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City launches artist professional-development series after one-on-one outreach
Summary
Evanston’s arts staff launched a professional-development series called Coffee and Practice that produced two workshops, including a full-day event giving 16 artists headshots, artwork documentation and websites to help sell work and pursue grants and commissions.
Evanston’s Economic Development Committee heard on the committee’s arts staff program that a new artist professional-development effort has begun following a year of outreach.
Joel Daly, the city’s arts and cultural engagement specialist, told the committee the series grew from “Coffee and Practice,” a program of half-hour, one-on-one meetings with artists that regularly produced longer conversations and direct feedback on needs. “I created a program called Coffee and Practice,” Daly said, describing how those conversations shaped a two-part workshop sequence.
Daly said the first hybrid workshop drew about 30 participants and focused on preparing artists to apply for grants, exhibitions and commissions. The second workshop, limited to 16 participants because of its hands-on nature, was a full-day event run in partnership with Art Do Chicago and held at the Noise Cultural Center. Daly said that event offered three coordinated services: professional headshots, professional documentation of artwork, and website development so artists left with digital assets and an e-commerce-capable site.
“The goal was to take an artist from just making things to somebody who’s actually selling their stuff,” Daly said. He told the committee the value of the full package — photography, headshot and a functional website — likely exceeded $1,000 per artist; the city paid roughly $1,500 for the cohort of about 16 participants.
Daly said the program prioritized accessibility and was designed to scale through future rounds. He also described a separate initiative to use underutilized houses of worship as studio or rehearsal space to address scarcity of affordable workspace for artists.
Why this matters: Staff framed the series as both cultural investment and economic development, saying professionally presented work helps artists access commissions and competitive grants while strengthening the local creative economy. The committee encouraged continued outreach and asked staff to track participation numbers, funding sources and repeatability for future budget discussions.
What’s next: Daly and staff said they plan to run additional workshop rounds, expand partnerships with local groups such as Evanston Made and the Arts Council, and return to the committee with metrics and potential funding strategies.
