By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — As people cut back on non-essential items during the recession, the art business has suffered.
But for Lynn Raker and members of the city’s Public Art Committee, a weak economy should not keep people from creating art.
“We think art is essential for cultural and social health,” said Raker, a city planner who works with the Public Art Committee.
To support art and the people who create it, the committee will host a symposium Saturday in Salisbury aimed at helping artists find ways to sell their work, even during an economic downturn.
“The Entrepreneurial Artist: Selling Your Art in a Changing Economy” will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Waterworks Visual Arts Center.
Sign up online at www.salisburyart.com. Registration ends at 9 a.m. Friday.
The interactive symposium will offer expert advice for artists struggling to stay afloat. Speakers will discuss self-promotion, intellectual property rights, marketing and more.
The event is tied to the 2011 Sculpture Show, which will be installed Friday. The symposium, 16-piece sculpture show and related events are funded with private donations and tourism grants.
The Public Art Committee won $10,000 from the city’s new tourism development authority and $5,000 from city and county tourism funds to expand events surrounding the Sculpture Show installation.
“We couldn’t have done it without the new tourism board with the city,” said Barbara Perry, committee chairwoman.
The tourism dollars require the committee to market the event regionally and encourage people to spend the night in a local hotel.
So the one-day Sculpture Show installation turned into a weekend of art-related activities, including a private reception Friday night, the symposium and a second sculpture show called “Tabletop Sculptures” that begins Saturday at Waterworks.
“By hosting the symposium, we also are encouraging our visiting sculptors who will be installing on Friday to stay longer in Salisbury,” Raker said in an email to the Post.
About half of the 16 exhibitors will stay overnight for the symposium.
“Tabletop Sculptures” will features 24 smaller pieces — up to 3-feet in size — created by artists chosen for the 2011 Sculpture Show.
Next weekend, the tabletop show moves from Waterworks to the Trolley Barn for the Artist Expo 2011. These smaller pieces, as well as the large outdoor sculptures, are for sale to the public through the Public Art Committee.
Children will have their own hands-on sculpture event May 14, in partnership with Waterworks.
Other sources of funding for the 2011 Sculpture Show and related events include a $10,000 matching grant from Edward and Susan Norvell, a $1,750 commission on a sale from last year’s show, $575 in entry fees and other donations.
The symposium, which costs $35, begins with registration and a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m.
Workshops include:
• 9:10 a.m. Jim Gallucci, “The Artist as Entrepreneur: The Creation, Manufacturing and Marketing of Art.”
Gallucci has been a sculptor for more than 35 years. He was an art instructor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of Alabama at Huntsville and exhibit designer for the N.C. Zoological Park in Asheboro.
He works full time designing and creating/fabricating sculptures in his Greensboro studio, assisted by a staff of five. His commissions can be found in public, corporate and residential spaces throughout the country and across the globe.
• 10:10 a.m. Michelle Morton and Chris Hill, “Self-promotion by Design: New Directions in Media Marketing.”
Morton’s interest in public relations and media communication skills began with a career in filmmaking. For 10 years she lived in Aspen while producing, writing and editing half-hour films for the PBS wildlife series “Wild America.”
Later, while raising her two sons in North Carolina, she worked for a magazine publishing firm. In 2007, she launched Morton Arts Media LLC, focusing on writing, designing and publishing books about fine art, science and education and developing interactive websites.
Hill has 20 years of industry experience and serves as the creative director and senior graphic designer at Printery in Greensboro. He abandoned his art degree to work full-time in graphic communication with his family’s burgeoning printing business.
Hill focuses his design efforts in both new and old media, designing websites and electronic communication as well as print media. Many of his clients are visual and performing arts organizations, painters, sculptors and photographers, and Hill has found a way to effectively market the arts in the 21st century.
• 12:45 p.m. Daniel Ellison, “Protecting Your Intellectual Property Rights: Should You Worry?”
Ellison, a Durham lawyer and 2007 recipient of an Indie Arts Award, has been working with artists and nonprofit organizations for more than 20 years. He is a frequent speaker and writer on a variety of arts law issues.
He has taught courses in Duke University’s Department of Theater Studies and writes a legal issues column for the Southeastern Theatre Conference newsletter and ArtSee Magazine. He developed Durham Arts Place, which provides affordable artist studio spaces.
• 1:15 p.m. Tom Stanley, “Communication Skills All Artists Must Have in Today’s Market.”
Stanley is an artist and chairman of the Department of Fine Arts at Winthrop University. A conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, he later worked in Passaic, N.J. and New York City in the design and wall accessory industry.
Former director of the Waterworks Visual Arts Center, Stanley has served on the faculties of Livingstone College, Lyon College and Barry University. He also taught relief printmaking and 2-D design at the maximum security Central Corrections Institute.
The symposium ends at 2 p.m. after a question-and-answer session.

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Want to go?
What: Artists symposium, “The Entrepreneurial Artist: Selling Your Art in a Changing Economy
When: 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Waterworks Visual Arts Center, 123 East Liberty St., Salisbury
How much: $35 including breakfast, lunch and five speakers
To register: Go to www.salisburyart.com
Deadline: 9 a.m. Friday
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.