Care4Creatives INDIANAPOLIS —Breaking into the art world can be challenging, especially when it comes to finding the right opportunities. Patrick S. Allen, founder and executive director of Care4Creatives, understands those challenges. Now, he’s working to connect Indianapolis artists with op portunities to showcase their work and grow their careers. “I worked with a lot of artists. I’ve been an artist my whole life,” Allen said. “I saw the difficulties of finding that opportunity, that big jump where you can go and do a mural, you can go and sell a big piece, because I’ve had to work, you know? And I never had that support behind me to help me find the positions, the opportunities, and that’s what I’m trying to create.” Building from the ground up Care4Creatives launched about a year ago, shortly after the funding season ended, making it difficult to secure initial financial support. Allen said the timing ultimately helped the organization establish a solid foundation. “We started about a year ago, right after the funding season, which made it a little difficult, but we built from there, which honestly gave us a good foundation to not start with a bunch of money that we could just blow all over the place,” he said. Since then, Care4Creatives has expanded its efforts to connect artists with the community. The organization offers artist profiles and portfolios on its website, a host dashboard that helps businesses connect with local creatives, and commission services for murals and custom artwork. It also hosts First Friday’s events featuring musicians, visual artists and food vendors.Its newest initiative, Creative Futures, aims to introduce young people to hands-on public art projects. Giving students real-world art experience Creative Futures will launch at Paramount Cottage Home, where elementary school students will help design and paint a mural on the school’s goat enclosure. Robert Bentley, an artist and elementary art teacher, is partnering with Care4Creatives on the project. “Our school is a farm school, so we have goats,” Bentley said. “We have a goat enclosure that we’re going to paint. And we’re going to have the students kind of come up with some conceptual foundation ideas and build upon that so that they can actually kind of choose the imagery that’s painted, and then they’ll come out and paint by numbers to execute the mural.” The project is designed for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. A paint-by-numbers approach, combined with professional guidance, will help students of different skill levels participate in creating the mural. More than just art class Bentley said the project gives students a chance to contribute to something meaningful while building confidence in their artistic abilities. “I think for those kids that don’t have quite the creative and artistic skills, art class can feel like repetitive failure,” he said. “And this gives them something bigger to be a part of and share in the pride and accomplishment of doing it.” The mural will give students a lasting piece of public art in their school community and an opportunity to take pride in a shared accomplishment. Allen hopes to expand similar opportunities throughout Indianapolis, giving more young people access to creative experiences. Connecting artists with the community Care4Creatives is also developing the Creative Exchange, an initiative designed to help artists display and sell their work in local businesses. The program aims to increase artists’ visibility while giving businesses access to locally created artwork for their spaces. The organization also continues to host First Fridays events, bringing together musicians, visual artists and community members. Through these efforts, Allen hopes to build stronger connections between Indianapolis artists, businesses and residents. How to get involved Artists seeking opportunities and businesses looking to work with local creatives can learn more about Care4Creatives through the organization’s website and social media accounts. Visit care4creatives.org or follow @care4creatives.indy on Instagram to explore artist profiles, inquire about commissioned work, access the host dashboard and find information about upcoming First Fridays events. For Allen, the mission is personal: He wants to create the support system he wishes he had when he was starting his own artistic career. “That’s what I’m trying to create,” he said. ...read more read less