Liz Compos: Empowering Boulder’s Art Community Through Business

“A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who is inspired by others”. 
–Salvador Dalí

Art serves as a unifying force, fostering community, connection, and conversation between people. Meet Liz Compos, a dedicated artist devoting her life to supporting the growth and monetization of other artists. Led by her personal mission to “help artists and small creative businesses find financially sustainable futures. We need creatives, and they deserve to be able to create and live their life in a financially stable way like everybody else.” Through continuous workshops supporting artists', her artwork and mission empower the Boulder art community and expand their business toolkit, providing better chances at a career in the art industry.

Liz is an artist who has been in the Boulder community for almost 15 years now. She is an impact-driven individual and decided to earn her graduate degree from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder to transform her artistic talents into useful tools to help other artists. 

Fostering Artistic Growth Through the Deming Center

The Deming Center for Entrepreneurship was a key part of Liz’s development as a facilitator for artists. Liz was a part of the High Growth Venture Fellowship (HGVF) at the Deming Center for her MBA program and attributes the program as a huge part of her success. Through the program, she realized the importance of impact funding, and how scaling businesses do not have to be profit-driven. Her mission in tandem with the Deming Center allowed Liz to make vital connections to further her work for other artists. Through the HGVF and the connections she made, Liz was able to secure an internship with Streetwise Arts. This was the initial catalyst for connecting with the Boulder arts community. 

Innovative Workshops and the Art of “Artivism”

Innovative minds push positive change forward. Last year, Liz had the opportunity to work with Boulder County Arts Alliance and Streetwise Arts to put on a series of workshops where mural artists learned about the advantages of applying digital aspects to their art. The workshops are taught by world-renowned digital artists who specialize in non-fungible tokens (NFTs), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) being applied to physical forms of artwork. The artists after finishing the workshop were able to create a mural around Boulder’s famous Pearl Street Mall with a theme of activism (or as Liz likes to say, “artivism”) and create a digital component of their artwork. Passerbys could view the magnificent murals in person and better understand the message with the digital aspect of the art by using their phones.

“We had artists creating messages about Black Lives Matter. We had artists creating messages around global warming and climate change. There were artists creating messages around indigenous communities and how that relates to climate change and agriculture.”

Join the Creative Journey

Interested in Liz’s mission? You’re in luck! On September 21st you can experience Boulder County Art Allience's Social Media Marketing for Artists event. Artist or not, everyone is welcome and can work on these creative projects. From 11:30 AM to 1 PM at the Boulder Jewish Community Center, Liz and a panel of creatives will walk you through how to make a social media marketing strategy for creatives. The workshop will go over how to use algorithms, content creation, and scheduling apps to your advantage. Liz says that

“[The workshops] are completely open and on the Boulder County Arts Alliance website. You can sign up for their newsletter to get their programming each month and the whole calendar is also on the website. If business in the arts is not the topic you're looking for, but you're really hoping to learn how to paint watercolor in your spare time, and you've never done it before. That's totally fine, too!”

Art is a unifying factor for community and connection. Liz’s journey has not only enriched the Boulder art scene but serves as a testament to the positive impact of artists supporting artists. In an ever-evolving world, Liz’s mission reminds us that art in all forms has the potential to inspire change, provoke thought, and unite communities for a brighter future.