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As a freshman, Vivien McNab was already thinking about how to turn her passion for cartooning and fan art into something others could enjoy.
Attending events like New York Comic Con, she developed “a habit” of buying key chains and art, and started developing her own mock-ups, experimenting with art she might one day be able to sell.
“I absolutely adore collecting work from other artists, just because I love seeing all the different styles, and I love seeing people’s different interpretations of characters,” said McNab, a senior at Manhattan’s High School of Art and Design.
Now she’s receiving support to get her own store off the ground. McNab is one of the hundreds of high school juniors and seniors participating in Artist Youth Entrepreneurs, a pilot program Art and Design launched this year to help students build the necessary skills to thrive as working artists.
Throughout a 10-week course in the fall, students learned about key financial and legal concepts, like how to file taxes as a freelancer, price products in their stores, or make sense of relevant copyright laws. Starting in April, students will have the opportunity to launch their own online stores, selling their work directly to customers through the school’s partnership with Etsy, an online marketplace that allows users to create their own shops. Students can receive a stipend from the program and other support at school, like communal shipping supplies and assistance mailing out orders.
The youth entrepreneur program comes at a time when schools across New York City and the state have indexed heavily into career and technical education, offering students opportunities to jump start their careers before they earn their diplomas. At Art and Design, students major in one of eight artistic fields, with each CTE-certified program preparing students for higher education and careers in their industry.
Principal Maximillian Re-Sugiura said the idea for his school’s program came in part from concerns about the financial stability of artistic fields.
“When a lot of young professionals and young folks go to their families and say, ‘I want to be an artist,’” he said, “the response has historically been: ‘Don’t do that. You’re not going to make a dime.’”
Re-Sugiura hopes to shift that narrative for the city’s students.
“So now,” he said, “a young person goes to their family and says, ‘I want to be an artist, and here’s my plan on how I will design, sell, save, and iterate on my personal brand and concept.’”
Students see side hustle, potential careers in online stores
Across the nation, a growing number of young people are turning to side hustles to earn extra cash — with experts noting that online platforms have made them more accessible and effective.
Ella Alarcon-English, a junior majoring in cartooning, had already launched her own Etsy store last year, to connect with customers she met during her school’s annual Fanfaire convention. But through the new program, she’s gained valuable skills to help run her store, while being able to benefit from the program’s perks and curriculum.
“Some of the lessons that we’ve learned, like taxing and pricing, are tools that I wish I had when I first started my Etsy shop,” she said.
For Carolina Liang Li, a senior majoring in animation who plans to attend NYU in the fall, the program has meant gaining a platform to earn additional income and increase the reach of her artwork — one that will persist beyond her time in high school.
“If you have a store, you can also build a lot more connections, especially in an industry like this,” she said. “It helps you establish yourself.”
She said she’s hoping to sell items made from clay, like keychains, in addition to digital art and prints.
The program has helped ease some of the anxiety around the costs of higher education, with an online store offering one potential source of income during her time in college, said Daphnee Pascal, a senior majoring in fashion design.
Pascal hopes to sell bags, wallets, and other items she’s sewn once her store launches this spring. And longterm, she’s hopeful that she can one day transition the online store into her own brand for her designs.
“A lot of us really wanted a way to sell our designs, because we make a lot of things throughout the year,” she said. “So it’s really helped in that aspect — letting us share what we do with everyone else.”
Artist Youth Entrepreneurs brings in legal, financial, and tech experts
To Re-Sugiura, the youth entrepreneur program not only provides an opportunity that didn’t exist for him and his peers growing up, but also helps better prepare students “for a world that seems increasingly geared towards freelance work and gig economics for artists.”
Parents and families have been involved in the program from the outset, with families helping students set up their accounts, and the school providing parents with resources and guidance for checking in with their students about their online stores.
In addition to Etsy, the program has brought in other partners from various industries to assist with instruction. Lawyers at Proskauer Rose LLP and MetLife talked about copyright law, while staffers from Ridgewood Savings Bank shared financial best practices — and gave students the opportunity to open free accounts at the bank.
Teachers developed lesson plans and other instructional materials with the help of nonprofit tech company PlayLab, which provided educators with AI-powered tools trained on Etsy materials and the school’s curricula.
Bethany Crystal, an AI, education, and workforce advisor to Tech:NYC, partner of the city’s FutureReadyNYC initiative that has helped with developing the program, noted teachers have been able to build their own AI-powered tools to help students.
One educator, for example, built a tool that helped students generate descriptions for their online stores and products. That tool then sparked a discussion with students about when and how to use AI.
Crystal added she’s been excited to see students engaging with the work in the program.
“It’s not to say every single kid is going to be an entrepreneur in this way,” she said. “But showing them how it begins, which is the hardest part of that journey, I think is so incredible.”
Re-Sugiura hopes the program’s model will serve as an inspiration for other schools — both CTE schools and others — who can adapt the materials and structure to serve their own communities.
“All of it is designed to showcase to the larger New York City community that this is something that you can do,” he said.
Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering New York City. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.
