Last fall, Bridgeway Capital announced the Greensburg cohort of their Alliance for Creative Rural Economies program. Twelve local creative businesses were selected to participate in entrepreneurial programming, hosted at the Seton Hill Arts Center and led by two Seton Hill professors.

For the past year, Lyz Marshall, Assistant Professor of Business and Director of the Wukich Center for Entrepreneurial Opportunities, and Associate Professor of Art Brian Ferrell worked to guide a cohort of local artists and ensure that they had the entrepreneurial knowledge to support making a living from their creative talent. Marshall provided business coaching and Ferrell provided artistic support. Three Seton Hill alumni were selected as participants: Pam Cooper ’93, Dashier Rocket ’01, MA ’13 and Amy Roadman ’00.

"Adam Kenney, Chief Program Officer at Bridgeway Capital, demonstrated leadership, vision, and strategic timing by recognizing Greensburg's economic growth potential,” Marshall said. “He saw an opportunity to align with Seton Hill University's rich liberal arts tradition to transform the community through the ACRE partnership and cohort, designed to support art entrepreneurs. This collaboration enhanced and advanced both organizations' missions of community service."

ACRE’s goal is to bring creativity-driven economic development to rural areas across the region, supporting creatives in their career journeys and offering support and resources so that they can achieve business stability and bring benefit to their communities. Creative businesses in the selected communities are invited to apply to join a yearlong ACRE Partners cohort composed of like-minded entrepreneurs across a wide variety of industries. The program provides connections to other creative entrepreneurs and pathways to strengthen and evolve their creative and business practices.

Through Bridgeway Capital, Marshall and Ferrell also had the opportunity to attend the ACRE Symposium at the Touchstone Center for Crafts in May where they spoke to regional leaders from the economic development and creative sectors.

The day featured insights from key thought leaders of creative economy development in western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia, such as Bill Woodrum, Senior Program Officer for Community and Economic Development at the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and Karl Blischke, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
It also allowed the program’s participants and practitioners to come together to share emerging best practices and lessons learned in their work to develop a creative economy locally and regionally.

The ACRE Invitational Exhibition, coordinated by Ferrell, was held on campus in the Harlan Gallery at the Seton Hill Arts Center in June and July. Visual arts focused creatives from all the regional ACRE cohorts submitted work for review by three jurors: Lindsay Keterer Gates, Director of Touchstone Center for Craft; Juston Gunther, Director of Fallingwater; and Rachel Rearick, Executive Director at Contemporary Craft. The final exhibit featured work from 12 regional makers from the ACRE communities of Greensburg, Johnstown, New Kensington, Wheeling, and Morgantown.

Seton Hill Distinguished Alumna Pamela Cooper was one of the artists selected for the exhibit.

“It’s been earth changing. It’s been so positive for all of us,” Cooper said of the ACRE cohort experience.

She said Greensburg cohort members continue to offer support to one another.

“We’re like a family,” she said. “We’re not competing against each other. We’re trying to elevate ourselves with our work.”

The ACRE Greensburg participants were also celebrated at a graduation ceremony at the Garden Civic Center in Greensburg in August.

Additionally, Lyz Marshall and participant Sarah Hunter, a multi-disciplinary artist, teacher and curator, who also served as the cohort’s Eco-System Coordinator were featured – along with other ACRE Program participants across the region – in a video presentation as part of Bridgeway Capital’s Annual Meeting.

“Working artists are small businesses that add value to the region. The ACRE program is helping to strengthen the creative economy here in Greensburg,” Ferrell said. “Additionally, it serves as a model for our student artists as they become professionals. The whole project really highlights how Seton Hill can be a community partner in the local arts scene.”

Find out more about Bridgeway Capital’s ACRE Program here: acrepartners.org