Helping working artists build the business behind the art.
A Texas nonprofitArt Boost Dallas is a nonprofit built around a simple belief: artists deserve the same business skills as any other professional.
We serve practicing artists across visual art, performance, music, and literary disciplines, giving them the real-world tools to price their work, market it, manage the money, and build a career that lasts.
Art Boost empowers artists by providing the tools, training, and opportunities they need to thrive as creatives in their careers.
Through skill-building workshops, professional development, mentorship, and community engagement, we help creatives grow their craft, expand their networks, and build sustainable futures
Our community is a diverse group of artists intent on building a sustainable career in the arts: independent and developing artists who have the talent and the drive, and who are ready for the practical side of making a living from their work.
Whatever the discipline, the challenges rhyme: pricing, marketing, money, and the constant pull between the work you love and the work it takes to sustain it.
A flagship conference once a year, and quarterly meet-ups in between, so the business of art is something you keep working on all year, alongside people who get it.
Once a year we gather for two days that cover the full business of art rather than one slice of it. This year's theme is Find Your Breakthrough.
Every attendee leaves with more than notes: they build a Breakthrough Plan, a concrete next step they can act on the moment they walk out.
Clarity beats catchy. A plan beats inspiration.
Between conferences, we host quarterly meet-ups that take a deep dive into one topic: pricing, marketing, taxes, whatever the community needs next.
It gives artists a place to connect and keep learning all year long, not just once. Art Boost is an ongoing community, and the relationships that start in the room keep going long after it.
Art Boost begins as a project within the Leadership Arts Institute, a program of the Business Council for the Arts, co-chaired by Leslie Sakal and Chip Van Pelt (LAI class of 2023). BCA leadership chooses to carry it forward as a legacy program alongside On My Own Time and the Obelisk Awards.
Emi Matsushita (LAI class of 2024) rallies her cohort to plan and host the next Art Boost, with Leslie and Chip acting as advisors. The model proves it can outlast any single class.
Art Boost becomes a full volunteer effort led by Emi, Chip, and Leslie, joined by members of the LAI class of 2025, including John Poitevent, who still serve on the board today.
Art Boost decides to incorporate as its own nonprofit, charting a path beyond its founding home.
Art Boost officially becomes an independent organization, a Texas nonprofit with federal tax-exempt status pending.
Our vision is to grow Art Boost into a global movement for the business of art.
Emi Matsushita
Board member | Co-Founder
Chip Van Pelt
Board member | Co-Founder
Leslie Sakal
Board member | Co-Founder
Curtis Tran
Board member
Destiny Ayala
Board member-elect
John Poitevent
Board member
Mercedes Brown
Board member-elect
Shirley Wilson
Volunteer
Whether you are just starting to treat your art like a business or you are ready for the next level, join us and find your breakthrough.
