Author Bonnie J. Glover considers this statement to be the main point of the Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute (AEI). Today, with a solid mission statement and a vision statement (which are not the same thing), she is reaching out to make connections and focusing on what she would like to accomplish. “You need to be able to tell people your short-term and long-term goals,” advises Glover. A graduate of the third AEI class, which took place in November and December 2008, this twice-published novelist has started to think about what she could be doing differently.

Glover is no slouch in the world of business, law and publishing, as well as the galaxies of words, mothering and personal adversity. Yet this Random House-published author - who received international recognition as a result of her nomination for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award - still needed a boost in the right direction. She chose the Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute to do it.
This award nomination arose from an initiative of Dublin City Council, the municipal government of Dublin City, and IMPAC, a productivity improvement company that operates in over 50 countries. The program involves libraries from all corners of the globe and is open to books written in any language. It is the largest and most internationally diverse prize of its kind. The Middle Sister was nominated by what appears to be a library in Beirut, where someone obviously found something in common with three little ghetto girls.

This award was followed by a national NAACP Image Award nomination for her second novel, Going Down South. As the nation's premier award celebrating the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts, as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors, the nomination put Glover in the company of four other acclaimed nominees, chosen from thousands of applicants.

In the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, as Glover nestled among the glitterati of Hollywood for the award ceremony with writers, screenwriters, directors and actors, she felt inspired. “The big time,” she laughs, when describing the overwhelming sensations and interactions. “But not for me on a continual basis.”

The Artist as and Entrepreneur Institute is designed to help artists operate in the marketplace successfully and covers all aspects of developing an artistic business. This national course, now in its third year in Fort Lauderdale, attracts artists, academics and community members of a high caliber who are not only already seasoned business professionals, but in some cases, nationally and internationally recognized artists.

It seems that Bonnie J. Glover has come to a point, with her success in the legal field and business field, and her recognition as an author - that this wife of 23 years and mother of two teenage boys is now facing a new call. She is looking toward a vision in community service – teen pregnancy. “When you succeed somewhat in one area, it gives you the impetus to want to do better, to make better,” says Glover, “to reach out more and fine tune your efforts into community and the children.”

Noting that minority teen pregnancy is on the rise between the ages of 15 and 19, and with her second book, Going Down South, consequently being about a teen pregnancy, Glover is not shy about the coincidence, nor is she willing to ignore it.

Read full article at: Cultural Quarterly Online

The Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute was founded in 2003 by the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) and the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE). CPAC and COSE were both interested in helping artists to build viable small businesses in the community. All of the organizations’ research showed that artists, both in Cleveland and nationally, had very little assistance in learning the business skills they needed to start, grow and maintain healthy businesses. The partners came together to create a comprehensive training program, and in 2007 Broward Cultural Division brought it to Broward County.