"Art creation can have a symbiotic relationship with commerce that is both creatively fulfilling and financially rewarding – This long-held belief has been a guiding career principle for all my professional life. For most artists, making that credo a reality is often the difference between a career, just making a living, or a hobby."
- Marva Ollivierre
As a young artist with an analytical bend and knack for numbers, I struggled for a time believing it had to be one or the other - artist or accountant - but there was a third option, melding eclectic creative passions with my business acumen. I found the lack of applicable credible information and market visibility were at the core of the struggle, and to this day, addressing the void is the foundation for success in my business and sharing what I know a big part of my life.
With 1993 came the opportunity to connect even more creators, caught in the same struggle, to information and resources by developing and creating a travelling lecture/workshop series and companion multi-disciplinary workbook (“ARTIST” PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE MANUAL - Published 1994, ISBN 0-9696217-1-X), and throughout 1994 – 1996, I toured the project, entitled “making your art your business”, across Canada. Later, the series was evaluated by LORD, the international Cultural Resources Planning and Management Agency, as
"an effective medium for information transfer and skills development in the business of the arts... Marva Ollivierre gets high marks as a very knowledgeable and effective communicator".
Twenty-four years and counting, the lecture/workshops on “making your art your business” now “BARB” continues, the reward is the many creators, across the artistic disciplines, using these workshops as a stepping-stone to successful careers.
"Just a quick message to thank you again for the absolutely wonderful LIFT
panel discussion that I had the pleasure and honour of attended earlier tonight it was so great to have our paths cross again"
- Inga Diev/ Executive Content Acquisition & Sales Panel Discussion:Co-Productions
in and outside Treaty Co-productions
