What is EDGE?

Artist Trust’s EDGE Program is a professional development program that trains visual artists in the business side of art. What does EDGE stand for, you might ask? It actually isn’t an acronym as some assume. “EDGE” indicates the “edge up” artists gets from participating in the program. EDGE was launched in 2003 by Artist Trust staff and an advisory council of artists and arts professionals, with generous funding from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.
 
EDGE provides artists with the relevant and necessary entrepreneurial skills to achieve their personal career goals while promoting peer support and exchange among the participating artists. Through an open application process and subsequent panel process, 15 artists are selected to go through the program together in what is referred to as a “cycle.” A cycle consists of 50 hours of training based on Artist Trust’s hands-on, interactive curriculum, which includes instruction by professionals in the field as well as specialized presentations, panel discussions and assignments.

Year of Success! EDGE 2007

2007 marked our fifth year of offering the EDGE Program to visual artists across the state. Since its inception, EDGE has seen 265 artists successfully complete the program. 2007 was our largest year yet with 83 graduating artists, including eight who participated in the inaugural program with ArtsNow at Edmonds Community College. In the fall of 2006 we established a partnership with ArtsNow, which has become the first organization besides Artist Trust to offer EDGE. Prior to that, the EDGE Program had only been offered in Seattle as a seven-week course and in Port Townsend at Centrum as a one-week intensive. In 2007, thanks to several new funding partnerships, we were also able to offer the program in Tacoma and Bellingham.

EDGE Supports Pierce County Artists

From July through September 2007 Artist Trust held the EDGE Professional Development Program in partnership with the Tacoma Art Museum. Fourteen Pierce County artists took part, meeting weekly at the Tacoma Art Museum. Like all other EDGE cycles, the program culminated in final artist presentations. But this particular EDGE cohort had the unique and exceptional experience of presenting their work to the public at the Tacoma Art Museum with a catered reception. One hundred arts enthusiasts attended the standing-room-only event in the Murray Family Event Space.
 
Comments from the participants affirm that EDGE at the Tacoma Art Museum was nothing short of a resounding success. They observe having gained confidence as professional artists, knowledge about information and opportunity resources and a tangible connection with the professional arts community. Regarding the bond that EDGE creates among the artist-participants, Mindy Barker, Tacoma EDGE graduate and Gig Harbor resident who works in the media of drawing, painting and photography notes:

I feel I could call or write anyone of the other artists and ask them a question or include them in a show I’m involved in. It’s just good to know others in your community, ones that you have had a common experience with — the EDGE Program.

Gig Harbor multi-media artist Jessica Bender summed up her EDGE experience as follows:

Being an EDGE graduate certainly seems to open lines of communication that you may not always have an opportunity to be a part of otherwise — a very valuable resource!

EDGE Goes to Bellingham

Thanks to the leadership of our dedicated Bellingham Board member and sculptor Shirley Erickson, Artist Trust was able to offer a Community Matching Grant to provide the EDGE Program to Bellingham artists. One of the artist-participants, Lydia Kunnap, described her experience as follows:

I didn’t just take a course, I joined a community. EDGE is more than a program (or a course), it’s a community of people who are there to support you and who you can support.

The program kicked off in October 2007 at the Bellingham Technical College with 15 artists of varying experience yet unwaivering commitment to their work. The first night the artists got to know each other and their work. Then, for the following six Saturdays, they learned from skilled EDGE instructors and guest speakers about the business side of art. The final presentations were held on December 8 at the Whatcom Museum of History and Art, where the artists captivated a crowd of over 100! This was the largest attendance yet for an EDGE Artist Presentation and clearly a sign that the program and the artists are of value to the community!

The EDGE program helped me to understand that the idea of being an artist that is rewarded for her hard, physical and emotional work does not have to be just a fantasy, but with the right combination of knowledge and skill it can actually be a livelihood.
(Nico Lund, Cycle E, Bellingham)

A Few Other Big Things Happened in 2007...

With all of this program expansion, we are happy to report that we hired Nirmala Singh-Brinkman as the new EDGE Program Coordinator.
 
Along with the five cycles we offered in four cities, we also presented a mini-EDGE Program to artists of all disciplines at Washington State Arts Alliance’s annual Washington Cultural Congress conference in Leavenworth in April. Plus, we presented condensed EDGE workshops to Native artists at The Longhouse Education and Cultural Center and to African American performing artists in partnership with Seattle’s Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas.

What’s on Deck for EDGE 2008?

• Same great program for visual artists: We will continue to offer the visual-art program, one cycle in June-July in Seattle and one cycle August 23-30 in Port Townsend (application process is now closed). ArtsNow, our partner in Edmonds, will again offer the program in the fall of 2008. Registration begins in May.

• Visual artists in the North Sound: EDGE will be offered in fall 2008 (dates TBD) in Bellingham by our partner the Bellingham Technical College. For more information please contact: Kathy Eaton, Assistant in the Continuing Education Department at keaton@btc.ctc.edu or 360/752-8447, or contact Therese Williams, Associate Dean at twilliams@btc.ctc.edu or 360/752-8316.
• Visual artists in the South Sound and Eastern Washington: We are currently working with new partners in the South Sound and east of the Cascades to offer the 50-hour program in those areas.
  Can’t commit to a 50-hour program? A sampling of the EDGE Program will be offered to artists of all disciplines at the annual Washington Cultural Congress at the Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort in Leavenworth, April 28-30.
• Literary and film artists in the greater Seattle area: Knowing that artists of all disciplines can benefit from EDGE’s core content, we are forming advisory councils to help us adapt the content to make it relevant to both literary and film artists.
• EDGE Alumni: We want to know what you’re up to now! Has your experience with EDGE changed how you approach your career? A survey to find out what you’ve been up to is coming soon! “EDGE 2.0” is in the works as well. We are making plans for a lecture series for the continuing education of our EDGE graduates.

EDGE Isn’t Just for Artists!

If you enjoy learning about artists and their work, consider attending an EDGE Artist Presentation! These events occur at the end of each cycle and are a great way to hear directly from the participating artists as they hone their presentation skills to describe their work and their creative process.

Friday, July 25, 2008 :: 7–10pm
Lawrimore Project, Seattle

Friday, August 29, 2008 :: 7–10pm
Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend

2007 EDGE Graduates

Cycle A :: Tacoma
Melissa Balch, Tacoma
Mindy Barker, Gig Harbor
Jessica Bender, Gig Harbor
Dana Brownfield, Tacoma
Robbi Firestone, Tacoma
Becky Frehse Tacoma
Ellen Ito, Seattle
Kelsey Parkhurst, Tacoma
Kathy Porter, Tacoma
Holly A. Senn, Tacoma
Patsy Surh O'Connell, Gig Harbor
Issei Watanabe, Tacoma
L. Ashley Wells, Steilacoom
 
Cycle B :: Seattle
James Lawrence Ardeña, Seattle
Jesianne Asagi, Seattle
Sarah Browning, Seattle
Matthew Calcavecchia, Shoreline
Terry Calen, Burien
Kristen Cochran, Seattle
Shannon Conroy, Seattle
Kathy Croson, Redmond
Esther Ervin Seattle
Derrick Jefferies, Seattle
Deborah Kapoor, Seattle
Craig Kosak, Seattle
Leah Libow, Seattle
Ann Maki, Seattle
Jen Mills, Seattle
 
Cycle C :: Centrum, Port Townsend
Mark Abrahamson, Stanwood
James Brown, Seattle
Jenny Zoe Casey, Seattle
Deborah Francis, Oak Harbor
Karen Hackenberg, Pt. Townsend
Tracy Lang, Bainbridge Island
Andrea Lawson, Port Hadlock
Margie McDonald, Port Townsend
Pamela Mills, Waldron
Cheri O'Brien, Everett
Amy Reeves, Tacoma
Colleen Sargen, Walla Walla
Susan Sweetwater, Bremerton
Steve Veatch, Seattle
Charles Kent Wiggins, Pt. Townsend
Martha Worthley, Port Townsend

Cycle D :: Seattle
Jacqui Beck, Seattle
Liv Browning, Seattle
Mary Coss, Seattle
Jennifer Diamanti, Seattle
Eric Edgerton, Seattle
Noble Golden, Seattle
Nate Herth, Seattle
Pamela Hom, Mount Vernon
Craig Alan Huber, Woodinville
Cynthia Jeffries Knox, Shoreline
Sarah Lovett, Seattle
Christen Mattix, Seattle
Tammie Rubin , Seattle
Kim Sciarrone, Seattle
Lisa Sheets, Woodinville
Matt Wencl, Seattle
 
Cycle E :: Bellingham
Amy Armitage, Bellingham
Lynn Dee, Lummi Island
Donna-Lee Elke, Blaine
Trish Harding, Bellingham
Nicolette Harrington, Bellingham
Linda Hughes, Bellingham
Lydia Kunnap, Bellingham
Weston Lambert, Bellingham
Nico Lund, Bellingham
Joyce Prigot, Bellingham
Maryann Schmitt, Bellingham
Denise Snyder, Bellingham
Fiona Starr, Bellingham
anonymous, Lynden
Steve White, Bellingham

EDGE at ArtsNow :: Edmonds
Ellen Borison, Issaquah
Autumn Labrecque, Seattle
Mia Larocque, Port Orchard
Melinda Terry, Edmonds
Mark a. Skullerud, Shoreline
Julia Sober, Seattle
Robin White-Sieber, Burien
Olivia Zapata, Seattle

Thanks To Our EDGE Funding Partners

Several of the EDGE expansion efforts have been funded by the following generous funders and partners:

• Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, which funds innovative projects which advance solutions to basic and enduring problems. EDGE was funded through its Marketplace Empowerment for Artists program, where visual artists are given the essential tools necessary to succeed as artists in the marketplace.
• Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), a ten-year national initiative to improve conditions for artists in all disciplines so that artists can more readily do their creative work and contribute to community life.
• Washington State Arts Alliance; The Longhouse Education and Cultural Center; Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas.
• The EDGE Program for Pierce County artists was made possible thanks to the following generous funders: City of Tacoma; Forest Foundation; Tacoma Art Museum; the George L. Davis, Jr. Fund and the Ruth Murphy Evans Unrestricted Fund of The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation.
• Artist Trust is grateful to our generous partners who made the inaugural EDGE program in Bellingham a huge success: Bellingham Arts Commission, Bellingham Technical College; Whatcom Museum of History and Art.
• The EDGE Program also receives major support from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

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