Northern Berkshire Creative Arts (NBCA) and MCLA's Berkshire Cultural Resource Center (BCRC) are co-sponsoring a series of talks and seminars for working artists entitled, Tricks of the Trade: Talks for Artists. This eight-month lecture series will feature topics ranging from the creative process of art making to advice on how to do taxes as an artist.

These artist talks are free and open to the public, but require pre-registration. To pre-register, please call Veronica Bosley, program coordinator of the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center at: 413-663-5253. The lectures will generally be held the first Thursday of every month 6:00PM – 8:00PM at either NBCA – located at 115 State Street, Bldg. 1, Heritage State Park, North Adams, MA or at the BCRC – located in Gallery 51, 51 Main St. North Adams, MA.

Both NBCA and the BCRC are organizations dedicated to supporting the growing local artist community. For more information on NBCA please visit: www.nbcreativearts.org. For more information on the BCRC please visit: www.mcla.edu/bcrc.

Tricks of the Trade: Talks for Artists

1st Thursday of every month, October-May 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Co-sponsored by MCLA's Berkshire Cultural Resource Center and Northern Berkshire Creative Arts

Picasso says he is a Communist and neither am I.
October 4 @ Gallery 51 51 Main St. North Adams, MA Speaker: Mark Mulherrin

Mulherrin uses words and images to discuss and compare different aspects of art produced during wartime from the Spanish civil war to the Iraq invasion. By contrasting art that functions as commentary on war with art that emanates from the experience of war, the lecture explores the validity of the creative process at its most elemental level - namely as the communication of experience.

Creating a Web Presence for Your Art
November 1 @ NBCA 115 State Street, Bldg. 1, Heritage State Park, North Adams, MA Speaker: Matthew Belanger

Blogging tools and website content management systems have changed how artists create websites. These tools don't just allow artists to create and update their own portfolio websites; they allow you to be part of a greater community of artists online. There you can engage with others to discuss your art or anything else going on in your world. These tools can even be the basis for completely original works of network art. Learn how to put these tools to use so they can serve you and your art-making in a lecture by artist and web developer Matthew Belanger. Belanger has been a new media artist working with a variety of digital media and web technologies for the past 20+ years.

Legal Issues for Artists
December 6 @ Gallery 51 51 Main St. North Adams, MA Speaker: Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts

How do legal issues affect your artistic and creative endeavors? Learn about how to deal with current issues and protect your future as a professional, working artist. The VLA plays an important role as an advocate on behalf of the arts community in different ways, ranging from participation in litigation, making public statements about matters of interest to the arts community, and making recommendations about pending legislation.

Become a Creative Teaching Artist
January 24 @ NBCA 115 State Street, Bldg. 1, Heritage State Park, North Adams, MA Speaker: David Marshall, Education Programs Manager, Massachusetts Cultural Council

Are you an artist who has a track record working in school and/or after-school settings? Do you maintain an active professional involvement in arts, humanities, or sciences and in your education work? If so, you may be interested in becoming a Creative Teaching Artist!

The Business of Art
February 7 @ Gallery 51 51 Main St. North Adams, MA Speaker: TBA

Taxes and administrating the business of art are often last on the list of concerns for the visual artist. In order to take your work as an artist to the next level – from hobby to business – an understanding of the tax codes is necessary, especially since artists benefit from a number of unique deductions. Learn more about these deductions and other tax saving strategies for the self-employed artist.

The Creative Process
March 6 @ NBCA 115 State Street, Bldg. 1, Heritage State Park, North Adams, MA Speaker: John MacDonald

Anyone who creates--artists, writers, scientists, business entrepreneurs-- tends to follow a similar process from ideation to manifestation. The creative process can be as humbling or frustrating as it is exhilarating as we encounter obstacles and roadblocks to our creativity. John MacDonald, a practicing artist and certified creativity coach will explain the nature of the creative process and how we can learn to recognize, understand, and manage those persistent blocks to our creativity.

What Do Galleries Want?
May 1 @ NBCA 115 State Street, Bldg. 1, Heritage State Park, North Adams, MA Speakers: Gallery Owners

Unless you make art as a hobby or with the intention of never showing your work, eventually artists have to face the unpleasant task of promotion. The first step often involves navigating the gallery world and facing as much rejection as acceptance. From researching the type of work a gallery shows and therefore would be interested in to following up on initial contacts, this talk provides first hand insights into the minds and methods of gallery owners.