Conference

Conference BIOs (not all all panelists and special guests submitted a bio)

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SATURDAY NOVEMBER 8TH 9:30AM TO 4:30PM

10:00am Welcome Remarks by Laura Pattison, Kirstein Business Library

Laura Pattison, is the Economic Development Librarian at the Kirstein Business Library, a specialized business reference and research service of the Boston Public Library located in a separate building near Boston's financial district. LP has worked for the Boston Public Library since 1992. She has worked in several library reference departments, including the Social Sciences Department, where business resources are housed at Copley Square. In 2002, Ms. Pattison started her current position as Economic Development Librarian at the Kirstein Business Branch (KBB), a specialized branch of the Boston Public Library, located near Boston¹s financial district. Prior to working as a librarian, Ms. Pattison owned a restaurant in Allston, one of Boston's busiest neighborhoods. Ms. Pattison's goal in her position at KBB is to help individuals and organizations find the information and resources they need to move forward in their lives, places of work and business ventures.

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10:15am "State of the Artists" brief remarks by Kathleen Bitetti, Artists Foundation, MALC, & Emmanuel College

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10:30am- 11:20am-Panel Discussion:

Meet the Artists Unions and other Artists Run Advocacy Organizations.

Panelists: Charles Coe, Poet, Writer, & CoChair of the Boston Chapter of the National Writers Union; John Grimes, Musician and Vice President of the Boston Musician's Association/American Federation of Musicians Local 9-535; Doug Bowen Flynn- President of the Screen Actors Guild, Paul Horn, Performer and President of the New England Chapter of AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists); Ken Dubrowski, Illustrator and Director of Operations for the Illustrators Partnership of America; Ja-Naé Duane, Opera Singer & Co-Founder of Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition (MALC); and Tony Toledo, Storyteller and member of LANES (League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling). --Moderator: Kathleen Bitetti, Artist & Executive Director of the Artists Foundation

Charles Coe is a Coordinator for the Massachusetts Cultural Council's Organizational Support Program, overseeing the grant programs for music and literature organizations. He also oversees the Music Composition Fellowship program, the Massachusetts Cultural Council Advisor Corps and the Massachusetts Poetry Outreach Project. Before joining the Council, Charles was awarded the council's Artists Fellowship in Poetry. Charles writes poetry and prose whose work has appeared in numerous newspapers and literary reviews and magazines. "Picnic on the Moon," a volume of his poetry, has been published by Leapfrog Press. Charles is a long-time activist with the National Writers Union, a labor union of freelance writers. He has served on the union's National Executive Board, is co-chair of the Boston Chapter Steering Committee, and co-founded the union's National Diversity Committee.

John Grimes has distinguished himself as a professional free-lance timpanist/percussionist in New England. Based primarily in Boston, he has an extensive background performing with Boston Ballet, Boston Baroque, Cantata Singers, the Handel & Haydn Society Orchestras. Past stints included performing with the Miami Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony Orquesta Sinfonica de Venezuela, Opera Co. of Boston and the Singapore Symphony. Grimes presently teaches at the Boston Conservatory and is in his 7th year as Vice President of the Boston Musicians Association, Local 9-535 of the American Federation of Musicians www.johngrimestimpanist.com

Doug Bowen-Flynn is a working Boston actor who has performed on stage, in commercials, on television, and in feature films. He has served on the Boston Screen Actors Guild Council and the joint SAG/AFTRA Organizing Committee, and he was elected President of the Boston Branch of the Screen Actors Guild in September.

Ken Dubrowski is a freelance, professional illustrator since 1988, working in his illustration studio in the ocean community of Marshfield, MA. whose work appears in trade and mass market publications. Ken is married and a father of three girls. Ken is an artist's advocate who has worked to inform artists on the dangers of stock houses and the need for artist controlled licensing of illustration. He has written numerous published articles about the adverse effects that these stock houses have had on the illustration industry as well as bills that would have an adverse effect on the industry like Orphan Works and the Conyer's bill. He was the founder and editor of The Illustrators' News, an illustrators publication addressing issues that are critical to the illustration industry and a founding member and Director of Operations for the highly respected Illustrators' Partnership of America.

Ja-Naé Duane is an exuberant entrepreneurial strategist, polymath and opera singer. In 2005, she started Wild Women Entrepreneurs with $100. Today, Wild WE is the largest community of entrepreneurial women in the world with 55 chapters in 7 countries. Ja-Naé teaches businesses how to connect and grow in a creative, cost effective manner, as well as, how to implement positive global change through our personal communities and neighborhoods. In all that she does, Ja-Naé gives herself whole-heartedly to the professional advancement of women everywhere. She aims to provide them with the tools to succeed, the confidence to negotiate and the power to expand their professional network, both on and offline. Furthermore, she offers her awesome entrepreneurial knowledge to assist companies and individuals in appealing to the female demographic. The original wild woman entrepreneur, Ja-Naé is also CEO of Ja-Naé Duane Ventures and co-founder, co-founder of the Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition, advisory board member for the Artists Foundation, as well as a faculty member at Northeastern University.

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Breakout Sessions 11:30am-12:20pm

Breakout Session #1 Artists Leadership & Advocacy Special Guests: Several Panelists from the "Meet the Artists Unions and Artists Run Advocacy Organizations" panel

Breakout Session #2 Resources - Grants, sponsorships, in-kind support, and other resources. Special Guest: artist Kelly Bennett of the Massachusetts Cultural Council/Artists Programs Department.

Kelly Bennett is the Program Coordinator for Artists Fellowships program at the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC). In addition to her fellowship work, she also serves as the MCC's Exhibitions Curator. Kelly received her BFA in painting from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She has been a guest speaker at numerous museums and colleges, including Mass MoCA, Montserrat College of Art, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, the Rhode Island School of Design, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, and the Massachusetts College of Art. And she has served on numerous juries including most recently the exhibition titled 8 Visions at Attleboro Art Museum and the Artists' Professional Toolbox program for the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts.

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Breakout Session #3 Getting yourself and your work out there! Marketing, self promoting, and other non traditional methods. Special Guest- Mary Bucci McCoy, artist, arts writer, and owner of Big Picture Communications.

Mary Bucci McCoy is a painter who has exhibited her work throughout New England, at venues including the Artists Foundation, Montserrat College of Art, the Art Complex Museum, Emmanuel College, and Merrimack College. Since 1996 she has designed web sites and print materials for artists through Big Picture Communications, and she teaches graphic design at Montserrat College of Art. She is a longtime contributor of reviews and other writing to Art New England magazine; writing from her perspective as a painter, she has covered the work of a wide range of regional, national, and international artists. In addition, she gives workshops for artists on artist statements, the web, and promoting their work. http://www.bigpicturecommunications.com (design) http://www.buccimccoy.com (painting)

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3-4:00pm Panel Discussion:

How to Be an Artists Entrepreneur

Panelists: Laura Pattison, Economic Development Librarian, Kirstein Business Library; Michael Dimino, Senior Business Advisor, Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC) at UMASS Boston; Brian K. Price, Clinical Professor of Law and Director WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School; Rachel Klein, Artists Manager, Ralph Jaccodine Management; and Ana Hammock, NE Program Director, ACCION USA ---Moderator: Liora Beer, Artist & Business Manager, City of Boston, Office of Business Development.

Michael Dimino is a Business Advisor with the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center, based at the SBDC at UMass Boston. He is a multilingual Harvard graduate with almost forty years of small business experience in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. He has worked with start-ups, ongoing enterprises, and turnarounds in a number of different industries and countries. Michael provides business advisory services to a wide range of entrepreneurs including visual and performing artists, graphic designers, writers, publishers, web designers and others.

Brian K. Price is a Clinical Professor of Law and the Director of the WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School. The Legal Services Center is the law school¹s largest and most comprehensive civil law clinical placement consisting of 14 different clinical practice areas. Brian¹s areas of expertise are business, real estate, non-profit organizations and entertainment law. He teaches a class on Transactional Practice and supervises students in the Community Enterprise Project clinical practice. In addition, Brian is the faculty director of Harvard Law School¹s Recording Artist Project, an entertainment law practice and student organization. Prior to joining Harvard Law School, Brian was General Counsel and Senior Director of Certification and Enforcement at the State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance within the Massachusetts Department of Economic Development. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Counsel with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. He also has worked as a sole practitioner in his own community-based law practice handling general business, entertainment, real estate and non-profit matters. Brian is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Moderator: Liora Beer is a Business Manager at the City of Boston¹s Business Assistance Center (BBAC) and an artist. The BBAC provides free access to technical, financial, and administrative resources for entrepreneurs, neighborhood small business owners, and business owners interested in expanding or relocating to Boston. Liora is pleased to have the opportunity to assist artists in various disciplines plan for greater success in their endeavors and find resources to facilitate that. To that end, in 2004 she developed ³The Business of Being an Artist², a workshop series covering a range of topics from basic good practices to marketing and legal issues.

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4:00-4:30 Networking Tips & Meet the other artists attending the Conference -facilitated by Ja-Naé Duane

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SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9TH 1:00 TO 4:30PM

1:30- 2:20pm-Presentation/Workshop:

Meet the Accountants- key accounting, booking keeping and tax tips for individual artists and artists run businesses/organizations.

Panelists: Michael Baker, Estate Planning/Financial Planning Attorney; Eva Boyce, Chief Financial Officer of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD);and Peter Riley of Riley & Associates and author of www.artstaxinfo.com; --Moderator: Kathleen Bitetti, Artist & Executive Director of the Artists Foundation

Eva N. Boyce has over 25 years of combined experience in public accounting and non-profit financial management and has been successful in a wide range of capacities, including: CFO, Controller, Treasurer, Consultant, Auditor, Trainer and Manager. She is the part time Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for GLAD, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, a Boston based non profit agency. Eva also serves as a volunteer board member for 2 local non profit agencies: The Theatre Offensive and Brookview House; and is president of ENB Financial Management a company that provides consulting, technical assistance, interim financial management, board/staff training and other key services to non-profit organizations and small businesses.

Michael Baker attended Syracuse University and Suffolk University School of Law. He concentrates his practice in the areas of estate and business planning, elder law services, and Medicaid planning. With a focus on sophisticated estate planning and wealth transfer techniques, including the use of revocable trusts, irrevocablem life insurance trusts, family limited partnerships, and limited liability companies, Michael utilizes various techniques to pass wealth, protect assets, maintain control and reduce client's estate tax burden. He also works regularly with elderly clients in developing estate plans that address tax, long-term care, and asset protection issues. Prior to establishing a law practice in Holliston, Michael practiced law at the firm of Cushing Dolan, P.C. and prior to engaging in the practice of law developed his own financial advisory practice to provided integrated financial, estate and investment planning strategies to his individual and business clients. He routinely advised businesses regarding benefit plans, retaining key employees and developing succession plans, including employer sponsored retirement and insurance plans tailored to meet the needs and financial goals of companies. For business owners and high net worth individuals, Michael developed customized investment and risk protection strategies to facilitate clients' accumulation, preservation, and transfer of wealth. In addition to his background as an attorney and financial advisor, Michael served as a lobbyist for the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants and was a legislative aide in Washington, D.C. for a United States Senator from New England. Michael is a member of the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations and the Boston Estate Planning Council. As a member of the Boston Bar he serves on Trusts and Estates Section Steering Committee and is Co-Chair of the Boston Bar Association's Trusts Estates Pro Bono Committee, which coordinates a program to provide estate planning services to military service men and women prior to their deployment. As a member of the Boston Estate Planning Council he served as a Chair of the organization's Website Committee. Michael is also part of the Norfolk Probate and Family Court's Lawyer for the Day Program. Areas of Practice: Estate Planning Business Planning Elder Law Services Medicaid Planning Bar Admissions: Massachusetts, 2005 Education: Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts J.D. University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts M.B.A. coursework Syracuse University B.A. Concentrations: Political Science and Economics Professional Associations and Memberships: Massachusetts Bar Association Member Boston Bar Association Member Boston Estate Planning Council Member Boston Bar, Trusts and Estates Section Member, Steering Committee Boston Bar Co-Chair, Trusts Estates Pro Bono Committee.

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Breakout Sessions 2:30am-3:20pm

Breakout Session #1 Artists Residencies- How to find them and attend them. Special Guest: artist Mary Sherman founder of TransCultural Exchange

Mary Sherman founded TransCultural Exchange in 1989 to create art projects that transcend social, political, geographical and historical barriers. She has received numerous grants and awards, the most recent of which is a Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant, and has served as an artist in residence at such institutions as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also teaches at Boston College and Northeastern University and has been invited to talk about contemporary art as a guest speaker, visiting lecturer and critic at such institutions as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In addition, she has published numerous articles on the visual arts and worked as the art critic for the *Chicago Sun-Times* and as a columnist for WBUR, among others. As an artist, her works have been exhibited widely both in the U.S. and abroad, including at Harvard University; the Trans Hudson Gallery, NY; the Oskar Friedl Gallery, Chicago; Zendai MoMA, Shanghai; Kwanhoon Gallery, Seoul; the London Biennale and the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei. She also has curated shows, two of which received awards from the northeast chapter of the International Art Critics Association. http://www.transculturalexchange.org http://www.marysherman.blogspot.com/ http://www.marysherman.org

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Breakout Session #2 Resources - Grants, sponsorships, in-kind support, and other resources. Special Guest: Kathryn Ostermeir, Program Officer, LEF Foundation & Board Member of the Somerville Arts Council.

Kathryn Ostermier is a Program Officer at the LEF Foundation, a private foundation founded in 1985 to support the creation of new work in the visual arts, performing arts, new media, film and video. A graduate of Smith College in 2001, she lives in Somerville, MA where she serves as a board member on the Somerville Arts Council. The LEF Foundation supports contemporary art production through two funds: The Contemporary Work Fund, awarding grants to individual artist projects and to organizational programs that foster the creative development of artists in New England, and the Moving Image Fund, awarding grants for the production fo single-channel film and video work by individual artists living and working in New England.

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Breakout Session #3 Getting yourself and your work out there! Marketing, self promoting, and other non traditional methods. Special Guests: Beth Dunn, Writer and Former Director of Communications and Technology, the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod; and Mary Bucci McCoy, artist, arts writer, and owner of Big Picture Communications.

Beth Dunn is a social media consultant who has worked with artists and cultural institutions to help them promote themselves and expand their audiences through blogging, twittering, and social networks. She is currently pursuing an MBA at the Simmons College School of Management, where she is also conducting research on how museums and other cultural organizations use social media to establish and extend their communities of service. Prior to entering the MBA program, Beth was the Director of Communications and Technology at the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, where she created the award-winning speaker series *What's Your Story: Branding, PR and New Media for Artists*.

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3:30- 4:30pm-Panel Discussion:

Know Your Rights!

Panelists: Jocelyn B. Jones, Deputy Chief, Fair Labor Division Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley; Kathy Ann Hart, writer, photographer, and the Artists Foundation's Legal Counsel; Sheri Mason, Writer & Legal Services Director, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts/Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston; and Don Schaefer, Photographer and Co-founder of Pro-Imaging.org ---Moderator: Kathleen Bitetti, Artist & Executive Director of the Artists Foundation

Jocelyn B. Jones is an Assistant Attorney General with the Office of the Attorney General Martha Coakley and currently serves as Deputy Chief of the Fair Labor Division (FLD). The FLD is the state¹s Wage and Hour enforcement agency, whose goal is to protect Massachusetts workers from exploitation, while maintaining a level playing field upon which law abiding businesses can compete. In her capacity as Deputy Chief, Ms. Jones manages FLD policy and outreach matters, oversees the Division¹s child labor civil enforcement program, and helps to oversee FLD¹s Wage and Hour Law litigation and enforcement work. Before her promotion to Deputy Chief, Ms. Jones served as an Assistant Attorney General for 7 years, handling a wide range of civil and criminal wage and hour cases, with a focus on prevailing wage, overtime and minimum wage matters, prosecuted workplace-related crimes, including tax and insurance fraud, larceny and embezzlement, and handled several public bid disputes. Prior to joining the Attorney General¹s Office, Ms. Jones was a staff attorney and an investigatory hearing officer at the former Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission (LRC) and an associate with the firm Sandulli, Grace, P.C., where she represented union and individual employee clients in various labor and employment matters. Ms. Jones earned her Bachelor of Arts at Colby College, a certificate from the Program for Women in Politics and Government at Boston College Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a Juris Doctorate from Northeastern University School of Law

Sheri S. Mason, Esq., Director of Legal Services Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, now a program of the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston Sheri Mason joined the VLA as Director of Legal Services in September 2007. Prior to joining the VLA, Sheri worked as a Project Manager at a pharmaceutical training company where she managed the development of training curriculums and materials for pharmaceutical companies. As Director of Legal Services, Sheri administers the legal referral programs, conducts legal research, and assists clients with their cases. Sheri graduated from Suffolk Law School in 2007 with a Concentration in Intellectual Property, with distinction. She received her B.A., with high distinction, from the University of Rhode Island. She is a member of the Boston Bar Association and the New York Bar Association.