Recently, Invest Barrie sat down with regional artist Sean William Dawson following the soft launch of the 2025 StART Making Sense (SMS) arts business talks series to learn more about the series’ goals, plans and what to expect as they plan for the official series launch later this month.
This month’s SMS event, titled “Arts in the Digital Age,” takes place on March 20 and will explore how technology is transforming both creativity and commerce.
When asked to sum up the series in an “elevator pitch”, SWD as he is often called, explained that these monthly talks are aimed at presenting the business of the arts to the public, clarifying the many commonalities between business and the arts, where the two worlds meet, and the variety of ways they can work together.
This initiative was inspired by the relationship between SWD and his SMS founding partner and friend, Chris Adams, who owns and operates Adams Hamilton, an innovative digital marketing firm that helps businesses grow and scale by embracing technology. The two connected over 20 years ago through Chris’ strong support of the arts and SWD’s strong belief that art is a business. After losing track of one another for awhile, they reconnected through a Culture Night Out hosted at the Sandbox Centre and the idea was born. In 2024, the series began with panel talks in arts or arts-adjacent businesses with panels made up of community members and leaders in their artforms.
The goal of the StART Making Sense series is to not only expand the market for the arts in Barrie, but to also expand the community through panel talks and networking. By bringing artists from various backgrounds together to discuss the business side of their artforms not only attracts artists, but it also attracts businesspeople to create an atmosphere where people can collaborate and hopefully find creative ways to build their businesses. The February 20th StART Making Sense artist talk was a return to format following the series’ winter hiatus, though a new element was added: live music. The music industry was a panel topic in 2024, with it garnering the most attendees of the three talks held last year, and with music being such a large part of Barrie’s culture, it’s a natural fit for the series. SWD called upon another old friend of his, local musician Dan Allen of Indian Handcrafts fame, to curate a musical selection that would complement the panel conversation. That resulted in Danny Miles from the band July Talk performing a solo set and jumping on the panel talk, which was enjoyed by over 40 guests.
For the March 20th edition, SWD and Chris have expanded their partnerships to include a collaboration with Juicebox Studios for video production, and Georgian College’s content creation, digital arts and digital fine art programs to bring video production and live streaming via YouTube to the program, thereby increasing the audience beyond downtown Barrie. It also gives Georgian students an opportunity to build their portfolios by helping with set up, production and social media promotion for the series. Local media partners include Rock 95, Kool FM, and Barrie 360, with radio host Rachel Detta joining the panel for a discussion on art and the digital age. The combination of panel talk with live music and these new partnerships are sure to make for inspiring events each month!
Artists or businesses looking to get involved with the StART Making Sense series are encouraged to reach out via the Instagram page, or email SWD at startmakingsense@outlook.com.
Be sure to check out the StART Making Sense series where business and arts meet every third Thursday of the month from 6 to 8 PM. Event details are posted to their Instagram page!