Connecticut has no shortage of artists of color. But what was missing was a space for them to come together to gain mentorship, grants and networking opportunities from other creative leaders and business owners, according to Angel Dahfay, a New Haven-based entrepreneur.
That is why Dahfay said she founded a free two-day New Haven-based conference held this month called Creative U. The goal was to build a convention to help other creatives like herself.
“There were a lot of things that I realized I had to learn and I sat with myself,” Dahfay said. “And I'm like, I'm most likely not the only person trying to go through this thing and trying to learn on my own. So that transitioned to what it is now being able to give people the things that they need, for them to be able to grow in the field that they want.”
Creative U was created in partnership with the city of New Haven and the Connecticut Office of the Arts.
The convention first began in 2021 under a different name. It was called the Sweets and Sounds Convention. Attendees had to pay a fee for entry and the conference focused solely on the food and music industries.
However, this is the first year the conference has partnered with the city and the state.
The move made room for expansion by opening the event up to creatives from various disciplines and there was a focus on accessibility. Attendees no longer had to pay a fee.
The city of New Haven and the Connecticut Office of the Arts both have a mission and a demand from residents to help invest in the local creative community and to help further artists in their careers, said Adriane Jefferson, director of cultural affairs for the city of New Haven and one of the producers of Creative U.
“The reason that the city decided to partner with Sweet and Sounds and the state is because what we were hearing was a need for a workforce, almost like a workforce intervention, particularly creating pipelines of creatives of color,” Jefferson said. "And people were asking the city; they were coming to us, like, hey, can you help us?”
State officials like Kolton Harris, program manager at the Connecticut Office of the Arts and one of the producers of Creative U said it is important to enfranchise local artists.
“We want to see Connecticut thrive, but it can't because everyone's doing these little things in their silos," Harris said. "We, as a state arts agency, believe that our main job is to just pull people together in the same room and then the magic happens from there.”
Creative U was designed similarly to a university, to be more tailored to the attendee’s experience — allowing those who signed up to choose a major that best fit their medium.
Throughout the event, they were matched up with “deans” and other students who were in their creative field to encourage skill-building.
While group conversations and networking did take the forefront at the event, creatives were also able to participate in office hours, which provided one-on-one mentorship with someone in their field.
They also held a question-and-answer session with those who work within their field on a national level, like TV personality and author Pretty Vee, whose work is best known on the VH-1 show "Wild n’ Out," and Joe Perez, a creative director who worked with rap artist Kanye West and Beyonce. Perez has also worked with popular retail brands like Nike and Louis Vuitton.
Attendees who were eligible also had the opportunity to receive the office hours grant, ranging from $500 to $2,500 from the Yale Center for Inclusive Growth, to aid their business ventures.
“There's so many different people that are struggling and trying to financially support themselves and that was a way for us to say, 'thank you.' We see the work that you're doing while also being able to provide them the mentorship that they needed,” Dahfay said.
Dahfay has hopes to one day expand this conference into an actual campus, which will allow creatives to have a central place to gather and have mentorship opportunities more than just once a year.
