
Showcasing Local Nonprofit Arts Businesses
Creative Pinellas, the County’s Local Arts Agency, is holding an open house for their Arts Business Incubator on Friday, April 27 from 1-4 pm. The openhouse will be an opportunity for residents, artists, nonprofit organizations and people with an interest in the future of the arts in Pinellas County to get an up-close look at the Incubator and all that it has to offer, and for participant organizations to each share their knowledge, message and mission with the wider community.
“We are all very excited about opening our doors to the public,” says Barbara St. Clair, executive director of Creative Pinellas. “It is a chance to show off what we have been able to do in a few short months since we’ve opened. We see the Incubator as a support system for the community, filling a need for arts and culture organizations, and enabling us to revitalize the former Gulf Coast Museum of Art property as an asset for the whole community.”
The Creative Pinellas Arts Business Incubator focuses specifically on nonprofit arts and culture organizations that serve Pinellas County. It provides affordable office and meeting space for groups that seek a collaborative working environment, shared business services, learning and mentoring space and the opportunity to tap into the skills and abilities of the other participating organizations. Participants also commit to volunteer on a regular basis, collaborate with one another, and participate in workshops and Incubator events.
Currently the Bluebird Books Bus, Community Development and Training Center (CDAT), Dunedin Music Society, NOMAD Art Bus, Professional Association of Visual Artists (PAVA), and Tampa Bay Ukulele Society are all Incubator participants.
“The Arts Business Incubator has given NOMAD a much-needed place to call home,” says Carrie Boucher, the organization’s founder and director. “Because I rent an office there, I have office hours and a solid administrative foundation upon which NOMAD can continue to grow. I can reserve the boardroom, so I’m no longer chasing meetings all over the Tampa Bay area. In addition to that, it’s fun to have day-in day-out workmates… something I haven’t had in years.”
The Creative Pinellas Arts Business Incubator is open from 8:30-5:30 M-F and is located at 12211 Walsingham Road in Largo, within the Pinewood Cultural Park.For a complete schedule of events and more information about the Incubator, please visit creativepinellas.org/incubator or contact Samantha Samson, administrative and marketing coordinator, at samantha.samson@arts-src-wp.sptechteam.net.
