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St. Olaf to host entrepreneurial arts conference

By Christine Kinney '08
October 24, 2007

St. Olaf College's Finstad Program for Entrepreneurial Studies has gathered a number of prominent authors and artists for an inaugural conference about entrepreneurship in the arts, called Making it in the Arts.

The one-day conference on Saturday, Oct. 27 (beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Buntrock Commons, Ballrooms), will feature 15 nationally recognized art professionals (including St. Olaf faculty and alumni) and provide a forum for cross-disciplinary discussions on issues facing all artists -- performing, visual and literary. Panel topics will include: "Be Creative with your Arts Degree-Unconventional Arts Careers," "Innovation in Arts Management" and "Recent Grads Working Their Art." An additional session, "Funding your Work," will discuss strategies for expanding an audience and appealing to potential funders.

Learning from alumni
The conference will feature keynote speaker Ward Sutton '89, a freelance artist in New York City. Sutton has created cartoons and illustrations for many publications, including The New York Times, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Spin, The Nation, The Onion and Entertainment Weekly. His book Sutton Impact: The Political Cartoons of Ward Sutton was published in 2005. He also has created concert posters for such musicians as Beck, Pearl Jam and Phish. Sutton will sign his book on Saturday in the St. Olaf Bookstore.

PJTracyCover
The afternoon will feature P.J. Tracy, the mother-daughter writing team of Patricia Lambrecht '68 and Traci Lambrecht '89. At 1:30 p.m. in Buntrock Commons, Gold Ballroom, Patty and Traci will give a talk titled "St. Olaf Writers, Keeping it in the Family." The authors of Monkeewrench, Live Bait and Dead Run, are winners of the Anthony, Barry, Gumshoe and Minnesota Book awards, and have seen their mystery novels become international bestsellers. The duo also will sign their most recent book, Snow Blind, in the St. Olaf Bookstore.

Other featured presenters include faculty members Dan Dressen, music; Irve Dell, art/art history; Anthony Roberts, dance; Kent McWilliams, music; and Diana Postlethwaite, English. Alumni presenters include David Rose '89, CEO, Ambient Devices; animator Kristin Solid '94, who has worked on such feature films as Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World?s End, Night at the Museum and Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning remake of King Kong; Todd Boss '91, director of external affairs at the Playwrights' Center; and Cynthia Grzanowski '88, director of marketing for the Minnesota Orchestra.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Experiential Learning, The Finstad Program for Entrepreneurial Studies, Ole Ventures, St. Olaf College, The Northfield Arts Guild, Self Employment in the Arts and Target Corporation.

Contact Andrea Kubinski at 507-786-3268 or kubinski@stolaf.edu.