:: workshops ::

Workshops for groups of 10+ participants

Workshops and presentations can be held online, in a lecture hall, or can be structured as hands-on experiences.

Jessica Burko has worked in the arts industry for more than 25 years as a photographer, curator, gallerist, administrator, and Arts Marketer. Since 2002 she has been leading workshops on a wide range of topics designed to empower artists to strengthen and take control of their creative careers. Recent host organizations include Mass MoCA's Assets for Artists program, ArtsWorcester, and the Rhode Island School of Design. Email for pricing and to schedule the workshop to suit your group’s needs.

Arts Marketing workshops are three-hours long and can be held online, or at Burko's SoWa Studio: 59 Wareham Street, Boston, 02118, or at an agreed upon location within greater Boston.

  • What is arts marketing all about? Arts Marketing 101 covers the basics of what marketing means for artists and presents pain-free ways you can market yourself and your art. This workshop provides an overview of branding concepts, how to begin a marketing plan, and what marketing materials are most important for increasing visibility for your work. We will also practice speaking and writing about your art to further emphasize the messages you are presenting to the world, all to create a stronger path to your own success.

  • You are more than your social media. Websites still remain the best place for everything you and your art. Beginning with an overview of general Arts Marketing industry standards and best practices, the heart of the workshop focuses on how those concepts can be integrated into your website. Existing websites will be reviewed, and discussion will focus on developing and strengthening your content to capture the attention of audiences and lead them to engagement.

  • Tired of insisting the art speaks for itself? Help your art career fall into place by giving your work, and yourself, a voice. Galleries, the press, and anyone with a grant to offer wants to read your words. You need words on your website, social media, and in print materials. Learn and practice what makes an effective bio, artist statement, CV, and how titles for your works can really take it places.

  • In this visually aesthetic and brand-driven culture an artist can't survive without a presence online. An online persona is more than just a website and social media, it’s how all of your online identities relate and intersect. How can your overall online persona expand your offline career? This workshop will cover how to develop and maintain your brand online through the use of social media, your website, and other sites that include you and your work.

  • In a world of speed dating, micro blogging, and multi tasking, one must be prepared for opportunities before they quickly pass by. It’s not enough to have your images and written materials ready at the touch of a button, an artist must be prepared to speak about their work with clarity, brevity, and confidence. This workshop focuses on fortifying oneself for the question: “So, what do YOU do?” and harnessing the self-assurance to provide the answer.

Build Your Own Workshop for small groups

Gather a few people who are interested in taking a workshop. Select a marketing or creative workshop below, designed especially for small groups.

Creative workshops are four-hours long, divided between two sessions in ordered to allow for independent work and feedback and are held at Burko's SoWa Studio: 59 Wareham Street, Boston, 02118.

  • Where you go and what you do matters, online and off. Make your online persona work for you and increase the visibility of your work, make valuable connections, and share what you do in its most flattering light.

  • Review your website and discuss developing new content, and strengthening existing content to capture the attention of audiences, and lead them to engagement.

  • Learn what makes an effective bio, artist statement, CV, and how titles for your works can really take it places. We will practice on paper and out loud.

  • Feeling pulled in 1000 directions and struggling to prioritize? Using techniques such as mind-mapping and free writing, your focus will rise to the surface and your goals will be set.

  • Are you starting a new series, struggling with a creative block, figuring out how to proceed through a hurdle? Artists will present their work for feedback on strengths and weaknesses in this opportunity to help you further develop your work.

  • Learn a range of transfer techniques and how to use materials such as gel medium, encaustic, adhesive, and natural solvent to transfer images and text to paper, wood, and other substrates.

  • Using traditional hand-stitching and machine sewing techniques, students will create small paper quilts from life's ephemera to commemorate, memorialize or visually narrate a moment or memory. Each paper quilt will bind together photos, letters, news clippings and papers of all sorts that share a common thread. Bring your own sewing machine if you have one. Students provide most of their own collage materials.

  • Guided studio time and space to create 2D collage alternated with demonstration sessions. Learn and hone a variety of techniques and styles including transfers, altered books, media combinations, color field work, and text images. Appropriate for beginners to advanced participants, whether collage is a hobby or part of your professional art career, this class will encourage and support you creating layered images that express your ideas and aesthetics.