Professional Practice Program: Open Call in Georgia

Professional Practice Program
For craft/designer makers
October 22 – December 19, 2020
OPEN CALL

Georgian Arts & Culture Center (GACC) announces their open call for emerging and young craft professionals to participate in the PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE PROGRAM. The program is implemented in the frames of its ongoing projects: CRAFTING EUROPE -funded by the Creative Europe Program of the European Commission and FUTURE WORKFORCE FOR CRAFTS INTUSTRY -funded by the USAID Economic Security Program.

The objective of the PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE PROGRAM is to give artisans the tools they need to build a successful and sustainable craft business and will include business visioning and planning, marketing, creative development, finances, speaking and writing about their practice and presenting themselves. The workshops will cover the following business fundamentals: Business Planning; Marketing Strategies; Market research; Product development; Merchandising; Costing and Pricing work; Access to markets; Access to funding supports and grant applications; Scaling enterprise; Access to international trade events and galleries; Small and large scale production; E-commerce.

GACC partner in the implementation of the program is Tbilisi State Academy of Arts. www.art.edu.ge 
The program consists of 12 workshops, which will be held from October to December 2020
The workshops will be held at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts
* the event will be held according to the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia regulations regarding prevention of COVID-19 spreading.

Who can apply?
• A craftsperson.
• A maker.
• A designer.
• An artist.
• A creative.
• A designer-maker.
Having your craft-focused practice as your main income or working towards this. There are no requirements on the structure of the business. Emerging: you will have started your practice or business within the last six years or be about to start practicing.
The number of participants is limited, a total of 20 participants will be selected.

Application Process
Please read all the supporting information and send the filled up application form together with following to info@gaccgeorgia.org with “Professional Practice Program’ in the subject line by October 5, 2020.

Application form can be downloaded from www.gaccgeorgia.org
Program participation is free; participants will be selected on a competitive basis.
Participants selection will take place in two stages.
Short listed candidates will be notified on October 10, 2020 and will be invited to the interview.
The finalists will be invited to participate in the program on October 12, 2020.
The program starting date: October 22, 2020
Selected participants will be expected to attend and participate in all PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
PROGRAM events.

For additional information, please contact us:
Georgian Arts & Culture Center (GACC)
www.gaccgeorgia.org
Address: 7 Niko Nikoladze str., 0108- Tbilisi, Georgia
Email: info@gaccgeorgia.org Tel: (+995 32) 2931 335
Contact person: Natia Trapaidze (cell: 591 130 003); Tea Gotsiridze (cell: 593 397 153)

CRAFTING EUROPE
The project Crafting Europe starts from the need to build capacity within the crafts sector across Europe. The core focus of the Crafting Europe project aims to address systemic challenges identified through findings from surveys undertaken to assess the needs of the crafts sector across 17 European Countries.

FUTURE WORKFORCE FOR CRAFTS INDUSTRY
The goal of the two-year project is to contribute to the development of the crafts sector workforce via increasing of the competences; practical, theoretical and soft skills. By establishing physical and electronic educational platforms for the professional development of craft makers that will enable them to meet market requirements and secure proper incomes from their activities.