(Ages 18 & up) A monthly meet-up for artists to socialize, build community and take their art to the next level. After a short reception, we will dive into a specific topic each month with time after for questions and perusing the exhibit.

This month’s presentation is from John Good with Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts and he will be speaking about ways to protect your artwork through copyright etc, as well as providing information about other services that WALA offers to artists.

Since 1983, Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts has supported artistic expression and creative innovation by serving the legal needs of Washington, Maryland, and Virginia’s arts and cultural communities.  A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization WALA provides education, advocacy, and volunteer legal services through workshops and seminars, legal clinics for artists and arts organizations, and pro bono referral services. The business of the arts is about more than just a creative spirit. From concept to creation, sale to distribution, art also involves complicated legal issues such as intellectual property, copyright, incorporation and trademark, as well as the infinite possibilities of contract provisions.

For artists, arts and cultural organizations, entertainment start-ups and the attorneys who represent them, WALA offers workshops to help navigate the complex convergence of arts and law. A volunteer faculty of some of the most accomplished attorneys in the arts entertainment and media law provide instruction at regularly scheduled courses each year. Through the generous contributions of the law firms DLA Piper, Finnegan, and Patton Boggs, WALA is able to offer the basics courses monthly workshops on copyright trademarks, licensing, and forming a 501(c)(3) organization.  We also offer a Creative Entrepreneurship series for adults and youth, respectively, meeting artists’ educational needs on the fundamentals of art entrepreneurship. These workshops are free for WALA members. Throughout the year, WALA also produces and co-sponsors other programs on other arts-related legal topics.

Join or renew online at www.WALADC.org\membership

It’s easy and safe. Sign up for upcoming events at www.WALADC.org\ calendar.htm

Funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

John C. Good melds art and law together as Executive Director of Washington Area Lawyer for the Arts. Before joining WALA, John enjoyed a successful career as a non-profit executive with premiere arts presenters including The John F. Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap Farm Park, the Washington Performing Arts Society, Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, Galveston Island Outdoor Musicals, and Blues Alley.  He is the founder of the Virginia Jazz Service Organization, and is President of GMG Events, an entertainment and special events production group. John has served on the Board of Directors of the Washington Area Music Association, Capital Area Performers Organization, and Community Arts Agencies of Virginia, and has been an Advisory Panelist for the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation.  As a performer, John can frequently be heard playing trombone and bass in many of the area’s symphony orchestras, chamber groups, jazz big bands, and pit orchestras.