Page last updated on September 15, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Professional Development Artist Workshops for Artists and Arts Administrators
The City of Bloomington announces their 2026 professional development artist workshop series. These workshops serve a greater initiative of supporting and cultivating creative entrepreneurship. For artists who are looking to level up their interpersonal, professional, and artistic skills, these workshops help to fill the gap for the Bloomington creative community. Since 2024 these workshops have explored topics relevant to all mediums and provided effective resources for artists in different stages of their career.
This series of workshops is open to artists and arts administrators, and will explore topics of community collaboration, conflict resolution, and burnout, and how all three may intersect and/or show up in creative practice. Participants will learn the principles of collaborative community-building and engagement, how to navigate conflict in their lives, and help mitigate—or at least counter—burnout when it threatens to appear in their creative life. Whether participants attend one or all three workshops, it will still provide tools needed to better navigate their practice.
Are you thinking about leveling up your creative practice beyond a personal hobby and into a career, but don’t know where to start? This workshop series is for you too! Our Professional Development Artist Workshop Program also invites those that are interested in taking the first step into creative entrepreneurship.
The dates of these workshops are below. If you would like to attend one or all three workshops, you must register for each workshop separately. This series is free and space is limited. We are accepting participants on a first come, first served basis. We will have a waitlist for workshops if we reach capacity.
Topic: Starts with You: Using the Self to Build Stronger Collaborative Community Culture
Date: Monday, October 19th, 2026 at 5:30p-7:30p
Topic: We’re All We’ve Got: Navigating Conflict, Accountability and Repair
Date: Monday, November 2nd, 2026 at 5:30p-7:30p
Topic: Combatting Burnout: Using Self-Compassion and Joy-Work to Balance the Scales
Date: Monday, November 16th, 2026 at 5:30p-7:30p
All workshops will be held at the John Waldron Arts Center.
Workshop Facilitator: Andrea M. Sterling
Andrea M. Sterling is a Bloomington transplant by way of Providence Rhode Island, now with 11+ years of Bloomington living under her belt. She received her Masters in African-American and African Diaspora Studies from Indiana University-Bloomington in 2019. Andrea has engaged in community and academic facilitation for 20+ years; with a particular focus on using the self as an anchor in order to imagine new futures and possibilities of community care anchored on a Radical Love Ethic. Aside from facilitating workshops, Andrea has co-organized the Bloomington Poetry Slam for the last 9 years, facilitates writing circles with Women Writing for a Change, and mixes up tasty elixirs at the Uptown Café.
2026 Arts Operations Support Grant: Applications Now Open!
The Bloomington Arts Commission (BAC) is happy to announce applications are now open for 2026 Arts Operations Support Grants. This is one of three arts grant cycles that Bloomington released each year.
Arts Operations Support (AOS) Grants provide up to $5,000 to support eligible Bloomington, IN based 501c3 arts organizations with a budget of less than $500,0000. Funding may be used for any operational expenses including staff salaries, operational overhead, and programmatic expenses. Grant recipients submit a final grant report.
Timeline
Artistic Advancement Grant Period: December 1, 2026 – November 30, 2027
Application Deadline: September 24, 2026 by 11:59pm
Funding Notification: November 5, 2026
Funding Disbursement: *By January 31, 2027
Final Report Deadline: December 16, 2027
More Information about the Application
- Review the full 2026 Arts Operations Support Grant Guidelines.
- Preview the 2026 Application Questions.
- Ready to apply? Access the online application. Complete and submit your application by September 24, 2026
2026 Arts Projects Support Grants and Artistic Advancement (closed)
2026 Arts Project Support (APS) Grants are closed for this year. APS grants support public-facing projects and programming in Bloomington or Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) schools. In the past, project grants have supported music festivals, film, theatre, arts supplies, recordings, a poetry series, and pop-up galleries, among many other activities and disciplines. To learn more about the program, see the 2026 Arts Projects Support Grants: Program Info Guidelines
2026 Artistic Advancement (AA) Grants are closed this year. AA Grants provide up to $2,000 to support professional career advancement of artists 18 years and older who live and work in Bloomington, Indiana. Funding may be used for any expenses related to their work as an artist. see the 2026 Artistic Advancement Grants: Program Guidelines.
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