cc  >> Of corporate relations,  the UW College of Engineering  for their technical support and  the Ewing Marion Kauffman  Foundation which is committed to  education in entrepreneurialism.  Additionally, we'd like to thank  our media partners, Wisconsin  Public Television and their  University Place crew for taping  today's lecture.  Today I'm very pleased to  welcome Meghan Blake-Horst, the  gallery manager of a very  interesting enterprise called  Absolutely Art.  Absolutely Art is a community  based art gallery on the near  eastside of Madison.  Meghan opened the gallery in  2005 with a focus on local art  at affordable prices.  She was born and raised in the  Madison and specifically in the  neighborhood where the gallery  is now located.  She remains having very strong  ties to the community, and  raises her family in that area  too.  Now since opening the gallery,  Meghan has organized a business  association for the Atwood  Winnebago area, monthly art  openings and art supply swaps.  She has sat on the selection  committee for the Overture  Center's three community  galleries over the 2008-2009  season.  Absolutely Art is a very proud  member of Dane Buy Local, an  organization that helps foster  the growth and awareness of the  economical and social impact you  can have when you do buy  locally. 

 Meghan is a graduate of the UW  Eau Claire and was a competitive  gymnast for the university for  four years.  She graduated with her  bachelor's degree in exercise  management.  And after graduation she worked  at REM Wisconsin, where she  worked with adults with  developmental disabilities and  planned activities for that  company.  Now I've asked Meghan to come  talk with us about  entrepreneurial thinking in the  arts community, and specifically  how it relates to the enterprise  we know as Absolutely Art.  Please join me in welcoming  Meghan Blake-Horst.  (applause)  >> Hello, and thank  you all for having me here  today.  I am very pleased to be here.  It's very exciting for me to be  here speaking at the university.  So I do have a lot of things  that are information about  activities and events that we  have at Absolutely Art all on  the back counter so please feel  free to grab some of those on  your way out.  As well as gift or coupon for  you to receive 15% off your  highest priced item if you come  shopping and visiting us here in  the future, through September so  you have time to get Mother's  Day gifts or graduation gifts,  things like that. 

 So all right.  Well, this is our logo, actually  our signage that was taken  before it got put up on our  building.  So that is our Absolutely Art  sign.  We are located at 2322 Atwood  Avenue.  We are on the capitol city bike  trail as well.  So we are in a fortunate  position that we have two front  doors.  Our back door, which we have a  beautiful back yard where you  can sit outside and enjoy the  neighborhood and the Atwood  Community Gardens, as well as  our front door that is on the  street.  So we're really fortunate that  way.  That's a little picture of our  store front in the fall.  Well I wanted to talk to you  today about some of the  challenges that I see arts and  our entrepreneurs facing in  today's society in our  neighborhood and in our  communities. 

 One of the things that I've  noticed is that arts are  considered a frill in education  these days, not part of our core  curriculum.  One of the things that is so  important is that we focus on  arts as part of our core  curriculum.  It is how we are going to train  our 21st century workforce.  You all are part of that 21st  century workforce.  When you ask employers what  they're looking for, they're  looking to creative thinkers,  people that are able to paint a  new canvas, think of things  critically, ask questions and  come up with new ways to do  things.  And we're not training our young  children especially, we're  taking away their music and  their arts, things that are  training them to think  creatively and paint that new  canvas and come up with new ways  to support our technologies  today.  In the arts there's a big lack  of media attention to the  smaller pieces of the arts.  Things that kind of go without  being seen.  You get a lot of publicity for  the bands that are coming to  town, which is fantastic because  they need the publicity too, but  you don't hear much about the  small little community theatres  or dance organizations or live  puppet shows and art shows.  There's so much going on in this  community and you really hear  about the professional things  that might be happening at the  Overture Center but you're  missing something that's  happening just down the street  from you. 

 So I think that's something  that's a big challenge to our  artists to get a review written  or anything like that.  I think funding and red tape of  course is always an issue  especially in today's economy.  That's something that's always  being talked about.  The red tape that comes along  with people trying to be  creative and having their  expression, there's a lot of red  tape that can go along with  that.  I work with over 200 artists at  Absolutely Art.  We represent in the gallery and  one thing that I've noticed is  they are definitely not all  business people.  I'd say one out of ten would  have some business background  and business experience.  So for them that's a huge  challenge facing them.  They don't know how to market  themselves.  They're not sure they're good  enough to be put out there in  the public eye and that  confidence is really a challenge  for them. 

 Art is, you know, the beauty is  in the eye of the beholder, we  hear that a lot.  So art is challenging to put a  value on it and the market  dramatically depends on the  value people place on it.  The Milwaukee market is  completely different than the  Madison market which is  different than the Chicago  market.  So for artists that are out  there, putting themselves out  there they have to learn the  community that they're in and  learn what people will pay for  their work to either come see  their show, buy a piece of their   artwork.  It's a really big challenge for  them to know all the  marketplaces and know what is  the fair market value of what  they're doing.  And one of the things that I  have a hard time with is the  rejection factor.  Art is so personal, it's coming  from somebody's soul, it's their  love, it's their touch, it's  everything that they have.  And for me to say it's not right  for my space, it's hard for that  not to be personal.  It's completely impersonal yet  fully personal all at the same  time.  So trying to figure out a way  that people can put their art  out there but somehow put up  that wall of okay, well that was  an experience, now I can go out  and try again. 

 And having to try over and over  again to get their art out there  in the right marketplace.  So today I'm going to talk a  little bit about what Absolutely  Art is doing and what I see  happening in our communities for  the progression of the arts.  First I want to talk a little  bit about my history with the  arts.  I have a degree in exercise  management, which was mentioned  before, which is a far cry from  the arts.  But I was a native to Madison so  I've grown up watching the arts  progress here in Madison and  this area.  I was raised in the arts.  My mom is a professional  actress.  She started the Bartell Theatre  which is a fabulous community  theatre on West Mifflin Street,  or I'm sorry East Mifflin  Street, right behind the YWCA.  There are six community theatre  groups that come together to put  on their own individual plays.  It's sort of a co-op house for  artists or for theatre groups. 

 And there's everything from a  theatre organization, a  professional actors and  actresses with developmental  disabilities through Strollers,  Madison Theatre Guild, Encore  Studio for the Performing Arts,  it's just a great place to go  see shows.  And they also host the film  festival, some of the movies for  the Wisconsin Film Festival.  It's a great community resource.  If you get a chance, tickets are  affordable.  It's like $15 for a ticket to  see a show.  So it's a great chance to get  out there.  And I think there's even student  discounts there.  My mom was pregnant with all of  us on stage.  We were all raised backstage.  I was engulfed in the arts. 

 My dad was a writer.  My brother was a drummer.  My parents would take me at six  years old to see my brother play  at bands and different bars all  over the city.  So we really are supportive of  the arts.  As we said before, I was a  competitive gymnast.  And I kind of stepped away from  the arts when I was a kid, and I  was like I'm a gymnast, I'm in  sports, that's what I really do.  When I realized, looking back  just recently, that was my  artistic expression.  And there's a lot of expression.  Floor and beam where my two  favorite events.  There's a lot of dance, there's  a lot of movement and there's a  lot of expression. 

 So I realize that I really  wasn't too far away from the  arts when I thought I was.  I worked as a camp counselor at  Phantom Lake YMCA camp and this  is a place that taught me so  much about taking risks and  giving me the freedom to take  risks in a really safe  environment.  Which I think prepared me to do  many of the things that I've had  to do as an adult.  It was a great learning  experience for me to put on a  staff show in two minutes or  entertain the kids with singing  a random song just for fun.  It was a great college job and I  met my husband there actually,  as well.  My degree in, like I said, in  arts, or in exercise management  taught me a lot about business  and about how things work in the  exercise world.  And a lot of times business is  business and if you learn the  basics of that you can make it  work in whatever venue you're in  with the skills that you've  learned.  And I was at REM Wisconsin I  planned activities for the  clients that worked there.  We'd go into the community, we'd  go to see plays, we'd go to play  bingo, lots of different things.  So that was really exciting. 

 I worked there for about five  and a half years and then I had  a sudden career change.  I came into the office one day  and was told your job no longer  exists, you have about a week  and a half and then you have 30  days paid vacation and good  luck.  And that was a huge shock.  And one of the trends I've  noticed, and I kind of became an  entrepreneur without even  trying, without even thinking  about it.  And I think that happens for a  lot of people is they're in a  job where either they lose their  job and they need something to  do or they see a need for  something to change in the  environment they're in and they  can't make it happen there so  they have to go out on their own  to make something happen and  make that change happen.  And artists, by default, are  entrepreneurs.  There's really no choice in the  matter.  There's no structure that allows  them that growth within a  structure framework like a  doctor or a lawyer or maybe an  engineer where there is a  business that you can work for,  a company that you can work for  and you can work your way  through that company.  There is no structure.  Artists it's all on your own and  you have to kind of figure it  out as you go and take up as  many pieces of information as  you can. 

 So shortly after I lost my job,  I had about that week and a half  left, I was talking with a few  women that are friends of mine  and they had the idea of opening  a art gallery on the near  eastside of Madison and they  asked me if I wanted to join in  and I said, sounds great to me.  It gave me the opportunity to  work 1. 3 miles  from my home and in a  neighborhood that I absolutely  love and is my home.  And so I said all right let's do  it and we opened an art gallery.  And my two goals when I lost my  job was so keep the skills that  I already have and use them and  gain new skills along the way  and this was a perfect  opportunity to do that.  So I am proud to say that we  just celebrated our 4th birthday  as Absolutely Art.  Which is huge.  And is very exciting.  I often refer to the Absolutely  Art as my second baby.  I have a five and a half year  old, I started Absolutely Art  and then I have a two and a half  year old.  So that store is kind of my  second baby. 

 It was much like raising a small  child at this point.  We represent over 200 artists.  We have featured artists that we  have the first Friday of every  month.  We carry mediums in ceramics,  glass, metal, garden art, soap,  clothes, jewelry, magnets, kids  art, anything under the sun, oil  painting.  It's just a plethora of local  art.  And like I said we try and have  something for everyone and keep  our prices very affordable.  We have a very interesting  dynamic and demographic at  Absolutely Art.  We're right off the isthmus and  so from about one lake to the  other is about eight to ten  blocks.  We have everywhere from  millionaires that live on the  lake to single-income families  that live near the tracks.  And so to try and have a  business that can offer  something for everybody. 

 So we have pocket rocks for a  dollar and $900 paintings.  So you can decorate your home or  you can buy a gift for your  friend.  And little kids can come in and  are able to do that as well.  So a little bit about our  mission.  The first part of our mission is  employing people from the  neighborhood.  I had a fun little photo shoot  with my staff the other day  outside in front of our store  with some of our new garden art.  Those birds are made out of  hoods of old cars.  They're pretty cool.  But we look to employ people  from the neighborhood.  We want to help keep our  business in town and in the  neighborhood. 

 And keep our employees involved  in the neighborhood.  I think entrepreneurs are the  hub of a democratic society and  that we have to be strong and  keep the motion of our society  moving forward.  Our second goal in our mission  is that we support local artists  by purchasing their artwork.  This is a really different way  about going about things.  Most artists have their work on  consignment, it stays there for  a month, two months, six months  and it gets sent back.  The business, the gallery does  not pay any money out to the  artist until their work sells.  At Absolutely Art we take that  completely differently.  I buy all of the inventory in  the store as any other retail  business would.  I take the risk at purchasing  the art of the artists.  In the upper corner is myself  and Laura Meddaugh, she'll be  our featured artist for May. 

 It is really interesting and one  of the things I think artists  really appreciate about having  their work at Absolutely Art is  that they get a pay check.  They are getting paid.  And then we are assuming the  risk.  And we're fortunate to be in a  position that we're able to do  that.  And so far it's been working  really great for us.  It's great for me to have good  control over my inventory.  I know what I have.  I don't have to worry about  forgetting to pay somebody.  Oftentimes if somebody sends me  an invoice I'm like oh, because  I usually write a check to the  artist and I send them out the  door and they can pay their  rent.  Or they can go buy new supplies. 

 A lot of them leave and then go  directly to the art store so  they can make more art.  And it's a lot of inspiration  for them and I think it boosts  their confidence a little bit  because they're able to make  their money selling their art  and they can see that happen.  So we also have Tom and Don,  they're two of our artists.  They play for us the first  Friday of every month at our  opening receptions.  Martha Kauppi, she's blowing a  glass garden orb.  She'll be one of our featured  artists in the fall.  And then Laura Chatterton, she's  a woman that has autism here in  Madison and she had a show for  us about two and a half years  ago.  That's me pregnant with my  second child so I kind of  carried on the family tradition.  And she came to her first art  opening when she was two days  old.  We came home from the hospital  and had dinner and went to an  art opening. 

 So my kids are fully, you know,  spend a lot of time.  Since we take the risk of  purchasing the art from the  artists, I take a lot of  responsibility in trying to get  the word out about them.  I do postcards for the our  opening receptions.  I do a monthly newsletter to our  artists so they get information  about what's going on.  I get an onslaught of emails  everyday about call for artists  or an opportunity for them to  show.  Maybe people need a teacher for  a short-term summer class and I  try to send all of that  information on for my artists so  they can take advantage of some  of these opportunities some of  which include prize money or  another way to get their work  out there in the public eye.  And I try and keep that and work  hard at getting their word out.  I have bookmarks that I put  together for all of our artists  when they give me information.  That's a little bit of a  challenge, sometimes working  with artists is like herding  cats, it's trying to get them to  give me information if they want  the publicity.  And I have a website. 

 All of our information is on  there and you have pictures of  the work.  And biographies on the artists,  lots of things about them.  So I work really hard at getting  our artists' name out there in  as many ways as I can.  One of the others things that  happens is we occasionally have  artists that create on-site.  And the kids absolutely love  this, and so do any of our  customers.  They love seeing the artists  work and asking them questions  about how do you do this, why do  you do that.  And seeing them and getting to  meet the artists.  Many times customers will come  in, they'll be looking at  something and I'm like the  artist is right there, they just  happened to stop in to say hi  and so it's a great opportunity  that our customers actually get  to meet the people that are  making their work and making the  things that they are seeing and  it's not coming from a factory  who knows where.  It's made literally across the  street from your house.  And it's very fun to see that  happen and to see those  connections being made. 

 The next part of our mission is  we want to have a family  friendly environment.  I have to have my kids there and  I want other people to be able  bring to children in and teach  them about art and all of the  diversity that there is to the  visual arts and give them the  opportunity.  With the funds being cut from   the schools and programs being  cut left and right it's a frill,  like I said before, and that  they don't have the opportunity  to be able to go to a music  class and have those moments.  So we have a little area in the  back where kids can create art  while their parents shop and it  allows their parents a little  freedom to wander around the  store.  I always say that when kids move  anything around it's just  redisplaying.  Maybe it's going to sell better  there.  So I encourage them to do that  is I don't really worry so much  about it.  My nieces have come to help us  at some of the events that we've  had.  My kids crawl around all the  time.  We often will hold babies so  parents can have a time to walk  around. 

 So we really, really encourage  families to come and give kids  that exposure to the arts.  Our loftiest goal we have at  Absolutely Art is that we want  to donate our profits back to  the community.  When, I knock on wood, when we  obtain profits, we are a  for-profit business with a  nonprofit mentality.  We want to be able to continue  to make a profit but then again,  like I said, we want to turn  over our profits to the  community.  And our first organization that  we will be donating back to,  after my employees get a bonus  because they deserve it, will be  the Goodman Community Center.  Which is formally known as the  Atwood Community Center.  And is actually where I went to  preschool.  So it's amazing the more you're  in Madison the more you'll learn  that there's only I think maybe  one to two degrees of separation  for everyone that is in this  city.  It's pretty amazing how we all  interconnect in so many  different ways.  So we are really excited. 

 And I think that makes us unique  and different that we do want to  actually give our profits back  and give back to the community  that's given so much to us.  Another thing I love about doing  business in our neighborhood is  that there is so much  neighborhood collaboration.  So many things that we all do  together.  I've helped out with the kickoff  campaign for the Goodman  Community Center.  They had a $12. 5 million  capital campaign that  they just recently completed and  were able to open up their new  facility at 149 Waubesa Street  and it is absolutely fantastic.  They were able to have all of  their programs under one roof.  We helped with the Pull Up a  Chair fundraiser as well as  their Summerfest.  We put together a neighborhood  association, or a business  association as mentioned before.  As well as a winter festival  that we have the first Friday of  every month.  And most recently I kind of  threw together a benefit for  Cafe Zoma which I'll talk a  little bit about in a minute. 

 The Pull Up a Chair campaign was  really fun.  It was a great way to  organization the neighborhood  and businesses to do a piece of  public art.  And we decided since we are a  community-based gallery that we  would do a school desk.  And so my staff and I all worked  together to put together this  desk and filled it with art  supplies and it was auctioned  off and it is now at the  community center for kids to  work at.  It's really exciting.  The Atwood Summerfest happens in  July every year, and we do a  free arts and crafts booth.  Last year we did all recycled  materials from our art swap.  We just gathered up supplies and  had the kids be creative and  it's so fun to see the families  working together.  Those are my neighbors, live  just right down the street.  And people working together and  coming up with some really fun  hats and things. 

 You see them down the streets,  they're walking with crowns and  bracelets and all sorts of  random things that they made.  It was a lot of fun.  And there's my daughter, Harper.  She was a little human canvas  that day.  She had a blast painting and  then decided to use herself as  the rest of her canvas and  decorated herself all up and was  dancing.  It was a lot of fun.  So I was talking a little bit  before about the Winn-Atwood  Association.  We are primarily a business  focused organization.  We do really work with our  neighbors a lot and we want to  have a lot of neighborhood  participation so we took the  word business out of the  association to allow the  neighbors and hopefully have the  neighbors feel more part of what  we're doing and if they have any  questions.  One of the biggest things that  brought us together was crime. 

 For about two and a half years  ago we had a huge crime spree on  Atwood Avenue, between Atwood  and Winnebago.  And people would, whoever was  doing this was break front  doors, break windows, come in,  break into restaurants and leave  with a six pack or they would  try and take the safe off the  wall with a spatula.  They were just making senseless  damage and not getting anything  out of it, but it was costing  businesses hundreds and hundreds  of dollars to replace their  windows and their doors.  I think Martin Glass was the  only business in our  neighborhood that was doing  really well at the time.  They had all the business of  replacing the windows.  But that brought all of us  together.  Neighbors and businesses alike  because our neighbors are there  watching out.  They're the ones that are  calling the police when our  businesses are getting broken  into.  So we really wanted to work  together and know who each other  were.  That was really important. 

 And getting together and having  a lot of involvement in our  community.  One of the things that also came  out of that was our Winn-Atwood  Winter Festival or we aptly  renamed it now the  Atwood-Winnebago Winter Festival  which is the first Friday of  every month or, I'm sorry, the  first Friday in December.  And we encourage people to get  out in the night in December  when it's cold and they don't  want to get out but we all have  open houses and different  events.  There's about 25 participating  businesses where we encourage  people to come in that might not  normally come into our business  but this is an event and an  opportunity to get them in and  have them see what we have to  offer.  So here's a couple pictures of  people wandering around going in  from business to business.  This is Gail Ambrosius and a  little picture of the inside of  our store.  And Bad Dog Frida's, another  business on our block, they have  good things for the dogs and  their people I think is their  little tagline.  And one of our artists Alyssa  Bailey Peterson of -- was kind  enough to walk around on that  cold night and take pictures for  us and so that was really  awesome and she did it for free  which was really great  considering all of us just  pretty much pooled our resources  together to get this event up  and running.  And it's been a lot of fun.  As I mentioned before, we had a  benefit recently. 

 Absolutely Art is in the  fortunate position that we share  bathrooms and a backyard with a  coffee shop.  Until actually recently,  December 23 Cafe Zoma went out  of business.  And for us it was like losing  our Siamese twin.  We were very symbiotic.  People would come in to get a  cup of coffee at Cafe Zoma and  they'd wander next door to us or  they'd come into our store and  they'd wander back next door to  them.  I mean, we're so close we share  bathrooms and a back yard.  And it was just heart-breaking  and it was pretty much with no  notice.  And so the neighborhood was  shocked and for some reason Cafe  Zoma became the poster child in  December for all businesses that  were failing and small  businesses that were going out  of business.  And there was a ton of media  attention on this.  I think every TV station, radio  station was talking about this  and a lot of the neighbors  wanted to do something. 

 And the owner was in jeopardy of  losing her business and, I'm  sorry she lost her business but  she was in jeopardy of losing  her house and having to go  bankrupt.  And her employees lost their job  with no notice.  And so we wanted to do  something.  And so in about two and a half,  three weeks we put together a  fundraiser that pulled people  from all over the neighborhood  donating food and drink.  We raised $4,000 for Ann which  basically paid her employees  their paid time off and then we  raised $400 for each employee  which I heard for many actually  covered their rent in and of  that moment.  So it was really amazing to see  the amount of neighborhood  participation.  A lot of people though had come  up to me and they were kind of  bitter an angry like maybe they  lost their job and were like why  are you guys doing this for her.  And we didn't really have an  answer.  The only thing I can say is that  it was a well organized random  act of kindness.  That we just saw something and  we needed to do something at a  local level. 

 We needed to stand behind the  people that were around us.  And if we weren't going to, who  was?  But I do have to say, like I  said, it was a challenging  winter for us and so I am very  thrilled with the new era.  I am almost jumping with joy  that about a week and a half ago  Cafe Zoma was purchased by  Espresso Royale.  I'm sure many of you have been  to Espresso Royale.  They have two locations on State  Street.  And so I'm sure some of you have  studied there and had their  coffee.  So I am thrilled to say that  they will be opening at the end  of this month with their third  location and it will be called  Cafe Zoma by Espresso Royale.  I get my cup of coffee.  I get my friends.  I get activity. 

 And there's so much rebirth  happening on Atwood Avenue right  now it's absolutely crazy.  Bunky's Cafe, which is a local  restaurant, recently purchased  the old Atwood Community Center  building and is opening up their  restaurant again.  There's new restaurants going.  It's a major food court area if  you're looking for local food  and food that's using really  great produce and local sources,  Atwood Avenue is the place you  need to come to check out for  restaurants and art and  environment and culture.  It's just a really fun place to  be.  There's so much going on.  Come say hi to Espresso Royale  when they open and they'll have  late hours and really great food  so we're really excited about  them.  Absolutely Art has started a few  programs that I want to talk a  little bit about quickly.  One is our re-art swap.  I noticed, as I said before and  many times, that they are  cutting art in schools. 

 Teachers don't have enough money  to actually buy the art supplies  that they need like even pens,  pencils and paper.  So I was trying to figure out  what we could do and a few of my  customers and artists and  employees had an idea that we'd  have an art swap.  So coming up on April 25th we'll  be having our art supplies swap  in our backyard.  I get tables and people clean  out their studios, their  garages, their homes, their dorm  rooms, whatever.  And pull things that they are no  longer using.  Maybe you have a half a note  book that you're not using  anymore or old oil paints or  canvases or a broken DVD player.  It's amazing what we see.  And people can then come and go  through those supplies and  trade.  So it's drop what you don't use,  take what you need.  And it's a great way that I've  seen people walk out with  buckets of yarn and fabric and  are like you just saved me, I  knit quilts now I can do it for  free and I can actually donate  them to the businesses that I  want and I can actually do these  projects. 

 And teachers walking out there  with big smiles on their faces  looking over the beads and the  buttons and the board.  And it's just so fun to see the  creativity that happens.  And little kids out there and  everyone.  It's just so much fun.  Maureen O'Grady is one of our  artists and she was there that  day.  She also vends on State Street  during the farmers market.  Her business is called Bernie's  Girl.  She makes awesome T-shirt skirts  and onesies and t-shirts.  She was there kind of wearing  three hats that day.  She was a mother so she was  getting supplies for her  children, she's a teacher at my  daughter's school so she was  finding supplies for the  classroom and being an artist  herself she found a lot of great  material that is she could use  for her skirts so it is was a  way for her to keep her business  going and actually make more of  a profit and make it more  successful. 

 So it's been a really gratifying  experience and it's just so much  fun to see what random things  come and what people do with  these things.  The biggest program that I  started that I'm really excited  about and very proud of is our  supply program.  The goal was to, I was trying to  figure out how I could donate  money back the to community and  back to schools to get those art  supplies in the hands of people  that needed them.  So I came up with the idea of  creating a t-shirt and getting  that out there for people to,  one, I wanted a t-shirt for our  store so people could purchase  them and have a little bit of  advertising for us.  And I wanted a way for that to  go back.  So I came up with five dollars  of each t-shirt sale would go  into my fund.  And when it reaches that $50 I'd  call up a local school or  organization and say hi, this  Meghan from Absolutely Art, I  have $50 that I want to give you  in art supplies.  I'm going to send you a wish  list form, please send me back  what you want and I'll see what  I can do.  And then I'll get that wish list  and anything it's like I said,  from and eight and a half, a  ream of paper.  Just white paper, one of the art  classes wanted. 

 They couldn't get eight and a  half by 11 sheets of paper.  And he couldn't afford to go out  and buy it.  And I was like that's crazy.  You need pencils and white  paper.  First I go to our basement where  all of our art supplies from our  art swap are kept.  And I go down there and I pull  out the beads and the buttons  and the paper and the mat board.  Then I look at whatever's left  our their list and I go out and  purchase supplies.  So sometimes that donation ends  of being like $100 worth of art  supplies.  And it's just so fun to get them  into the hands.  And then I see what these kids  and these students are making. 

 A lot of times it might be for  maybe the Respite Center and so  they're using these for children  in crisis and it's a great way  of having counseling for these  kids to be able to be creative  and have those supplies that  those organizations might not be  able to afford.  And Jenny, one of our artists,  Jenny Niece created our t-shirt  design.  So she did a wood block print of  the store front and then added  her little pieces to it.  And she did that, again, for  free.  So this is a another way that we  all collaborate together.  And you see that happen in the  arts a lot.  You have skills in one area.  I am not an artist, I'm an art  appreciator.  So I couldn't do something like  that if I tried.  So pulling our resources  together and people's  willingness to do that out of  the goodness of their heart is  just fantastic. 

 We have our t-shirts locally  printed at Wildwood.  We basically recoup our cost to  produce the t-shirt.  So whatever our cost is I add  $5.  So we can continue the program.  We've probably donated to over  11 schools and organizations.  Lowell school, Marquette  Elementary School, the Goodman  Community Center, the Respite  Center, Monroe Street Fine Arts  Center, the Rainbow Project,  Toad Hill Children's House, East  High School, Wingra School and  Elmside school are some of the  organizations that we've been  able to donate to so far.  And I have the funds just  sitting in my pocket ready to  buy art supplies for about five  or six more organizations at  this point.  So the art swap, we do collect  change, we ask people to drop  any pocket change that they have  and we've been able to raise  about $700 from our last two art  swaps just from pocket change.  So it's amazing what little you  have in your pocket really can  make a huge impact on your  environment.  Another thing that we do is kids  fundraisers. 

 So the first organization a  couple of years ago was  Marquette Elementary School back  in 2006.  They asked me if they could have  an art show in our art gallery  and I was like sure, why not.  So we planned it, we put it up  in the window.  I came in and I talked to the  children about what I expected  of them.  We had an art opening reception  for them.  The kids, though, do such an  amazing job.  They had to create the work.  They had to come up with a group  to donate their money to.  They had to price their work.  They had to figure out what  their goal that they wanted to  make was. 

 And these were third graders,  these are eight year olds.  And they said we sold $250 worth  of popcorn, I think we can make  that much at least with selling  our artwork.  And the first year for UNICEF it  was right after the tsunami in  2006 they raised $700 about for  UNICEF to go back to buy school  supplies for children that their  world was flipped upside down.  The next year Marquette wanted  to do it again, it was really  successful the first time.  And they decided to have a show  called chickens for chickens.  And they raised over $937 for  Heifer International.  And that bought a heck a lot of  chickens and taught a lot of  people how to raise them and  care for them and actually make  a life out of raising these  chickens.  The year after that, back last  year about, was Lowell School  and it was 4th and 5th graders.  And they wanted to raise money  for the World Food Program.  And they raised about $700 as  well from just selling their  artwork. 

 And I got a letter back from the  World Food Program and they were  so touched that these group of  nine and ten year olds had done  this for them.  And World Food Program actually  feeds the hungriest of the  hungry around the world.  So that was really exciting.  This year coming up on Friday  we're having Van Hise Elementary  School so we're getting some  kids from the Westside to come  over to the eastside which is  really exciting.  If you don't know this about  Madison, there's often this  east/west divide.  You do everything on your side  of town.  But it's really fun to get  everybody from the Westside on  over to our side of town and our  neighborhood.  These kids are raising money to  do a clay stomp.  I didn't know what that was at  first but it is basically they  take clay and hay and they put a  big tarp down on the ground and  they stomp on it and they work  it all together and it becomes a  really strong cob structure.  If you go behind the Willie  Street Co-Op they have a great  wall that's cob structure. 

 A lot of houses in Africa are  made out of cob.  It's a really great, strong  material.  So they'll do this an then  they'll create tiles and then  they'll paint and maybe mosaic  the tiles up on the wall of the  front of their school.  So when they walk in it's going  to be a great community  participation to come up with a  public piece of art for their  school.  Their goal this year is to raise  $2,000 so we shall see.  It's a big goal but these are,  again, second and third graders  that will go through every part  of this program.  They'll raise the money, they'll  make the artwork and then  they'll actually be able to  participate in the clay stomp  and then be able to enjoy it in  their school for at least a year  or two because this mural will  not take place until next school  year.  So this is a really big thing  and a lot of patience these kids  have to have to be able to do  it.  They were lucky enough that  Madison CW picked up on how  special this was and actually  interviewed them so you can  always check out the CW's  website and see a little blurb,  a little video on these kids and  they're talking about how  excited they are about these  projects they're doing.  So it's really cool. 

 And it really, really means a  lot to the kids.  I tell them if they sold a piece  of art they're now professional  artists and they can be really  proud of that.  And they are.  And they are just really  well-behaved and enjoy their  time at Absolutely Art as much  as we enjoy our time with them.  One of the things I talked about  before is red tape.  And we ran across a lot of red  tape when we were trying to get  a mural put up on the back of  our wall.  Apparently there's a lot of  steps that you have to go  through.  It took us about three and a  half months to get the permits  that we needed to get the mural  that then took about two and a  half weeks to get done.  And it was really interesting.  I had to go get a conditional  use permit and then in turn I  had to go to my neighborhood  association and have them back  me because otherwise it was  going to cost me about $600 just  to get the conditional use  permit and if you happen to have  the friends of your neighborhood  on your side, they can write a  letter on your behalf and your  fee becomes $50, which is a heck  of a lot more affordable when  you're trying to turn over your  profits to the community. 

 So that was, I thought I was all  done though when I got the  conditional use permit until I  was told I need the sign permit.  And I was really confused why  the city was asking me to do a  sign permit when there's no  words on our mural.  It's just a public piece of art  to beautify the neighborhood and  our backyard.  And I talked for about three and  a half months with the city  calling and asking questions and  looking at the ordinances and  wow there's a lot of stuff that  went along with that.  For our wall what you see here,  that's about the size of it but  to get a sign permit for a wall  that size is about $1,500 on top  of the money it cost me to pay  the artists to have them do the  mural.  So I was looking at almost  $4,000 or $5,000 to get a mural  painted on the wall.  Which was crazy.  That's a lot of money for that  mural.  But after all of those phone  calls and the hard work of  talking to my public officials,  I got a message when I came into  work one day on my voicemail and  it said this is so and so from  the city, after much talk and  much deliberation we've realized  that murals should not be in the  ordinance of sign permits and we  are going to change the city  ordinance.  That to me was one of most  exciting things I had ever  heard. 

 I ran outside screaming and  jumping with joy to anybody who  was out in our backyard, there  were about 30 customers and they  saw me just running around  screaming and jumping because I  was shocked that the city  listened and that they actually  were going to do something to  help cut some of this red tape  for future artists and future  businesses that wanted to do  something such as a beautiful  piece of public art.  On our very last slide that I'll  show you today will be our new  mural.  In our permit we wrote that we  will change our mural at most  one time a year.  So that allowed me to never have  to go through that process again  and just allowed me the ability  to hire someone to paint a new  mural within a year if I felt  so.  The woman who did our current  mural that we have on our wall  is named Sarah Licht.  As I said, those two-degrees of  separation, she was my nanny for  about a year and a half.  And is one of our artists and is  one of our artists before then.  But this is David Nielsen's  work.  He did a really great kind of  mosaic looking piece on our wall  that was up for about a year and  a half.  I want to talk quickly about  Dane Buy Local. 

 This is a huge organization in  Madison and keep an eye on that  logo, you will see it all over  the place.  You'll see little decals on  people's walls, maybe bumper  stickers.  And it is a fantastic resource.  If you looking to doing anything  local in Madison from office  supplies to furniture to art to  music to food, check out  DaneBuyLocal. com.  And I have a lot of our  directories back there as well  so you can peak at those.  There are five main reasons that  Dane Buy Local talks about why  shopping locally is important  and it helps our local  businesses grow.  The first one, maybe, is that we  encourage unique and one of the  kind businesses to survive and  thrive in our community.  We keep shopping at locally  owned businesses, we keep our  tax dollars in Dane County and  that helps support our schools,  our parks, our police and fire  service.  It's surprising to think but  your dollar goes seven times as  far when spent in your local  economy than it does when you go  to a big box store or to a  chain.  So it does an amazing amount of  good when you shop locally. 

 And there's a little bit of a  myth that you're going to spend  more and it's going to be a  little bit more challenging when  you shop at a local business but  a lot of times you're actually  saving time, you're saving money  and you're saving stress because  you're going some place close to  our house and you're getting to  get everything you need because  the business owners are there to  help you and they want to get  you what you need versus we  don't have it, good luck.  A lot of times you can get  special orders done, you can get  exactly what you want because  they want to you keep coming  back and enjoy your experience  at their business.  Locally owned businesses are  independent and they are our  largest employer.  And on a whole the local  businesses employ more people in  your community than the larger  retailers and other  organizations do.  It is, like I said, the hub of  our society.  Without mom and pop shops we  wouldn't really have much.  Local owned businesses donate  more to local businesses.  The woman before was talking  about nonprofits.  And I get asked daily for  donations for organizations for  silent auctions and different  things.  I've donated things to the  university. 

 I've donated things to our local  girl scout troop.  If it has to do with education  and students and children I'm  more than happy to make a  donation.  And I often donate pieces of art  or different things that will be  used for those events that  hopefully are bringing money  into these nonprofits that need  them.  So local businesses are really  huge supporters of their  environment and their community.  We also want our employees to be  happy and reflect what a  hometown business we have and  how friendly our businesses are.  We treat our employees as if  they are part of our family and  they are an integral part of our  community.  So hopefully they're enjoyable  places to work when you work for  a small business.  Dane Buy Local is about four and  a half years old and we've been  a member for about four years.  When we joined there were only  50 businesses about as members  of Dane Buy Local.  And every year our membership  has doubled what it was the year  before. 

 And it is the fastest growing  organization of it's kind in the  country which is really amazing.  People all over the country are  coming to look at Madison and  Dane County and what we're doing  and how we're making this grow  so quickly.  We have excellent opportunities  for businesses to get to know  one another, network.  Often Dane Buy Local businesses  will offer discounts to other  members.  It allows us to get discounts in  advertising and media  opportunities.  All of the local papers and many  of the local media groups have  discounts that are given to Buy  Local members.  There's also other times where  you might have seen in some of  the papers where they kind of  have a center spread of all  locally owned businesses.  The friendly faces, neighborhood  places kind of thing.  So it's really just been a great  organization to be part of.  And it's extremely cost  effective. 

 Dane Buy Local has one employee,  one paid employee to deal with  over 400 members.  So Lark is a very busy woman.  And all of the rest of it is  purely volunteer based.  And there are opportunities for  us to get together and ask  questions and work together as  local businesses and really show  what makes Madison so unique and  makes Dane County so unique.  It goes throughout the whole  county so if you go to McFarland  or if you go to Mount Horeb  you'll see these local  businesses and get to know the  flavor of where you are and  what's around you.  I want to just briefly touch on  some of the art advocacy that I  see that's going around in this  community and throughout the  state and it's just do exciting.  There are places like the  Wisconsin's Arts Board, the Dane  County Cultural Fairs Commission  which really focuses on Dane  County.  They put out an annual calendar  and they're a great resource for  the arts.  And especially within Dane  County.  There's Arts Wisconsin which is  a statewide arts advocacy  nonprofit. 

 They work at getting artists and  art groups to know what they  need to do and they also get  them to talk to their  legislators and get out there.  And they organize Arts Day every  year in March which is a great  time for people throughout the  state to come together and talk  about arts.  The big thing we talked about  this year was the film incentive  and the fact that the governor  want to cut the film incentive  and how do we get that to show  how much has been done in the  state of Wisconsin with the film  incentive that's out there.  There's been eight feature films  filmed in Wisconsin.  Eight TV commercials and  countless other things that have  been brought in including some  of these technologies that are  happening in cartooning and  gaming and those all then branch  over to medicine and it's just  amazing how the arts is integral  in so many parts of where we  are.  We're working right now on the  grassroots of starting a greater  Madison area arts council kind  of for the county.  And ways to pull in more at the  local level a little bit of what  Arts Wisconsin is doing but  really focus on our local  community and hopefully gain  things like maybe insurance and  things for our artists.  We also encourage, I encourage  all of you to talk to our  representatives and get out  there and be advocates for  whatever it is that you see is  important in your world right  now.  If it's some injustice that you  see or something that you feel  so passionately about talking to  your representatives, they  really will listen.  You are their constituents. 

 You are their future.  You're voting for them.  And you're keeping them in  office and they will listen.  And they might even change an  ordinance, who knows.  Things can happen.  And I encourage you to vote and  get out there and speak your  mind with your vote.  One of the things that was  recently on April 7th, which  passed by almost 77%, was the  Garver Feed Mill referendum on  the Madison ballot.  And that is going to be a  fantastic arts incubator located  right behind Olbrich Botanical  Gardens which is conveniently  located down the bike path from  us.  And it will be on the bike path.  And it had to be on ballot, as I  said, for some more red tape  because it was on the watershed  and it's on the Starkweather  Creek. 

 So anything, building that  happens there has to go to  referendum.  And so we were really worried  because if this hadn't passed  this time that building that was  a sugar beet factory in the '30s  and has so much history would  have just crumbled to the  ground.  And it would have been nothing.  And this historic building is  now going to be turned into a  fantastic space with probably  performing spaces.  They'll be spaces to artists to  have studio space at affordable  prices which, granted, could be  $50 or $500.  But there's a very big shortage  of spaces for artists to work  and practice their art and their  craft.  And it will be a great tourist  destination and a boost to our  economy because we'll bring  people to look at what artists  do and how they create and get  them talking.  There'll be gallery space, a  little coffee shop.  It will just be a really  awesome, awesome place.  So we're really, really excited  that it passed. 

 Commonwealth Development is a  local organization here in  Madison that's the instrumental  agency in making this happen.  And they will be the kind of the  overseeing body of this project  as it moves forward.  And it is a privately funded  project, it is not a project  funded by the city or by the  county.  It will be, like I said, all  privately funded.  And they'll probably get some  tax credits and that's sort of  the thing that will help them on  the governmental side but it  won't come out of our tax  dollars.  Again, I just wanted to point on  those challenges that we're  facing.  And see that I really feel that  there's this, this is the best  time for this to be happening.  I know we're going into a  recession, we have a lot of  economic things but art will  always happen.  People will perform, they will  paint, they will sing, they will  write even if they're not being  paid for it.  Art is part of our society and  part of our community. 

 And I see with the new  administration I hopefully  things can be changed for our  students and we can train our  21st century workforce to be  creative and paint that new  canvas and come up with new ways  to do things and train them in  what they need to know.  There's a huge movement with the  DIY, the do-it-yourself indie  craft movement.  There's a great, great movie  just at the Wisconsin Film  Festival called Handmade Nation  and it was about that movement  throughout the United States.  And one of the artist featured  in the movie is one of our  artists, her name is Emily  Kircher.  So I really proud when I saw her  on there.  I was really excited.  She does a lot of recycled art.  And again it comes down to that  two-degrees of separation.  The cowriter for the song that  opened and closed that movie was  a friend of mine that I went to  summer camp with at Phantom Lake  and he also did some editing for  that movie.  So it really all is intertwined  and really amazing when you get  to the arts. 

 There's a lot of community  collaboration and I see us all  working together as businesses  and community members to help  make this change happen in our  society and in our environment.  So thank you very much.  I really appreciate it and I  will be more than happy to take  any questions that you all might  have.  And that's our mural.  That's by Sara.  >> Thank you very much Megan.  You mentioned, it was  interesting I kind of want to  just reflect on one of the  statements that you made.  You mentioned that all artists  are entrepreneurs.  But of course you're providing a  venue for those entrepreneurs  and you yourself are an  entrepreneur as well.  So it's just kind of interesting  to think how you're seeding  different efforts. 

 I'll look out and see if anybody  has questions.  My question is how, who did you  find as investors or initial  partners to help you get  launched?  >> Some families members, I  guess.  I'd like to keep their privacy,  they're very private women and  so I don't like to talk much  about them.  It's easier for me to just talk  about my side.  And the funding just happens to  come along.  I happen to be in a really,  really fortunate position where  I do have financial backing  where I have not had to use a  bank.  So I have a little bit of that  freedom that I've gotten to take  on without the worry of some  other things.  Granted, of course, everybody's  been hit with the economy so I'm  working really hard at figuring  out ways to be very prudent but  very encompassing all at the  same time.  So my funding came from more of  a private source.  >> And that's not entirely  unusual. 

 When we talked with Tom Still  with the Wisconsin Technology  Council, he certainly pointed to  family and friends as one of the  primary funding sources for  entrepreneurial efforts.  So thanks for being willing to  share that.  What you're talking about is a  community-based enterprise.  How important is it that this is  a community-based enterprise?  >> It's everything.  If it wasn't for our community  and our neighbors we wouldn't  have made it four and a half  years, or four years.  Four and a half, I'm already  jumping ahead.  It's everything about the  community.  It's the artists that I see  their houses from in front of my  house.  I stand on my front porch and I  see two of our artists houses.  One lives up the block from my  sister. 

 It's everywhere, it is our  community.  And one of the things I see in  Madison is a lot of times they  work on the professional side of  things and the people that are  doing everyday art and theatre  and music and writing are just  doing it.  And I really wanted to find  those people in my neighborhood  and in my community and  highlight them and show look you  don't have go to Chicago or New  York or LA to find this new hip  artist.  They are right there.  They are your next door neighbor  and you had no idea that they go  to 50 art shows a year and they  are in their living room  painting all day long.  These are people are everywhere.  And they needed to be celebrated  and highlighted so it's been  really exciting to be able to  share that part of my community  with the public.  >> Last semester and via web  link, Toni Sikes came and spoke  and the students about the Guild  and the artful way.  How would you compare your two  organizations because the basic  concept of providing a central  convening influence for artists  to sell their wares is similar.  Presuming you're familiar with  them. 

 >> I am.  Actually one of the people I  purchase from their businesses  are right across the hall from  each other.  So I see, I peek in their shop  and am always curious about what  they're doing.  And I think they live in my  neighborhood actually, some of  the people involved with the  Guild.  So it's very similar but we are  the place you actually get to  come in and see and touch and  feel.  We're the on-site source for  that, I suppose.  And it's amazing how many times  customers, like I said before,  will be in our store and one of  our artists will be there or  five of them.  We had one day one artist was  painting and so and so came in.  We're hanging a show and we do  all of this stuff so the  community can see what goes into  hanging an art show, what goes  into changing a window.  I don't do that at two in the  morning. 

 I do it when my customers are  there.  I take their input.  If they're like that would look  really cool there, I'm like all  right, let's hang it there, see  what happens.  I don't worry when the kids  redisplay.  It's part of our community.  We're all part of this together.  I really respect the input that  my customers give me and the  advice that they give me and the  words of wisdom that they have.  So it is similar but I think  we're the real local, the  nitty-gritty, you get to see,  you get to touch and you get to  be part of.  And we also have some inventory  that's a little bit lower cost  and maybe a little bit more  rough and upcoming where these  people might have started and  I'm the first person they've  ever talked to.  I meet with probably three  artists a week that say I've  never talked to anybody before. 

 You're the first person I've  ever talked to.  And I kind of become that place  where they can get that  opportunity to be able to try  out and I try to give them a  formula of how to carry on and  how to become a professional  artist.  What do you need to do.  So if I'm not able to purchase  from them, I try to at least  make it an educational  experience and maybe give them a  couple of websites or email  addresses or contacts to be able  to go out and try next and  hopefully make their career a  success.  >> Well I think your answer to  how you're different is a  terrific one and the last time I  was in your shop, as you might  recall, there were a number of  students from east High School  that were in there have having  fun redisplaying.  >> Redisplaying a little bit.  We lost a few pins that  afternoon but it was all right.  >> We want to thank you very  much for coming to the  University of Wisconsin and  sharing your story and we want  to thank Meghan Blake-Horst.  >> Thank you.  (applause)  >> So folks, thank  you very much for your kind  attention. 

 We had great guests today.