I would like to begin by acknowledging that our story is 100% a testament of the grace of God. There is no other way to put it. Time after time He has proven to us that walking on faith pays off, and I don’t mean that in a monetary way but in a rewarding way. God has found ways to reward us for having faith.

These rewards have been manifested in our lives in many different ways, and the most obvious has been in the form of providing us with help and resources needed in order to achieve our studio’s mission, which is to be able to offer our community a space to connect with those around us in a deeper way through art.

It all began in 2016, in South Bend, Indiana. The City of South Bend was undergoing a massive street renovation in its west side of town. The project aimed to help drive more traffic to the small businesses which populated the main street. With new paved streets, new lamp posts, new stop lights, and new sidewalks, the west side of town was ready to celebrate its face-lift with a ribbon cutting ceremony, which included street vendors, family-friendly attractions, and a pop-up art gallery as a way to cover up an abandoned store front where this event was to take place.

Event organizers reached out to Greg and I for volunteer help to be in charge of the pop-up art gallery setup. We graciously agreed to volunteer and we quickly gathered a group of close friends and family who were willing to help us transform the abandoned store front into a pop-up art gallery.

The event organizers provided us with cleaning supplies and materials to clean out the venue. They also brought in three different paint colors: Caution Yellow, Handicapped Blue, and White to paint the walls. That’s it. (Hence our branding colors)

Even though we did not have a budget per say, we did invest countless hours in moving old heavy furniture, cleaning floors and walls, trips to the store and painting the walls. Our friends showed up to help us transform the place, and we took many breaks during the hard work to create and play.

We came up with the name ART GALLERY 2910 (2910 being the address) and we were ready for art, so we put a call for artists. Having worked and partnered with various organizations in the city of South Bend, I was surrounded by a fantastic community of creatives that made it easier to gather artwork for the opening night.

Opening Night was on July 7th, 2016, in South Bend, IN. USA. It was a great feeling seeing all the artists happy to showcase their creations. We featured over 30 different local and regional artists with live music. Even the mayor and his partner showed up, and we got to shake their hands. The pop-up art gallery had become an experience in itself. Locals began encouraging us to keep the art up and make use of the great momentum to establish an actual art gallery that was very much needed in town.

We took the leap of faith, and the rest is history! After figuring out a “business plan”, we moved our studio to a better venue in the downtown area. Three years later, we moved again to the Mishawaka shopping district, which is where we currently host our paint parties.

We thank God and our wonderful community for the continued support, and thank you for reading our story! 🙂

The post Story Time: A Testimony of God’s Grace appeared first on Paint Party Rockstar.

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, the idea of owning a business has been something that’s haunted you for years. You’ve always wanted to be your own boss, but you’ve felt like it was just out of reach. Well, here’s the good news: It’s possible to have both! Owning a business doesn’t have to be scary or impossible. In fact, it can be one of the most rewarding experiences in life. So let’s get started!

Take initiative.

Owning a business is a lot of work, and you are going to be the one doing most of it. You’re in charge, so take initiative. Don’t wait for someone else to make a decision or suggest something—you need to take charge! It will be your name on the door, not theirs; if you want something done, then do it yourself.

Don’t be afraid of taking risks either: failing is part of being an entrepreneur—it happens to all of us at some point or another. And don’t forget that if worst comes to worst, sometimes asking for help can solve all kinds of problems! Just remember that sometimes people give their best advice when they think no one’s listening…

Reward yourself.

Sometimes, you just need a little encouragement. After all, running a business takes dedication and hard work—and sometimes you can feel like you’re not getting anywhere. If this happens to you, try rewarding yourself with something small and inexpensive. A reward doesn’t have to be expensive or life-changing; it can simply be about acknowledging your accomplishments (and giving yourself the well deserved pat on the back).

Some ideas for rewards include:

• Buying yourself something from your favorite store
• Going out to dinner with friends or family members
• Taking some time off from work

Don’t be afraid to fail.

Failure is a part of life, and it’s not the end of the world. You can learn lessons from your failures that will make you a better person and business owner. In fact, failure is an important part of growing as a person or business owner because it helps you develop resilience—the ability to bounce back after a setback.

If you are afraid to fail, then there’s no way for you to succeed. If you’re afraid to try new things or take risks because they might not work out, then how can anyone expect any kind of success?

Not all of your ideas will work out.

Everyone has ideas that don’t work out. It’s okay to fail, as long as you learn from it and keep moving forward. Failure is a part of the process, so don’t let it stop you from trying again.

Failure isn’t the end of the world, either: if an idea doesn’t work out, there are probably other ways to achieve your goal without needing to go through all that trouble.

Pursue greatness.

Your business is a reflection of you. The way you run your business says a lot about who you are.

You should pursue greatness in everything that you do. You have to be ambitious, set goals, take risks and be willing to fail in order to be successful.

You cannot let fear stop you from pursuing the bigger picture of what’s possible for your business or yourself – especially when it comes to taking chances on new ideas and opportunities within your industry or market.

The only way we learn how things work is through experience – both our own as well as other people’s experiences around us!

Don’t let fear or doubt hold you back.

There are times when you feel like you’re going to fail. You won’t be able to do it all by yourself, and that’s ok.

To succeed in business and life, it is important to ask for help from others and connect with people who have been there before you. Once you start asking for help, be open-minded about which types of support are most useful for your business—and don’t be afraid to try new things!

If you’re looking for a way to make money and have fun, owning a business can be the perfect solution. You don’t need a lot of money or experience; all it takes is passion, drive and determination.

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If you’re a creative who’s been perfecting their craft for quite a while, and you’re ready to have your work noticed, here are some helpful tips from GALLERY 2910 on how to go about it.

Think outside of the box

This may seem like an obvious tip for creatives who do this day in and day out. Nonetheless, it is vital to do if you want to take your career one step further. Here, we’re referring to thinking of ways to showcase your skill set in a myriad of avenues. In other words, it’s about seeing how you can branch out and showcase your work not only to your immediate audience, but also to those that might not be as familiar with what you do. It’s doing what you do best but without restraints or limitations, either real or imaginary, so that you can leave an indelible imprint in the minds of those that may not necessarily fit into your ideal buyer persona.

Use social media and memes to your advantage

There’s a reason why social media works so well at generating awareness and building relationships: it’s accessible, convenient, and costs next to nothing to use. Moreover, you have an opportunity to present your artistry to the world. This is also where a well-designed website comes in. 

For both your social media marketing and your website, creating memes is a great way to get your branding message across in a fun and entertaining way that’s sure to leave a lasting impression. It’s a good idea to use the best tool to make your own meme using your own images; it’s as simple as choosing a template and customizing it with the text and graphics you want. Who knows, you may even go viral!

Collaborate with like-minded individuals

Suppose you want to accelerate your journey to getting discovered, then one of the easiest ways to do this is to collaborate with similar artists (especially those with a solid following). Here, as Legal Reader points out, it’s about showing how you could add value to the other person by partnering up so that you both benefit from it. Then you could essentially ‘piggyback’ off of their audience to build a loyal following of your own.

When collaborating, especially if it’s over the internet, you may find that you’re having to exchange PDFs and feedback back and forth. If that’s the case, using a PDF editor is a good solution. Just upload a PDF, then you’ll be able to add highlights, sticky notes, and drawings to communicate your feedback and ideas. Once complete, you can get a persistent link to share it with your partner.

Reaching out to the bigwigs

If you really, really want to get noticed, then you’ll have to put in the effort when it comes to reaching the people that matter in the biz. So, for example, Artwork Archive notes that you could take advantage of networking opportunities to get that chance to rub shoulders with someone who could literally change the trajectory of your life. But suppose the invites aren’t coming your way, then good old-fashioned cold calling might do the trick, because for every no, there could be a potential yes lurking around the corner. 

Furthermore, you could try the less direct way through cold emailing to get the attention of the people higher up that you’re after. Just be sure that you have those all-important email contacts on hand so that you don’t end up wasting your time sending thousands of emails to random people who couldn’t care two hoots about what you’re offering.

Create a detailed business plan

If you want to be able to give your pitch all you’ve got, a business plan can help you do it. Just make sure that it is as informative as possible because you want to be able to lay all your cards on the table if necessary. So be sure to detail what your business is all about including how it is to be structured, what services you plan to sell, how you intend on raising the bulk of the capital you need to get started, and what your financial projections are forecasted to be going forward, etc. 

If you’re unsure about any of these details, then you could always look up how to start a business online for a better idea on how to get started, from how to select a domain name to how to develop your business strategy and plenty more helpful information to get your feet wet.

You also may want to invest in invoicing software that goes to work for you by providing you with valuable insights on how to better manage your finances (once you’ve made it big, that is). This way you’ll keep on top of incoming payments as well as keep on top of recurring invoices as these will be scheduled automatically. In addition to cutting down your paperwork significantly, there are other neat perks too such as allowing customers to pay directly online as well as giving you a heads-up when these invoices are paid and settled.

If you’ve reached the point where you’ve purchased accounting software, you need to have a space in your home that serves as a studio and office if you don’t already. Should you renovate a room to serve the purpose, keep in mind that such a project may raise your home’s value. Be sure to take before and after photos. You want to have a record of your improvements when your house is next appraised.

So, if you’re intent on making a name for yourself, just know that it’s not that complicated at all and may just require more of your time than anything else. Remember to use social media, a website and memes, collaborate with others, and come up with a winning business plan. That and keeping your thinking cap on to spot opportunities around you will help you get on the scene as quickly as possible. 

GALLERY 2910 offers step-by-step painting classes for people of all ages, from kids to adults. Contact us today to learn more! 574-204-2665

Virginia Cooper

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