Between our (Un)Common Threads Creativity & Innovation Summit, the launch of the Our Creative Home initiative and the 2024 Local Holiday Gift Guide, and other initiatives, the past year has been a busy one for Business & Arts NL, filled with inspiring moments, stimulating conversations and wonderful collaborations. And of course, there were plenty of partnerships between the local arts and business communities to highlight too.

Here's a recap of some of our most popular Spotlights from 2024.

As the funding environment evolves, it's more important than ever for arts organizations to have the tools they need to discuss all the ways they're making a difference. That's why we've created the "Five Dimensions of Impact Reporting in the Arts" - a new tool to help make impact reporting easier.

Learn all about it in our Spotlight, and hear from some of our arts members about how their Year of the Arts projects helped make an impact in their communities.

Bright lights, fun Christmas cards from friends and family, yummy home-baked treats and delicious hot drinks. All these things encapsulate the warm, fuzzy feeling of the holiday season.

This year, we're thrilled to have had Katie Hardy, a St. John's-based graphic designer and multidisciplinary artist, capture the sentiment through her bright and lively illustrations, which you'll see sprinkled throughout our 2024 Local Holiday Gift Guide.

Check out our Q&A with Katie to learn more about her and her work.

On this GivingTuesday, if you're looking to make a difference in your community, we humbly ask that you consider the arts.

In our Spotlight, we highlight the many ways in which the arts contributes to our lives and highlight some local arts organizations with active campaigns that you can support.

If you operate or work with an arts-based business or non-profit, you likely have a lot of digital clutter. Interested in applying your creative skills to create a digital "home" for these important materials to help better manage your business/organization? Join our free, online workshop (“DIY Digital Solutions for Arts & Non-profits”) on December 4 with Andy Farnsworth of Morning Strategy and learn how!

Check out our Q&A with Andy to learn more!

In 2021, we created our charitable organization, Engaging Community and Arts NL (ECANL), to support artists and arts organizations in Newfoundland and Labrador through initiatives like the Business Workshops for Artists program. In our Spotlight, find out how your support is helping empower artists and build a thriving cultural sector that uplifts us all.

In this special Spotlight, we're excited to present the 8th edition of our popular Local Holiday Gift Guide, featuring over 230 items from 78 local artists and creative entrepreneurs around the province!

November is Financial Literacy Month, a national campaign led by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada that works to strengthen and build the financial literacy and resilience of Canadians.

In our Spotlight, learn how our workshop on November 13, "Budgeting and Financial Planning for Self-Employed Artists” (led by James Lanning and Jennifer Collins of Keen, and supported through the TD Ready Commitment) is helping continue the conversation.

If you're looking for an example of innovation in local arts, look no further than Ballast Collective - a musical trio consisting of Nick Coultas-Clarke, Ian Foster and Andrya Duff, who combines conventional instruments with cutting-edge technology to create a unique and immersive experience. We’re so excited to have them join us for our (Un)Common Threads Creativity & Innovation Summit on November 7 in St. John's. Check out our Q&A to learn more about them!

In our Spotlight, we talk to Jillian Keiley (Founding Artistic Director of Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland and former Artistic Director of English Theatre at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa) about her own creative path, what she does to get into the creative zone, what business and arts can learn from each other,  and how laughter really is the best medicine. 

Catch Jillian’s keynote "Purpose Led Creativity” at our (Un)Common Threads Creativity & Innovation Summit on November 7 in St. John's!

In our Spotlight, we chat with JL González, an artist-in-residence at our upcoming summit, about how to make creativity a habit, living and working in rural NL, and the inspiration behind his collaborative installation "Beyond the Glass,” (debuting at the (Un)Common Threads Creativity & Innovation Summit on November 7).

With over two decades of experience working with creative agency Perfect Day (in the U.K. and Canada), John Devereaux has seen it all - and learned lots of valuable lessons along the way. That's why we're thrilled to have John, now Creative Director of Perfect Day Canada, share some of these lessons and life experiences during our (Un)Common Threads Creativity & Innovation Summit on November 7 at the Sheraton Hotel in St. John's.

Check out our Q&A with John in our Spotlight!