Springboard is a nonprofit agency whose mission is to help self-employed creative people make a living. To that end, we offer low-cost individual consultations, workshops on professional development topics like "Marketing Your Artwork" or "Simple Business Plans for Artists", and attorney and accountant referrals. We also administer the Artist Loan Fund, a low-interest revolving loan fund for artists living in the 14 counties around the Twin Cities and into western Wisconsin; and the Emergency Relief Fund, which offers up to $500 to artists who have had a career-threatening calamity. The money goes not to the artist directly, but to a creditor. Click on the links for more details about eligibility for these programs.

One-on-one consultations are inexpensive and can help you focus your career and goals. To schedule a consultation, call Noah at 651-292-3206 or Kathleen at 651-292-3205. Email works too: Noah, Kathleen, or sign up online on our website here.

The Copyright Office website is quite user friendly, and has a lot of good information: http://www.copyright.gov.
The Copyright office has recently started phasing out paper forms in favor of an online registration system. You can learn more about online copyright registration here: http://www.copyright.gov/eco/faq.html. Registration fees vary, but are significantly lower when registration is done electronically.
If you are not computer savvy, for now you can still request paper forms by clicking here: http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formrequest.html
A few tips for submitting paper forms:

Forms should be two-sided

Do not use the US mail to deliver your paperwork and representation of your work, use a private deliverer such as FedEx or UPS

(The Copyright Office is one of the federal agencies that is still irradiating all incoming mail - a process that can delay your registration up to a year!)

Another interesting and useful website to reference when navigating the legal issues surrounding copyright is Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/about/what-is-cc

We maintain an attorney referral file for artists and arts organizations. The service is confidential and free. What is your situation? We will give you the names and contact information of up to three attorneys who specialize in providing that kind of expertise. The first half hour of their time is pro-bono, after that they have agreed to work with Springboard referrals at a rate that is below their normal rate. Call Noah at 651-292-3206. Email works too: Noah,

We will be happy to take a look at your portfolio. We don't pronounce an artist's work "good" or "bad", but we will tell you know if we think your work is ready to market. If it is, great. We'll try to point you in the right direction or set up a consultation and work with you to achieve your goals.

Talk to us! We keep a contact list of studio spaces for artists. Call Andy at 651-292-4381. Email works too: Andy.

Talk to us! We keep a contact list of photographers that are "artist friendly" (this means inexpensive) and do good work. Call Andy at 651-292-4381. Email works too: Andy. We also present workshops presented by these very same photographers on how to photograph your own work well. Check our semester fliers or workshop list for more information.

We don't presently make referrals to web designers, but you can check our Resources Page for graphic and website designers, as well as other organizations and people who can help you.

We're easy to find, located downtown St. Paul. Click here to view or print out directions.