Respect the Organizer: Kendra Walker on Atlanta Art Week

Description: Kendra Walker founded Atlanta Art Week to put the city's galleries, artists and institutions in front of audiences who weren't looking for them yet. Several editions later, she's taking a step back to figure out what comes next.

In this conversation she's candid about what the work cost her, what the arts community gets wrong about who deserves credit, and why a pause can be the smartest business decision a founder makes. Key Topics: Building a citywide arts event from a personal network Capital as infrastructure, not a nice to have The real line items behind a grassroots event Charging from day one versus proving the concept for free Who gets listened to in a creative scene, and who does the actual organizing Reading participation numbers as information Deciding when to pause, pivot or keep going Application based participation models and why organizers use them Atlanta's place in the national art ecosystem Featured Guests: Kendra Walker, founder of Atlanta Art Week, arts advisor and writer, Georgia State University (psychology, fine art minor) Notable Quotes: "You need money.

I lost money believing in this initiative, and it paid out in certain ways, but you have to put money up to take a chance." (Kendra Walker) "If you want respect, you have to give respect. It doesn't matter someone's age.

If they're doing the work, you have to respect them." (Kendra Walker) "If the community's not backing it, it doesn't make sense to keep producing and pushing out things if the numbers aren't adding up." (Kendra Walker) Connect with our guest: Kendra Walker on LinkedIn Atlanta Art Week: | @theatlantaartweek Follow Could Be Pretty Cool: @couldbeprettycool | | couldbeprettycoolnews.substack.com Keywords: Atlanta Art Week, Atlanta art scene, arts ecosystem, creative entrepreneurship, cultural infrastructure, founder pivot, grassroots events, arts funding, gallery ecosystem, independent curators, event sustainability, creative economy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit