VDA Workshops.

VDA Workshops are free and/or low-cost capacity-building workshops for self-producing artists/musicians, arts organization staff, and event curators in all disciplines. Attendees learn new skills, gain new resources, and meet and connect with other local artists.

The Rotunda Workshops

Recorded Panels and Workshops

Disability Justice in the Arts with Danie Ocean (June 2022)
Budgeting & Finances for Artists with River Nice (May 2022)
​Basic Web Design for Artists with Marria Nakhoda (April 2022)
Introduction to Grant Writing with Tezarah Wilkins (March 2022)
Artists with Families with Parent Artist Advocacy League (March 2022)
Taxes for Artists with Tim White (January 2022)
Philly Artist Coops: The Power & Challenges of Working Together (Nov 2021)
​Social Media & Marketing with Brittnie Knight (May 2021)
Website Design Basics with Marria Nakhoda (June 2021)
Building and Sustaining an Anti-Racist Arts Organization (September 2021)
Art & Political Movements: Focus on Philly (November 2020)

2022 Workshops

***All workshops will be held online until further notice.***

Upcoming

January 10, 2022 - Taxes for Artists
Facilitated by Tim White
​
February 7, 2022 - Artists with Families
Facilitated by Parent Artist Advocacy League

March 14, 2022 - Intro to Arts Grants 
Facilitated by Tezarah Wilkins 

April 11, 2022 - Basic Web Design for Artists
Facilitated by Marria Nakhoda

May 9, 2022 - Budgeting & Finances for Artists
Facilitated by River Nice of Be Intentional Financial

June 13, 2022 - Disability Justice in the Arts
Facilitator TBD
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Past Workshops (2021)
​
January, 2021 - Fundraising for Artists & Arts Organizations 
Facilitated by Brittany Campese

February, 2021 - Taxes for Artists
Facilitated by Tim White

March, 2021 - Intro to Arts Grants 
Facilitated by Tezarah Wilkins 

April, 2021 - Finances for Artists
Facilitated by River Nice of Be Intentional Financial

May, 2021 - Social Media & Marketing
Facilitated by Brittnie Knight

June, 2021 - Website Basics for Artists ​
Facilitated by Marria Nakhoda

September, 2021 - Building & Sustaining Anti-Racist Arts Organizations in Philly
Panel with LaNeshe Miller-White, Kristal Sotomayor, Samantha Rise-Roberson

September, 2021 - Developing an Artist Statement
Facilitated by Michele Kishita
​
October, 2021- Self-Care for Artists
Facilitated by Jasmine Seapoe

October, 2021 - Securing Creative Opportunities
Facilitated by Shekhinah B.

November, 2021 Philly Artists Co-ops: The Power and Challenges of Working Together
Panel with Olivia Jia, Joseph Ahmed, and Jennifer Boorum

December, 2021 - Planning for 2022
Facilitated by Oskar Castro

“Thanks for having these sessions. I have been retired for five years, ...and these sessions are bringing me back to my GAME."  
--Vernoca, Workshop Attendee

More Events

Workshop Catalog

annual project planning

• - Identify your goals for the upcoming year and break them into achievable tasks
• - Plot your tasks on a timeline or calendar for the upcoming year
• - Create a plan to keep yourself accountable

​fundraising beyond grants

• Learn about six different categories of fundraising (including, but not primarily, grants)
• Brainstorm more than a hundred methods for resourcing your work
• Create a simple budget that will help guide your fundraising choices ​

grant writing - beginner

• Learn the language and process of grant writing
• Identify tools you can use to discover funding opportunities
• Read actual grant proposals to identify key proposal components

grant writing - ​INTERMEDIATE ​

• Review aspects of a good grant proposal
• Practice writing an actual grant
• Receive extensive feedback on your completed proposal

​taxes for artists

• Learn about which expenses you can deduct on your taxes
• Find out how and when to send out 1099s
  
• Get your individual questions answered
  

budgets & finance for artists

• Learn why and how to use budgets for personal and project use
  
• Look at sample budgets and learn how to interpret the story behind the numbers
  
• Create a simplified budget tailored to your goals for this year

​website design basics

• Learn about different software and platforms you can use to design and host your website
  
• Plan the basic building blocks of your website
  
• Look at other artist websites to learn what aesthetic appeals to you​

​somatic practice for artists

​Facilitated by Lee Fogel of The Visioning Body

• Connect with your body to support emotional well-being and clarity through all your badass work!
• Learn to sustain your energy by following your body's needs and timing
• Organically awaken to your creativity and visions by listening to your body and heightening sensory awareness

creating an artist statement

• ​Brainstorm new ideas about your work and meet other artists
• Develop an understanding about what makes a good artist statement 
• Practice writing or editing your own statement

social media & marketing

• Identify marketing techniques for building and keeping an audience
• Talk about the advantages of using various social media channels
• Troubleshoot issues with audience development that you may have had in the past

crowdfunding

• Learn how to tell if crowdfunding is right for your project
  
• Discover the pros and cons of  crowdfunding platforms
  
• Hear from a panel of artists who have run successful crowdfunding campaigns​

business & organizing models for artists

• Discuss the pros and cons of various organizational structures; pool experiences and get new ideas
  
• Clarify your mission to determine the structure that best suits your practice
  
• Sole-proprietor, LLC, 501(c)3: understand the structures and how your projects fit into them

I made a budget for this grant using the template and realized how incredibly useful the workshop I attended was! It made creating this program budget a breeze and I really felt like I understood how to do it to tell the story we were trying to convey in the grant. So YAY Culture Works workshops!
- Cara, "Creating a Project Budget" Workshop Attendee