Program Details
Do you need a professional kick-start to your creative career? Looking for support and direction with the business side of your art? Want to connect with peers facing similar challenges?
The Art of Managing Your Career may be for you! This program provides artists with access to business skills training delivered by seasoned industry professionals. Participants will also get access to coaching from experts in business planning, finance and tax management, marketing and social media, and work-life balance. And because life in the arts shouldn’t all be serious, there will be social sharing nights and showcase opportunities! Artists in this course will collaborate to host three First Friday events on February 6, March 6, and April 3, 2026.
This program is open to artists of any age in all disciplines running their own creative practice.
Participants will attend alternating weekly professional development and peer networking sessions every Tuesday evening at Creative Manitoba. There will also be three additional Thursday classes dedicated to coaching, working on your business plan and preparing for First Fridays on February 5 & 19, and March 5, 2026.
Outside of this time, participants will have access to Creative Manitoba’s Exchange co-working space to continue developing their arts business practices. Participants will also receive coaching from subject matter experts in various fields and be able to drop in for Team Lead office hours!
Class Dates
The program runs every Tuesday evening from January 13, 2026 to March 31, 2026. Participants must be a member of Creative Manitoba or Manitoba Music.
Program Benefits
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- Entrepreneurial training and coaching in business planning, marketing, financial management, grant writing, work life balance
- Access to a hot desk with fast WiFi
- Discipline-specific business coaching
- Peer networking opportunities
- Group showcases (First Fridays, spotlights, etc)
Cost
The cost for this twelve week course is $300 per participant. A flexible payment plan can be arranged. Our All-Access Inclusion Bursary is open to completely subsidize a select number of spots. We believe that cost should not be a barrier to accessing our programming and would like to work with participants. Please contact us at training@creativemanitoba.ca if you have questions about the program or bursary.
Applications are now open for 2026!
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Meet Your Program Leader
Onna Lou
Onna Lou is an Argentinian-Canadian artist, who has called Winnipeg home since 2016. With degrees from Berklee College of Music and Universidad Católica Argentina, she blends traditional folk with contemporary sounds.
Her 2022 album, Diamante, supported by Canada Council for the Arts, spent 15 weeks on the Earshot Charts, reaching #1 on three. As part of the 3.4% of female producers in the industry, she writes, plays, and records her own music.
A 2023 Western Canadian Music Awards nominee for Global Artist of the Year, Onna Lou began her touring Canada in 2022, performing in Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary, Toronto, London, Red Rock, and Ottawa since. She also regularly performs in Argentina.
Her music has been featured on CBC, CKUA, LiveTV, newspapers, and podcasts worldwide.
Always innovating, she incorporates unique elements into her live shows, such as two cellos on stage, and a string quintet for her upcoming album Quiero verte volar, arriving November 21, 2025. Its first single drops March 21, ahead of her British Columbia tour with Home Routes. The album was created with support from Manitoba Arts Council and Manitoba Film and Music.
In Partnership with
This program has been developed in partnership with Manitoba Music. A select number of spots will be reserved for artists working in the music industry.
If cost presents a challenge
Apply for our All-Access Inclusion Bursary
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