The “starving artist” cliché is not totally unfounded. Young artists can have trouble getting started and networking, but a UK organization is trying to help.

The Starving Artists’ Initiative (SAI) helps aspiring artists who want to collaborate and connect with people in the music industry and also learn technical and promotional skills along the way.

The organization was created last semester by integrated strategic communication senior Eric Torres.

“There are two sides to SAI, the artist side, which is for the musicians — I help them with the do’s and don’ts and link them to other people involved in the entertainment business — then you have the promotional side for the people who rather be sort of behind the scenes and do the work to make everything happen. Those are the ones who get involved with advertising, graphic design, and all the media sources”, Torres said.

Torres, who has his own band with a couple of his best friends, has experience from performing locally and wants to see all lovers of music .  

“I wanted to teach myself and others how to be successful in general, there is no blueprint on how to succeed”, Torres said.

Torres works with Trifection Entertainment, a company that provides a platform for all independent artists, to help showcase their talents.

“I created this organization to help aspiring artists make local connections to people involved in the entertainment business”, Torres said.

Trista Mudd, an arts administration junior and vice president of SAI, helps Torres organize and create weekly agendas, establish goals for the group, and also does some graphic design work for the organization.

“All of us on the executive board including Treasurer Jessica Loflin, who is also part of the Arts Administration program within the College of Fine Arts, are musicians and artists as well, so it has been fun reaching out to peers and getting them involved,” Mudd said.

SAI doesn’t just reach out to musicians, but also to all other aspects of the music industry including graphic designers, instrumentalists, audio work, etc.

“There’s not many organizations if any on campus that are specifically for artist collaboration and the promotion of artists, so it is a great opportunity for those students in those disciplines looking for a group outside of class to share their talents with,” Mudd said.

It seems bittersweet that SAI was created by Torres last semester and is graduating this semester, but Mudd is eager to continue to expand the organization.

“We have spent most of last semester creating our image, and getting the organization off the ground with this semester working mostly to gain a strong member base and campus presence,” Mudd said.

Mudd plans to find a permanent meeting location and continue creating more outreach within not just on campus, but also the community in hopes of building relationships within the Lexington music industry.