WCC to host forum on pursuing artistic careers

Washtenaw Community College (WCC) will host a free forum that aims to inspire and educate anyone interested in creative entrepreneurship, career-building strategies, and networking. The event, titled "Building an Artistic Life: Arts Career Forum 2025," will take place on March 21 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the college's Morris Lawrence Building, 4800 E. Huron River Dr. in Ann Arbor Township. It's presented by WCC’s Entrepreneurship Center and Arts Management Certificate Program.

"The impact we want is for anyone attending to leave feeling that what they're working on, and the vision that they have for their lives, is entirely possible," says Emani Barber, a WCC faculty member who helped organize the event.

The forum will kick off with a panel called "Building a Creative Network," featuring special guest speaker Antonio Cuyler, a music professor at the University of Michigan (U-M). Panelists from Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University, and U-M will chime in on a conversation about how to build and sustain a creative network.

"They're going to discuss areas within their specific institutions, like what students could expect should they choose to transfer in," Barber says. "They'll answer questions and also talk about the current arts climate, because things are a little nebulous at the moment."

Following the panel, attendees can enjoy a Creative Arts Pitch Competition, which will see three WCC students pitch their creative project ideas. Judging will happen in real time and competitors can win up to $500 in cash prizes. 

"It's going to be a really exciting part of the day for everyone," says MariAnn Apley, the start-up incubator manager at WCC’s Entrepreneurship Center. "We have some great judges. We even have a celebrity judge. He was in the 'Weird Al' Yankovic video 'Eat It' and is a realtor now."

Apley and her students have been instrumental in helping to organize the forum. She explains the need to assist artists in developing lifelong skills so they can sustain a living. 

"They can have a fulfilling life, and there's lots of ways to do that," she says. "We want people to start thinking about skills that are important. Pitch competitions kind of help them think through that process."

A third forum highlight is an artist panel titled "Stories of Survival, Problem Solving, and Prosperity." Barber says attendees will hear from four dynamic panelists who have established themselves as artists through strife, trial and error, and experimentation.
 
"One of the themes with this panel, and more widely across the day, is community," he says. "Helping people learn and jump off from others in the community is what we're aiming for."

Jaishree Drepaul is a writer and editor based in Ann Arbor. She can be reached at jaishreeedit@gmail.com.