We had the good fortune of connecting with Michelle Dahl and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Career Creatives is an information platform for artists to plan a successful career making art. There is an information gap between people pursuing Arts, and people pursuing Business; we are bridging that gap by organizing discussions between professionals and emerging artists, and providing a hub of accessible information. We are reaching the art community with live events a monthly podcast, and a website full of links and free downloadables to help artists run an efficient, successful business. Our live events are focused on supporting a strong Sacramento art community, but our podcast and website are available to anyone worldwide. 

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have been a life-long artist, but like most people I was raised believing art was not a serious career path. I never pursued college because if it wasn’t for art, I didn’t want to bother with the debt. Fast forward 10 years, and a serious injury forced me to permanently retire. This is the best part of the story, because it helped me escape the soul-sucking cubicle job and take a risk on pursuing art (nothing else to lose, right?). Up to this point art was therapeutic, but I started looking at ways it could help me regain some financial independence. After talking with college counselors and alumni, I realized that art school wouldn’t teach me business: how to put a portfolio together, marketing, or talking with galleries. And a business focused on mass-produced, cheap commodities didn’t apply to one-of-a-kind art making. These conversations seeded the idea of Career Creatives; I couldn’t rest on the idea that art and business are separate entities with no cross-over.
There has to be access to business tools for artists, so artists can sustain their practice and be successful. Children of artists, and private apprenticeships, provide the education towards successful practice – but not everyone gets access. There needs to be open communication between professional artists and young or emerging artists. No one else seemed to be having this discussion; and organizations that promised similar results required expensive memberships with no real explanation of what they could provide.
I wanted to start a conversation with a few leaders in the arts community to discuss this and invite along any artist interested as well. Amazingly, all 5 I asked said yes! I wanted to back up this conversation with a website to preserve any of the forms or resources we might cover. Forms like certificate of authenticity, gallery contracts, and inventory spreadsheets; and links to artist resources like grants, promotional sites, and free how-to websites. These are all simple or free to the public, but are so dispersed it can be overwhelming to hunt down. You don’t know what you don’t know, and where to even start? The discussion event kicked off the conversation, and we continue to discuss the business side of art on our monthly Career Creatives podcast: hosted by myself and Mario Lopez. The goal is that artists will find the pathway and building blocks that are missing in their business practice, and possibly we can even start to identify patterns in successful careers. There are no gate-keepers here, and there is no pay wall. Our website and podcast are free to the public, and we are working on regular future event meet-ups for career-minded creatives.
The response has been overwhelmingly positive and inspiring. What I started as a one-off conversation I wanted for my own practice turned into a full-fledged organization with long-term goals and community. The professionals I have shared my vision with have been universally supportive and positive. The artists that joined our event shared my enthusiasm for the next meet-up. I am immensely thankful for the time and work panelists Mario Lopez, Mari Padilla, Juliet Rodriguez, Laurelin Gilmore, and Tristan Rumery provided to make this event successful. I am so proud of what we accomplished!
You can listen to the Career Creatives podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Find us on Instagram @CareerCreatives or our website CareerCreatives.ORG

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
One of the best things about Sacramento is its location to so many beautiful places. I like to take visitors to midtown Sacramento to grab a coffee at Seasons or World traveler, then explore the beautiful residential gardens and architecture. We have The Crocker Art Museum and some great ocal galleries. Take your dog for a walk throughout downtown and enjoy all the fantastic murals! Old Town Sacramento is fun to walk around the kids and check out the gift shops, or get the dicey & sorted history from an Underground Tour. Doughbot Donuts is a great start to the day, and I love to grab a sando from Dad’s to take on any adventures. If you are early you can get a table at The Morning Fork or Bacon & Butter. For dinner I highly recommend Chita’s Mexican Grill, Obo, Thai Basil, The Iron Horse, Paesanos, Mulvaney’s, and Magpie . Sacramento is the Farm to Fork capital of the world, so you really can’t go wrong with any of the local fare.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Career Creatives would not be what it is without the wonderful people who volunteered their time and expertise to helping local artists. Mario Lopez and Mari Padilla (Both of We Are Sacramento) for their mentorship, candor, and support. They are both amazing community leaders and provided a free website giveaway during the May 13th event. Juliet Rodriquez and Laurelin Gilmore for sharing their time and experience working as full-time artists here in Sacramento, which is essential for showing emerging artists that it CAN be done. Tristan Rumery for his design and phenomenal Goals Workbook – seriously a game-changer – as well as several nerdy conversations which added fuel to the inspirational foundation of Career Creatives.

Website: careercreatives.org

Instagram: CareerCreatives

Facebook: CareerCreatives

Other: Career Creatives Podcast can be found on Spotify & Apple Podcasts. My personal work can be found at michelledahlart.com or instagram.com/michelledahlart

Image Credits
Michelle Dahl, Melissa Campos

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