FREE Professional Development Workshops (ONLINE & IN PERSON)
The Maine Arts Commission has partnered with Assets for Artists to offer FREE professional development workshops for artists anywhere in Maine.
Assets for Artists is a key resource for Maine artists, providing artist-centered workshops in both online and in-person formats. Topics include personal finances, project planning, wellness, marketing, and more, all designed to support the unique needs of artists and help them grow in their careers.
For more details, visit the Assets for Artists workshops page.
Assets for Artists Workshops
Assets for Artists offers free professional development workshops designed for artists and creative entrepreneurs. These workshops are artist-tailored, artist-led, and available to artists of all disciplines in Maine and across New England. All workshops are recorded unless otherwise noted, and approved registrants receive access to recordings.
Understanding an Artist’s Personal Finances
Mondays + Wednesdays, May 11, 13, 18 + 20, 2026 | 6:00PM - 8:00PM
Presenters: Amy Smith + Akeem Davis
Format: This is a 4-part series. Artists are welcome to attend all or select sessions.
In this workshop, stage performers and tax specialists Amy Smith and Akeem Davis bring a class- and race-based analysis of our economic structures and dive into the financial building blocks necessary for artists to thrive. Over the course of four sessions, this workshop will demystify concepts and introduce fundamental financial tools to help participants, including those who “hate thinking about money,” make informed financial decisions for their long-term futures.
Participants will leave empowered to make prudent financial decisions with an abundance mindset. The workshop will be a mix of presentation and Q&A.
Areas covered:
- Session 1: Our relationship with money, and setting financial goals.
- Session 2: How to value one’s time to build toward savings and retirement.
- Session 3: Budgeting for your life and credit/debt management.
- Session 4: An introduction to investing, with an eye toward handling the unexpected and long-term planning.
About the presenters: Amy Smith is an educator and the former Co-Director of Headlong Dance Theater, a Bessie Award-winning Philadelphia-based dance theater company. Akeem Davis is a Barrymore Award-winning actor and nonprofit administrator with the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation. Both are part of the team at Philadelphia Tax Prep for Artists.
Best suited for: Artists of all disciplines, at any point in their career, who are interested in learning or reviewing basic concepts of personal finances. 40 participants max.
Portfolio Power / The Artist Portfolio
Thursday, May 28, 2026 | 12:30PM - 2:30PM
Presenter: Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez
Our portfolios represent our vision and most compelling work. The quality and effectiveness of a professional portfolio is crucial, whether you are seeking an art-related job, applying for a grant, trying to get a show at a gallery, or seeking gallery representation. In this workshop, participants will learn best practices for creating and presenting a portfolio that makes a lasting impression while being accessible.
Taking away guidelines and industry tips, participants will leave inspired with practical solutions on how to present their work with impact.
About the presenter: Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and educator with over 20 years of work as a curator, cultural manager, grant panelist, judge, guest lecturer, and portfolio reviewer.
Best suited for: Artists in all disciplines, although most examples will be based in the visual and performing arts fields. 30 participants max.
This workshop has reached capacity. Registration is closed for live and recording access.
Beyond Arts Grants: Creative Solutions for Project Support
Photo by Nuttymar
Thursdays, June 11 + 18, 2026 | 12:15PM - 2:15PM
Presenter: Yara Liceaga-Rojas
Format: This is a 2-part, introductory-level series. Artists are asked to attend all sessions.
For some artists, projects are the core building block of their creative practice, and projects require resources. How can an artist secure resources, organizational partners, and the funding they need to succeed when there are so few listed arts grants? After this workshop, participants will better understand how they can define the work they are already doing as a fundable project, how to talk about that work with stakeholders, how to integrate care practices when developing a project, and tips for securing the necessary funding.
Topics covered:
- Project Development & How to Find Partners: Developing an appropriate project for the appropriate partner and where and how to search for opportunities.
- Creating a Proposal: Building the project summary you might share with partners, including for grants, cold calls, and other partnership conversations.
- Building a Project Budget & Addressing Financial Trauma: Identifying monetary and non-monetary needs, setting artist fees, and navigating barriers such as financial trauma, the devaluing of the arts, and systemic inequities.
Participants will leave empowered to fight for their worth and prepared to take advantage of creative opportunities. This workshop series is designed to expand and nurture creative community and is highly participatory.
About the presenter: Based between Boston and Puerto Rico, Yara Liceaga-Rojas is a writer, performer, and independent grant-writer who works in both English and Spanish.
Best suited for: Artists of all disciplines. 25 participants max.
Essentials of Digital Marketing
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 | 12:30PM - 2:30PM
Presenter: Francesca Olsen
Digital marketing can be incredibly effective and inexpensive when it comes to building and connecting with your audience as an artist. But what’s important to focus on in a world where time and capacity are limited? In this workshop, Francesca will cover the basics of digital marketing for artists, including the importance of branding, audience building, effective social media, SEO optimization, and website best practices.
By the end of this workshop, participants will have the tools to build an online audience, evaluate what digital platforms are best for their work, use analytics to guide future decision making, and put together a marketing plan that covers multiple platforms. This workshop will be largely lecture-based with several opportunities for Q&A.
About the presenter: Francesca Olsen is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and consultant with more than 15 years of experience in marketing and communications, from branding to digital strategy.
Best suited for: Artists who already have a basic understanding of social media. This is an intermediate-level, lecture-style workshop.
Resource Mapping for Individual Artists
Friday, June 26, 2026 | 12:30PM - 2:30PM
Presenter: Ana Tinajero
Oftentimes the most difficult part of being an artist is finding the skills, tools, and connections needed to make your work and share it with the public. In this workshop, participants will begin by surfacing the resources already at their disposal in their larger personal network and then outline the pathways to reach the resources not yet secured.
Using a collaboratively minded strategy for resource sharing and exchange, artists will learn how to navigate their surroundings, leverage existing connections, and build a broader community of mutual assistance that nurtures win-win relationships and shared success. Artists at all stages of their careers are welcome.
About the presenter: Ana ‘Masacote’ Tinajero is an award-winning Afro-Latin dance artist and performing arts curator who loves engineering spaces for community connection through the arts.
Best suited for: Artists of all disciplines interested in or already engaging with their larger creative community. 30 participants max.
Radiant Thriving: Bold Writing for Boundless Artists
Tuesday + Wednesday, June 30 + July 1, 2026 | 5:45PM - 7:45PM
Presenter: Doctora Xingona Diana Alvarez
Format: This is a 2-part series. Artists are asked to attend all sessions.
As artists, we are called to draft artist bios and statements, project proposals, blurbs, email inquiries, grant applications, and more to build a thriving career. In this workshop, participants will practice developing a radiant, bold, unapologetic writing voice that centers their values and identities. Artists will build individual language styles to align with their unique arts practice.
Workshop focus:
- Part 1: Artist statements.
- Part 2: Project proposals and cold inquiries, building on the language developed in Part 1.
- Writing practice: Participants will review examples from a range of disciplines, share tools and resources, and workshop their own writing together.
About the presenter: An expansive multimedia artist and educator, Doctora Xingona’s music, poetry, performances, films, and gatherings center transcendence, kinship, and the co-liberation and nourishment of queer and trans artists of color.
Best suited for: Artists of all disciplines. 25 participants max.
Accessibility and Workshop Access
Assets for Artists offers accessibility services for workshops, including Zoom closed captioning, follow-up resources, and advance-request accommodations such as ASL interpretation, CART live captioning, live language translation, and advance access to digital handouts or slides when available.
For accessibility requests, contact gro.stsitrarofstessa@noitacude. For full workshop details, visit Assets for Artists Workshops.
PRE-RECORDED WORKSHOPS
A4A now offers a small number of workshop recordings for anyone anywhere! We have worked with our trainers to compensate them for having their intellectual property (the workshop) available for one year on our website. That means more knowledge for more people! But pay attention to the expiration date, because the workshop won’t be on the website forever.