“Self-affirming Ignorance” & Other Tools of the Trade

To kick off our Winter-Spring season we held an ERPA open dialogue at Joyce SoHo with artists and presenters to talk about the challenges and best-practices of presenter-artist relationships. What are the do’s and don’ts and what are the needs to be filled? Here are some reflections:

Do your homework!
• Research the venue or presenter you are interested in. Know why you are interested. Know their space. See the work they produce.
• Know what your work/process needs. Know what you need as an artist. Know why that particular venue is right for you.

Stand up for your art!
• Participate in a little “self-affirming ignorance”, says artist James Scruggs. Ask for what you really need (not what you think you can get)—even if it is huge and crazy and you think it is out of the question—pretend you don’t know any better. You might just get what you ask for. And if nothing else, you won’t have devalued your work from the get-go.
• Make your case to presenters in a real, honest, and specific way. Why are they the right fit for you? What is it about that space or that curator that is so right for your piece? As Brian Rogers, theater artist and Artistic Director of the Chocolate Factory, suggested, “make a compelling case for your needs.”
• “Know who you’re making your work for,” says Kristin Marting of HERE. And interact with those people from the seed start of the work’s development and throughout the whole process.

Some useful best-practices:
• “Don’t send blanket emails”, says Cathy Eilers, Program Manager at Joyce SoHo. Make it personal; tailor and personalize your emails and be specific.
• Keep moving to stay visible. Participate in showcases and residencies where you show excerpts of your work. Presenters often attend these as a way to see several artists’ work at once. The more active you are, the more you are seen.
• Ask about ways that presenters can help support your work throughout its development. This makes a space for you to build a stronger relationship with that presenter and gives them a chance to feel invested in their curation.
• Stay in touch with people and don’t get discouraged if they don’t respond. We are all busy and emails often slip through the cracks; keep on keepin’ on!

Thank you to those who attended, to Joyce Soho for generously hosting the event, and to Maura Donohue for her astute facilitation. To learn more about ERPA and other upcoming events click here.

Presenters & Artists: Starting the Conversation

Phew! APAP, American Realness, and Under the Radar are done. Maybe you’re still checking out COIL… but overall the who’s who mega-networking fest is complete.

What did you take away from it?

Share your thoughts with us as we gear up for
ERPA PUBLIC DIALOGUE: How Presenters & Artists Work Together
Monday, January 30, 6:30-8pm – at Joyce SoHo

The relationship between theaters and artists can easily become skewed by the imbalance of finances and ratio of artists to venues. But maybe the artists are the ones who are really best positioned to ease this strain – because it’s the artists’ priority. To quote Maura Donohue, our panel facilitator, “The artists are the ones providing the art, the reason the theaters exist.” And remembering that, valuing one’s own work, can help artists to enfranchise themselves to come to these relationships as an equal, and at ease.

Tell us your successful war stories!
When did you hit a bump in the road in your artist/presenter relationship and how did you move forward productively to a smooth finish?
Artists: How do you ask for the fees that you need? What’s that like for you?
Presenters: What kind of processes do you use in developing work with artists?

Come on! Don’t be shy!

On Sharing

Amplify Brooklyn — on Sharing from Parsons Desis Lab on Vimeo.

OURGOODS: Be your own boss!

I co-founded 2 barter initiatives in 2009/2010 that became my part time jobs in 2011 (we just received $120,000 in grant money!). I also now teach 2 undergraduate courses at Parsons, but I don’t have a masters degree and I went to a college that was tuition-free. How did this happen?

SUMMARY

1. I know what I want and I work towards it.

2. I do A LOT of research before I ask for help.

3. I reach out to people who can mentor me.

4. I show up on time and work my ass off.

5. I demand respect (perhaps because I grew up with privilege).

6. I refuse to go into Debt for school.

7. My policy: be nice to everyone.

• 1. SELF AWARENESS: There’s not too much I can say about this, except that you need to have clear intentions in order to pursue your dreams. Here’s two questions that help: What does success look like for you? What can you not, not do? (a.k.a. What MUST you do?) Meditate, go on long walks, try things out, talk to people who have careers that you think you want, whatever you need to do to be more self-aware and clear about your goals. Some people say reading this book helps: http://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2011/dp/158008270X but I’ve never read it.

• 2. RESEARCH: I’m all about doing online research to find mentors in your field of interest. Mentors are great because they share your enthusiasm but have more information and connections in the real world than you do. Most of these people have personal websites, or you can find their email at the school or business where they work. Luckily, the Internet exists, so you can introduce yourself to potential mentors without waiting in line after a lecture and/or socializing at a party! This helps me because I’m a good writer (my mom taught me that) BUT I’m not comfortable schmoozing or promoting myself at parties. I’m also a woman who doesn’t conform to a lot of norms for “serious professionals”: I don’t do my hair, paint my nails, wear girl-y shoes/clothes, shave my body, or wear make-up. Basically, I think it’s best for people to learn about what I’ve done (and how it related to their past work and research) without seeing what I look like. If they respond to my initial email, perhaps we will meet in person, but then they already know that we share common interests and/or goals, so it’s about WORK and not what I look like.

• 3. REACHING OUT: See above. Also, learn to write really well, in many different styles! How can you do this? Trade time with an editor, writer, or other proof-reader on OurGoods.org, or find a friend who will help you improve your writing skills. When you write an email to a potential mentor, use “affinity jargon.” I use the term “affinity jargon” to describe the language or style of writing your mentor uses. Find an aspect of this style or “jargon” that resonates with you, and use that style/jargon when writing to your potential mentor. For example, when I wrote an email to Lewis Hyde, I opened with poetry because he loves poetry. After catching their attention by communicated in a style that they understand, your job is to demonstrate your research and connection to their work. Once they understand that you know who they are and respect them, you should demonstrate your value to them. What have you done that they might care about? What are you about to do that you’d like advice about? Make a clear connection between what they do and who you are.

• 4. RIGOR: Take yourself seriously. No one cares about your work more than you, so do a good job. You can’t say “it was my client’s fault” that it looks so bad. It’s up to you to make your work as great as it can be, and to present your best work online (or in an attached .pdf in your email) in a way that people you reach out to will understand. If you work hard, and continue to take risks despite all odds, you are rigorous.

• 5. PRIVILEDGE: I went to a private high school and I’m white. Yes, my dad grew up without running water and was the first person in his family of tobacco farmers to go to college, but he became a doctor and that upbringing means that I’m considered “polite, reliable, confident, well spoken, well-rounded, energetic, pulled-together, with a good resume, references, and a high GPA” because I was taught upper-class manners and “standard” English, had expensive dental work, health care, and vacations as a teenager, was able to focus on my studies without having to support myself or my family, was told I could do anything, and grew up with connections to people with money. I volunteer for the grassroots economic justice group SolidarityNYC, and they help me have hard conversations about inequity. Cheyenna Weber gave me this book Classified for more information about class priviledge, and it me realize that “discrimination erases individual identity by assuming that everyone in the group is the same and deserves to be treated the same…privilege erases group identity by assuming that everyone in the group is a unique and special individual, that their uniqueness entitles them to preferential treatment.” (p/ 8 http://www.resourcegeneration.org/resources/publications) So although I do work hard, figuring out how to interact with wealthy people and to demand respect is very much related to the way I grew up. If you didn’t grow up that way, you should remember (and remind anyone who discriminates) that you too deserve to be treated as a unique individual, and that no dream is too big for you. On top of that, you might consider finding a class-ally (like me) who can talk to you about unspoken codes of conduct.
• 
  
• 6. NO DEBT: Do NOT pay more than $10,000 max. for school. If your parents are thinking of giving you any money at all, use it to get a mortgage on a building or apt. near the school you think you want to go to, and spend the next few years living with students at that school who pay rent towards that mortgage until you own a house and have tons of connections at that school. Cooper Union is free and many masters programs will pay you. Also, live with lots of people so that your rent is low and you can buy food in bulk.

• 7. BE NICE! Here’s a list of opportunities I have, and how I got them. Most of this has to do with operating form a place of generosity around everyone I know, connecting people, remembering what they need, and assuming their best intentions if/when they are flaky. When it becomes clear that you operate from a place of generosity, people will be more generous to you.

• 1. I’m teaching a class to undergraduates at Parsons. Pascale Gatzen told her Dean to consider the class. I met Pascale at Mildred’s Lane, an alternative school/residency in Honesdale, PA. At Mildred’s Lane, she heard about Trade School and OurGoods, two independent barter initiatives I’d been working on. I’d been doing them as a volunteer for 10-50 hours a week with 2 main collaborators (see #4) and others for 2 years, and reading tons of books about barter on my own at the same time. I went to Mildred’s Lane because I met the director, Morgan Puett, at a residency I went to straight out of school (Oxbow in Saugatuck, MI). I got to go to Oxbow because I applied (and worked my ass off on the application) and because my college, Cooper Union, sends students there. I got to go to Cooper Union because I applied (and worked my ass off on the application) and went to an art residency in high school called Ox-Bow (in Napa, CA) where I developed a portfolio and because I went to a private high school where I learned how to write well. My mom is also a feminist historian and helped me learn to write more than anyone.

source: Parsons/Pascale/Morgan/Ox-bow/Cooper Union/Oxbow/Wheeler/mom+dad

• 2. I’m co-teaching another class to undergrads at Parsons. Eve Mosher invited me to co-teach when her co-teacher had to leave the job at the last minute. I know Eve Mosher because I used to work for an artist named Natalie Jeremijenko when I got out of college. Natalie taught me a lot of things about being collaborative and the unhappy speed of a “famous” career. I met Natalie because I told my high school art teacher that I was graduating from college and needed a job, and she told her husband who taught at RISD, and he happened to be walking with Natalie one day and remembered to mention it to her. She then went to my senior show in college and we worked out a deal where I worked for her on a stipend that was paid through NYU (hello, library card!). I’d recommend working for a collaborative artist because I’m still friends with a lot of the people that she worked with, and it wasn’t an isolated studio practice.

source: Parsons/Eve/Natalie/Bruce/Sue

• 3. I’m working on OurGoods.org, a barter network for creative people. I got to do this because I applied for a grant to support this idea (while working the night-shift at an art studio where I could do whatever I wanted as long as I stayed awake) and got $5,000 to begin the project. I then asked the hardest working people I knew from college (Louise Ma and Rich Watts) to work on OurGoods with me, and the people who gave me the grant (The Field!) introduced me to Jen Abrams, someone who had a similar idea. Rather than rejecting her similar idea, I actively sought to bring her into the team at an early stage. We are now great friends, and she brings 10 years of grant writing experience to the group. She is 40 and we write grants together, so I’ve learned a lot from her. Now, we’ve written over 30 grants together, and just got $100,000 to make OurGoods.org our part-time jobs for our 5 person team! This is a good example of writing grants, not having connections. It’s still all about writing well though.

source: OurGoods/The Field/grant

• 4. OurGoods.org is in a project room at Creative Time. This is because the curator is friends with another group in the show, Temporary Services, and they suggested he include us. I met them because I’ve researched their work for a long time, and suggested that Oxbow in MI invite them to be guest artists one year. When they did, I applied to go back to Oxbow, and I got in and was able to hang out with them. They are great artists, and so inspiring: http://www.temporaryservices.org/contact.html

source: Creative Time/Nato/Temporary Services/Oxbow/research

• 5. I pay $250 each month for rent in a 12’ x 30’ studio in a live-work industrial space. This is because three years ago, Chrstine (someone I went to school with but didn’t know well) said “we should organize a studio space together…and my parents can loan us $35,000 to do it!” Why did she trust me? Word on the street: I was reliable. Why did I trust her? I’m an optimist, she seemed reliable, and she had the people and the money to pull off a huge project. Christine brought a bunch of friends who had attended a residency called Skowhegan together to build out the space, and we divided an 8,000 square foot space up into 30 small spaces by building walls, doing the electrical, putting in sinks, etc. For the first two years, we gave everyone who built out the space a reduction in rent, but we didn’t pay ourselves to run the LLC and the space on a daily basis. My rent was $550. After two years of organizing (finding new tenants, collecting 30 checks to pay rent, filing taxes, responding to issues on the spot, etc.) Christine got burnt out and left for grad school. We realized that the people who took a risk (me, Christine, Colin) should get paid! Now my rent is only $250 a month, and I get $25/hr for each hour I spend working on the space. Now we also buy our food in bulk from an organic distributor, which lowers costs and helps us share everything in the kitchen. It’s a BIG commitment to know that my name is on the lease for 3 more years (5 total), and that I can’t leave NY until then, but we keep rent pretty low for a bunch of artists and I met Huong and so many other great people through the space! It’s also how I met my boyfriend of 2 years…

source: Studio/Colin/Christine/Cooper Union

Money up?

Let's talk about money.

How do you make your money? For real?

Is it from performance fees, teaching, arts admin, commissions, grants, mechanical royalties? merch? sheet music sales? record label advance? or a day job at (fill in the blank)? Are there other ways you can make money from your art that fit organically with your vision and skills? Or do you want a well paid non-art job that gives you the freedom and brain space to create your art independently?

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. Empower your self with knowledge. And then act on it strategically.

The music business (non- and for-profit) seems to have so many more opportunities to monetize their art (and they do, sort of) but the principles are the same I think. The super smart ladies of Future of Music Coalition shared their "Accounting for Creatives" seminar with a dynamic group of music artists at The Field's FAR Space on Monday, September 26th. They say that there are 40 streams of money for music artists (well, 29 at first but growing!) The 40 streams of money here may not be your streams. But maybe there is some area of income generation in your life that you can drive harder? or a new one you can test out?

These are four of my takeaways (some are old news but always good reminders, some are newer news that just hit me harder tonight and that bear repeating I think.)

1) develop relationships with your fans! they are your #1 source of support (financial and emotional!) (we all know this, but are you maximizing your people? and your time and skills at doing this work?)

2) we are artist-citizens: be aware of the issues in our community (all of our various communities) and act up where you can.

3) you can be middle class if you want! being a starving artist is not really romantic! what do YOU want from your art work? how can YOU achieve it?

4) knowledge is power! if you know your income and you know your expenses you can be strategic about achieving your goals (do you want to buy a house? do you want to tour internationally? or have a baby? do you want more gigs in the city? do you have health insurance?) Hiding from your own financial comprehension will not help you.

Peek at FMC's survey here and stay tuned for updates. It's all about music for now but I bet this is replicable for theater, dance, etc!

OTHER RESOURCES FROM FUTURE OF MUSIC COALITION:
Educational and Cultural Grants (more than a few artists seem to be getting these grants! this site is a bit obtuse but check it out and the next two links too)
http://exchanges.state.gov/

Rhythm Road:
http://exchanges.state.gov/cultural/rhythm.html

Jazz at Lincoln Center's webpage for Rhythm Road:
http://jalc.org/TheRoad/index.asp

OURGOODS: Sharing Power: From a Sharing Economy to Solidarity Economics

The Creative Time Summit is "a conference that brings together cultural producers—including artists, critics, writers, and curators—to discuss how their work engages pressing issues affecting our world. Their international projects bring to the table a vast array of practices and methodologies that engage with the canvas of everyday life. The participants range from art world luminaries to those purposefully obscure, providing a glimpse into an evolving community concerned with the political implications of socially engaged art."

In 8-minute presentations, we heard from artists, activists, and designers from all over the world. A moving statement came from Annenberg Prize winner Jeanne van Heeswijk: "In my work, we are learning collectively to take responsibility."

So, what are the political implications of socially engaged art? If politics is about the distribution of power (or "how we learn collectively to take responsibility"), how does socially engaged art distribute power and help groups learn collectively to take responsibility? For me, a lot of socially engaged art is like the new term "sharing economy", giving a little without changing power structures. The projects that moved me most at Creative Time's Summit and exhibition, Living as Form, truly engage communities by redistributing power. Remember, as Participatory Rural Appraisal tells us, "participation without redistribution of power is an empty and frustrating process for the powerless."

If you haven't visited the show yet, consider where each project places the participants in this ladder of participation:

- manipulate
- inform
- consult
- placate
- partner
- delegate
- participate

All of this reminds me of a conversation I had with Cheyenna Weber of SolidarityNYC...

Caroline (2010): “What’s the difference between the sharing economy and the solidarity economy?”
Cheyenna (2010): “It’s the difference between doing something that is good and doing something that is just. It’s the difference between friends helping each other and true social justice.”

Cheyenna and Caroline (2011): We all recognize that sharing is good. Sharing, lending, and borrowing help connect neighbors, encouraging isolated individuals to create community by consuming less. But the latest sharing projects all focus on wealthy neighbors. What if I’ve never had too much? How do we address social inequity? How do we redistribute power to the majority who live without it? To transform an economic system which fails to meet community needs, we have to move from a sharing economy to a solidarity economy.

What's the difference? The solidarity economy is based on democratic control and social justice, not just cooperation and ecological sustainability. It's about sharing power. Solidarity means recognizing our global interdependence, addressing injustices in our communities by replacing dynamics of unequal power with grassroots, cooperative leadership. The sharing economy is one step towards a system-wide change, where all people are empowered to meet their needs. Sharing is about neighbors helping neighbors, but in which neighborhoods? Solidarity means sharing with your neighbor in public housing by joining a credit union, supporting low income immigrants who run worker-owned businesses, and providing sliding scale pricing at events to welcome all people. The solidarity economy addresses power imbalances directly through grassroots economic justice.

In New York City we are lucky to have hundreds of examples of solidarity economy practices. Sometimes they are new, utilizing economic innovations, and other times they are a return to ancient survival strategies which have served our communities well. Together they make up a dynamic alternative to an economy based solely on profit and greed. The models vary but cross all sectors of economic activity: housing, healthcare, retail, financial services, food, culture, and transportation, to name a few.

At solidaritynyc.org we're documenting these practices and models in an online map and a series of short films portraying the stories of different solidarity economy leaders. The films, Portraits of the Solidarity Economy, include stories of food and worker cooperatives, intentional communities, credit unions, community gardens, barter networks, and participatory budgeting. Each is empowering specific NYC communities and in turn creating a solidarity alternative to the destructive economic transactions that dominant our daily lives.

If you want more info about the Summit, watch the videos here (in particular, I'd watch Laura Flanders, Urban Bush Women, Ted Purves, and Jeanne van Heeswijk): http://www.creativetime.org/programs/archive/2011/summit/summit_presenters.html

OURGOODS: Why do artists need to share resources?

Think about this...

1) More Americans identify as artists than as lawyers, doctors, or police officers... There are at least 2 million of us! (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

2) Since 2009, 80% of arts organizations in NY are reducing their budgets and more than 50% are reducing staff and canceling programs. (source: Alliance for the Arts 2009)

3) Meanwhile, sharing is on the rise. As The Economist put it, "What do you do when you are green, broke and connected? You share."

4) OurGoods exists because more work gets done in networks of mutual respect and shared resources than in competitive isolation. By working together, members of OurGoods build lasting ties in communities of enormous potential.

How is OurGoods funded?

Three years ago, I applied for the first round of ERPA funding for the idea that became OurGoods.org. With three years of mentorship and financial support from The Field backing OurGoods up, I'm teaching a class at The New School called Barter: The Social Practice of Non-Monetary Exchange. If you're interested in reading more about barter and following the class from the blog, go to http://barterclass.tumblr.com/. Also, we just received $100,000 from The Rockefeller Foundation and will be running an analog version of OurGoods as part of Creative Time's Living as Form show. For a schedule of events there, and appointments for barter advice, check out: http://ourgoods.org/events/ourgoods_living_as_form