THE SPEAKERS

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Your art may speak for itself — but your audience needs to hear the right story. In this fireside chat, Tatum Dooley of Art Forecast explores the dos and don’ts of professional communications for artists, from social media and branding to media relations and building a public-facing creative identity. The conversation will also address the legal considerations that arise when artists promote their work and operate businesses online. 

What does it actually take to turn creative work into a sustainable business? Artists and creative-industry professionals join entertainment lawyer Lyndra Griffith-Harnden for a candid conversation about the trials, pitfalls and rewards of building a creative career — including business structures, collaborations, partnerships, and the fundamental question: how do you actually make money from your creativity?

The panel will include:

• Joel Silver, of Silverphonic Studios, a music composer, producer, custom synthesizer builder, and immersive UX designer from Toronto 
• Michael Stamp, owner of contemporary art gallery Galerie Veilor in Montreal
• Matias Munoz, co-owner at FONO, a HiFi lounge, bar, and community space in Ottawa
• Danayit Ephrem Zeru, multi-disciplinary artist, curator, photographer, poet, and model & current Curatorial Fellow with the Ottawa Art Gallery, OBAK, and the National Gallery of Canada

AI is changing creative work — but what does that actually mean for artists, lawyers and creative businesses? Lawyer/entrepreneur Garrick Apollon and artist/educator Gaia Orian unpack the rapidly evolving relationship between AI and creativity, exploring how these tools are shaping creative thinking, professional practice and the business of making art. Designed to demystify AI, this conversation brings technology practitioners and creatives together to ask not just what AI can do, but how we should approach it. 

What changes when you start thinking about your creative practice like a business? Drawing from their University of Ottawa course Entrepreneurship & Innovation Mindset for Lawyers, Garrick Apollon and artist/entrepreneur Gaia Orian lead an interactive workshop on approaching creativity through an entrepreneurial lens. Participants will be invited to rethink the relationship between creativity, opportunity, strategy and sustainable professional practice.