McGregor to hold seminar on the economy

McGregor Seminar to Explore Creative Economy in August

As economic realities change and interest in the creative economy grows, civic and nonprofit cultural leaders, local businesspeople, and artists find themselves challenged in many new ways. Antioch University McGregor is offering a seminar, “Creative Enterprises for Creative Times,” to explore ways to identify and nurture community assets and creative enterprises.

Seminar participants will learn about the principles and ideas behind the creative economy and see examples of it at work. They’ll hear from entrepreneurs building businesses for the new economy, learn to conduct a community asset inventory, and take part in group exercises to formulate creative economy plans.

Tom Borrup, author of The Creative Community Builder’s Handbook, will lead the seminar. Borrup served as executive director of a nationally recognized community-based arts center, Intermedia Arts, in Minneapolis , for more than 20 years and is a consultant with a national practice that focuses on strategic planning, facility and organizational development, and how arts, culture, and the creative economy can transform communities. He has been working locally for the past three years as a consultant to the Yellow Springs Center for the Arts Steering Committee.

The program will begin on Thursday, August 13, at 7 pm, with a keynote address, which is free and open to the public, by Meri Jenkins, who oversees the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s John and Abigail Adams Arts Program. Jenkins’ talk is titled, “A Decade of Creative Economic Development in Massachusetts Communities.” The keynote will be followed by a panel discussion with area leaders.

Participants will work in the classroom the morning of August 14 and then venture out into the community of Yellow Springs in the afternoon to explore some cultural and entrepreneurial spaces and to hear from local practitioners. They are invited to attend an evening production by the local theatre company, YS Kids Playhouse, at Young’s Dairy. The morning of Saturday, August 15, will be spent back in the classroom, where small groups will develop strategies for economic revitalization using Yellow Springs as a case study for making use of the assets observed in Yellow Springs as well as in other communities.

The cost of the “Creative Enterprises for Creative Times” (course #CEDU506B) is $195, and 1 quarter credit hour is available upon completion. For more information or to register, please visit www.mcgregor.edu/elss and click on the link to the 2009 ELSS Handbook & Registration Form.

Contact Information:
Laura Carlson, Project Coordinator, YS Center for the Arts Steering Committee
Email: ysartscenter@gmail.com