Chamber works to boost local artists

ENCINITAS — The Encinitas Chamber of Commerce is joining forces with its arts community and the city of Encinitas’ Commission of the Arts to announce the formation of an “Artist in Business” program.
The chamber, along with Jim Gilliam, the Commission’s arts administrator, will be spearheading this initiative and the chamber welcomes all community support.
Local arts leaders will be working with the chamber’s Communications Committee to create and implement the new program. Its goal is to expand exhibition opportunities for Encinitas visual artists, helps them increase their business skills and thrive in a difficult economy. Artists accepted into the program will benefit from exposure in the Encinitas First monthly newsletter, at chamber events and via email blasts to the business community, along with other advertising opportunities.
The program has a three-pronged approach: to use the Visitor Center walls to host a series of rotating exhibits, to solicit local galleries to exhibit participating artist’s work, and to solicit local businesses, with ample wall space, to exhibit artists work as well.
All three venues will offer the art for sale, in a way that businesses, artists and charity will be winners. They are working to create a Foundation for the Arts that will receive some of its support from a portion of the sales revenue that are generated.
The chamber is now looking for a few local artists, business owners and gallery representatives to join the committee, to be co-chaired by Visitor Center Manager Pat Reinhardt and Nancy Buckley, a principal at Nexus Design.
A list has been comprised of more than 180 Encinitas artists and the program will be setting up an Artist in Business application on the Chamber’s Web site, as soon as the committee gets under way.