A book all about you

"There are hundreds of eager young leaders ready to take the reins of the arts"

From Ian David Moss' blog Createquity, September 17, 2009

Edward Clapp's 20UNDER40 anthology, a publication that will feature twenty chapters from emerging leaders in the arts under 40 years of age, has received an eye-opening 304 responses to its recent call for proposals from 343 authors on five continents. This is, frankly, a pretty astounding yield for a project with no history, financial reward, or major institutional backing. From Clapp's email this afternoon:

Given the number of proposals before us, publication in 20UNDER40 can be equally compared to the acceptance rates of the world's most elite academic and cultural institutions.... I feel it is important for all of us-whatever our age or experience-to pause and reflect for a moment on the surge of interest from young arts professionals. What does it mean, what does it tell us that such a massive response has ensued from a simple, grassroots call to voice geared towards young and emerging professionals at this juncture in the evolution of the arts?

My answer: Clearly, the field has spoken. There are literally hundreds of eager young leaders ready to take the reins of the arts for the purpose of redirecting the field in a positive new direction-one that greatly differs from the methods of policy and practice we know today.

Young leaders have asked to be heard, and through this project and the residual conversations and actions that will emanate from its expanse, they will no longer be ignored. Clapp has set up a Facebook site to discuss the implications in more detail.

-Reprinted from "You've Cott Mail"

Burning

There's been a lot of emphasis on the positive during these tough times in a tough field - and that's fine. But sometimes, our cheery spin on dark matters works against us. Here's a great article on how nonprofits starve themselves out of existence by under-reporting overhead and creating false expectations among funders by painting pictures several shades rosier than reality.

It made us think of how all the discussions about solutions and innovations lately have squeezed out our Constitutional right to complain about work.

Some times your job sucks. That's alright. We are here to listen. Please feel free to post comments about how your work is burning you out. Try to be relatively civil, and feel free to remain anonymous.

We'll give out a prize for the complaint with the best high-minded moral.

Job site

I'm a little over-tired. My planning horizon went from months to weeks to days - right now, I pretty much have about 6 hours mapped out at a time. I just sent out a message to our members on Facebook related to this post that sounded like a pitch for Nigerian Horny Goat weed.

Here it is in (hopefully) more articulate form: found a site that custom searches arts jobs and emails them to you: Work in the Arts. I haven't tried it, and there is a fee, so if you check it out, please let us know what you think.

-Chris Casquilho

Repost from Mission Paradox

Interesting comments on personal capital and founderitis at Mission Paradox.

Job Opening at Lake Placid Center for the Arts

Lake Placid Center for the Arts
Job Description – Production Manager/Office Manager

Reports to Assistant Director
Responsibilities include general office responsibilities, supporting fundraising activities, and programming activities as follows:

Office Manager:
- general office responsibilities including - answering phone, processing office correspondences,
filing, bulk mailings, assembling programs, distribution of printed materials, copying, etc.
- staff the Box Office as needed per scheduling
- coordinate maintenance of office equipment
- inventory and order all office supplies and office printed materials
- assist in maintaining master mailing list for donors, benefits, schools artists, etc.
- assist in maintaining permanent history of donation records
- record donations received annually
- process acknowledgments to donors
- assist with annual fund appeal/membership drive printing, labels and mailing
- assist in processing annual thank you
- assist on processing special targeted mailings and campaigns
- assist in processing ticket reservations and workshops registrations
- assist at all special events including performances, receptions, and benefits
- assist in soliciting annual program advertisers
- process mailings of gallery invitations and prospectus for artists and schools
- other duties as assigned by the Assistant Director and Director
- coordinate all bulk mailings

Production Manager:
- coordinate housing, hospitality and special needs for artists and instructors
- coordinate receptions for performances and special events
- produce performance printed programs
- maintain master grid of space allocation for all spaces
- coordinate special off-site programs ie: bus trips annually
- coordinate volunteers for program activities ie: Green Market Wednesday
- assist with the installation and dismantling of gallery exhibitions
- develop and maintain workshop supplies
- assist in processing instructor contracts
- coordinate gallery receptions
- assist in processing exhibition lists and labels for shows

Full-time salaried position (range $23,500 to $26,000 to start based on experience). Some weekend and evening hours may be required. Regular schedule Mon-Fri. 9am-5pm. Full benefit package: Health Insurance, Retirement Plan, Flexible Spending Plan and annual paid vacation, holiday and sick time.

Please send resume and cover letter to: LPCA, 17 Algonquin Drive, Lake Placid, NY 12946

Convention Links

Hi Everybody,

Americans for the Arts has provided these links for people interested in following the convention:

http://blog.artsusa.org/

http://www.facebook.com

I have also added a session to my program:

Navigating the Art of Change: Current Research on Arts Funding Projections for 2009

Tanya

Storymapping in Communities

Presented by – Joe Lambert, Director, the Center for Digital Storytelling
Bruce France, Co-Founder, Mondo Bizzaro

Before you read any further, call this phone number: (504) 256-1116. When prompted, choose and dial any number between 01-20. Now listen….

What you are experiencing is I-Witness Central City, a storymapping project in New Orleans. This is a community-based storytelling project on steroids! Goodbye stages, microphones, metal folding chairs, and Kinko’s copies….Hello 21st century!

Essentially, “storymapping” is a method of reclaiming the dialogue and character of individuals and a community. The presenters use modern, readily available technologies, to create a map of stories in cities around the world. Usually these cities or town have a dramatic, traumatic, or interesting story to tell, stories that speak to a forgotten time or place, stories that have been embellished or changed over time, or stories that are happening at the moment. Individuals who participate are asked to tell a story, any story of a place – they are not interviewed. The stories are recorded and/or videotaped, edited and uploaded, and then the people (encouraged by signs placed in the locations of each of the stories) call a phone number and hear the story. The program is supplemented by a website with video of some of the individuals telling their stories at the locations they are talking about. The Center of Digital Storytelling has worked with organizations and individuals in 16 cities, all over the world. Generally, each project is promoted signs, indicating which locations are represented in the project, local press and word of mouth. Some projects and their supporting organizations also host receptions and/or musical or theater performances based on the project. The technology and stories are approachable and storymapping is a community arts project any organization (willing to commit the manpower and funds) can accomplish.

Here are some of the questions participants asked after the presentation: (the answer is listed in italics)

1. Who holds the copyright for each individual story and the project as a whole? The teller always owns the story. In the future, The Center for Digital Storytelling would like to create a digital archive for the stories told in projects they work on. After 75 years, as defined by current copyright laws, the archive would be public with no restrictions or liabilities.
2. How do you find stories? Word of mouth! Once somebody tells their story, they often say we should speak to so-and-so –that is how we find most of our stories.
3. Where does the funding for these projects come from? The money comes from a variety of places including grants, community or regional philanthropic organizations, local arts councils, and/or state government. Both the Center for Digital Storytelling and Mondo Bizarro hold workshops to train staff at collaborating organizations in media use, film/sound editing and marketing techniques.
4. What technology is used for these projects? For video projects, everything from PowerPoint to iMovie can be used. There are hundreds of options for video and sound programs – you just have to do a little research. A good place to start is the NYU ITP Phonebank – the students and faculty in this program are doing innovative things – one student is working on a program that lets your plants call you when they need to be watered! (AWESOME!)

Here are some websites to check out:
You can see video of the I-Witness Central City project at: www.mondobizzaro.org
www.storycenter.org - The Center for Digital Storytelling
www.geograffiti.com - is an open-source resource that allows cell phone users to leave a “graffiti tag” of their location
http://www.museudapessoa.net/ingles/ - The largest storymapping project in the world.
www.voicethread.com - an open source resource where visitors can share stories. The site also acts as a collaborative tool for storytelling

P.S. Didn’t know what storymapping was at first – ended up loving this discussion!

General Session: Lunch, Awards, Statements on the State of the Arts, American’s for the Arts Annual Report

Fun Fact: 1200 artists, arts educators and arts administrators are attending the convention.

The general session was a wonderful mix of networking and time to reflect on the current state of the arts. I was seated between an architect from New York City who specializes in public art projects and city/organizational collaboration and the ED of an arts council in Tennessee. Bill Ivey, the guest speaker and advisor to the Obama campaign, spoke passionately about how to move forward in a new administration. He encouraged everybody to walk away and do the following: 1. Trust in your national leadership – even if it may not work as quickly as you would like, he knows first-hand how important the arts are to our new administration 2. Work hard to make your leaders follow through with their promises 3. Move from sustaining the arts in a community to the arts sustaining a community.

Lunch ended with the Americans for the Arts Annual Report where Robert Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, highlighted four goals defined in their 3-year (2009-2011) strategic plan:
1. Strengthening informed leaders – from emerging leaders to state and national policy makers
2. Increasing resources and meaningful policies in the arts
3. A better understanding of the broad value of the arts
4. Ensure the organizational stability of Americans for the Arts.

At the general session I had (what I think is) a great idea – let’s put together a resource library for the Emerging Upstate Arts Professionals. The idea came to me while Bill Ivey was discussing and (admittedly) shamelessly, promoting his book, published in 2008, Arts Inc., Let me know what you think – would you use a resource library? What books and/or publications should we include? Does anybody know of any grants or funding opportunities for something like this….for a group that is not a 501c3?

Newcomer’s Orientation

The Newcomer’s Orientation began with a warm welcome to all first-time convention visitors and a brief statement about the history of the annual convention. We were all asked if we like games….I thought, "sure, who doesn’t”. I Love games, especially when prizes are involved, so I joined in the enthusiastic YES. We were then told we would have to count off, one…two…one, two….around each table – this was a little reminiscent of grade school gym class, but I did it and for some strange reason was happy I was a “one” and not a “two”. I guess we all want to be a one, right? We were then told what we were doing – we would be playing a game where you stand in a two circles, face the person directly behind you, introduce yourself and answer a question…the questions ranged from "what are you a veteran of?" to "what would your superpower be if you could be a superhero?" The strange thing was after a few questions (and lots of stepping on other people’s feet when we were instructed to move) I actually understood why we were playing this game. Starting a conversation by introducing yourself to someone is one thing, engaging someone in a conversation is something completely different, especially when that something is something that on the outset seems ridiculous. I met a veteran of “paint,” a grant writer from Alaska who wished she could just appear wherever she wanted to be so she could go to every professional development activity she wanted to and a public art coordinator who I now share a secret handshake with. Reflecting on the game, it seemed ridiculous at the time, but it did facilitate discussion, interesting discussion, and really warmed us all up for the next few days. In the end, we were given this advice: pay attention, listen and get involved in some way.

Another hello....

Well, I am in Seattle (as my earlier post mentioned) and here is blogging plan…
I am finding out that only having 30 minute breaks between sessions, I barely have enough time to look at my notes, much less find a hotspot and transfer my barely legible notes to the blog. I am also encountering an internet problem – there is no Wi-Fi in any of the meeting rooms or common areas. Americans for the Arts did set-up a cyber café for participants to check their mail or do other web-based work, but there are 1200 participants here and only 12 computers. Needless to say, my earlier post is about as much info as I could get out without feeling like I wasn’t being fair to the people in line behind me. So my new plan is…take great notes and update the blog at the end of the day, where I will use my $12.95 a day internet connection at the hotel. Separate posts will be labeled by session and will include my notes, sometimes a short reflection and my general impressions of each lecture/conversation. I am also including links to any websites presenters referred participants to, or were mentioned during conversations. As I review my notes and reflect on the convention, I may also update posts or add new ones.

If you have any thoughts or questions, just post them in the comments section to start a dialogue with the group!

Just signed in!

Hi EU^P'ers,

I just signed in for the convention - I am looking at four long lines of people waiting to register representing arts organizations from all over the United States and Canada. I have about 15 minutes until the newcomers orientation, so I should go!

Tanya

Off to Seattle for the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention!

Hi Emerging Upstate Arts Professionals,

As some of you may know, I received an Emerging Leaders Scholarship to attend the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention: Renewable Resources, Arts in Sustainable Communities, in Seattle this year. In an effort to bring valuable information from the convention to local and regional emerging and established arts professionals, I will be updating our blog regularly while I am in Seattle. The updates will include my notes and a reflection on each seminar I plan on attending. I would also like to be YOUR voice at the convention! Do you have questions for any of the speakers and/or presenters? Do you have a topic or question you would like me to present during any of the emerging leaders networking meetings? Let me know! I will post answers to your questions and notes of any discussions for everybody to read on the blog and on our facebook page!

Here are the sessions I plan on attending: you can learn all about the presenters and sessions on the Americans for the Arts website (I posted the link above):

Thursday, June 18
10:30am - 11:15am: Newcomer Orientation
11:30am - 1:30pm: The Sustainability of the Arts Sector, Americans for the Arts Annual Report and Leadership Awards
2:00pm - 3:30pm: Uprooted Memories: Storymapping in Communities
3:30pm - 4:00pm: Networking Break
4:00pm - 5:30pm: The Arts and Sustainability: Building New Bridges by Tracking New Indicators
6:30pm - 9:30pm: Opening Reception: Sightings in Seattle

Friday, June 19
8:15am - 9:45am: Leadership Keynote Presentation (Dr. Peter Senge)
12:30pm - 3:30pm: Career 360
3:30pm - 5:00pm: Networking Break: Emerging Leaders Network
8:00pm - 10:00pm: Emerging Leaders Reception

Saturday, June 20
9:00am - 10:00am: Network and Peer Group Meeting: Emerging Leaders Network
10:30am - 12:00pm: Closing General Session: Arts & Environmental Sustainability in Practice

2:00pm - catch my flight home

I can't wait to hear from everybody!

Tanya

Social Media Reux

Thanks to everyone who attended the social media workshop on Thursday, April 9.

For resources and websites referred to in the talk, visit delicious.com/chriscasquilho - appropriate information will be under tags "twitter," "facebook," "social media," "tools," and "nonprofit."

We look forward to seeing you all again - and until then, follow us @chriscasquilho @anabozny @euap @T_Tobias. Join the Emerging Upstate Arts Professionals Facebook Group.

April 9th Meeting Announced

"Dude - Can I Tweet Your Hashtag?" will introduce marketers and administrators to blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and associated resources, such as Twitterfeed and Ping. Basic familiarity will be emphasized, expanding to a discussion about who in the community uses these tools, and how they are used to communicate mission and programming to stakeholders. Attendees leaving the workshop will understand how to set up the various applications, what technology is required to use them, and how the technologies relate to each other and the field. - presented by Chris Casquilho, Managing Director - Depot Theatre

More about Chris:
Chris hails from the Big Sky state of Montana, where he cut his teeth working with the Missoula Children's Theatre as an instructor and custodian. He performed over the years in Montana with the Fort Missoula Theatre Company, the Illustrious Virginia City Players and the Firehouse 5 Playhouse. Chris has worked off-broadway as a carpenter, electrician, technical director, and production manager, as well as serving a turn as the technical director as SUNY Potsdam in 2003. He helped launch a new performing space and shop for the Civic Theatre of Allentown, PA and co-founded the Fantod Theatre company in Chicago in 1998 - dedicated to developing and premiering new works by Chicago playwrights. Before beginning work at the Depot, he served as the Director of Development and, later, as the Executive Director for the Firehouse 5 Playhouse in Livingston, Montana - just north of the Yellowstone National Park. Chris has served as the administrative assistant for the Park County Community Foundation during its formative phase, and sits on the board af the Champlain VAlley Film Society. He has served as a grant panelist for NYFA's SOS grant program and for NYSCA's DEC grant program. He writes a lot of comments on other people's blogs, and sometimes writes his own - Henslowe's Diary - "the 7-10 split of nonprofit theatre management." Chris was also recently invited to talk about social media at the Theatre Communications Group National Conference.

This professional development and networking session is FREE and all emerging and established arts administrators are welcome to join us!

Income Based Repayment

To help answer the question "how can I afford to work in the arts with my overpriced liberal arts degree" comes the following information on Income Based Repayment. It looks technical, but it might be worth something to you to go through it. It includes details about debt forgiveness for public sector workers - including workers at 501(c)3 orgs.

Tweets for the Tweet

For those of you exploring the seamy digital underbelly of social networks, EUAP now has a Twitter profile. Follow it @euap.

There is also a hashtag #euap that you can include in tweets relating to this group.

For those of you trying to enforce some kind of order on this chaos, check out TweetDeck, iTweet (for iPhones), Twidget (Mac OS), and Twitterfox (add-in for Firefox).

Finally, if you're still wondering what it's all for and why you should bother, check out the following links:

http://philanthropy.com/live/2009/02/social_media/

corporatedollar.org

bethkanter.org

ArtsManager.org Review

I just explored the ArtsManager website and like most the more people who are committed to participating, the better it is.

Here is a little summary:
1. The site provides a weekly news roundup. It is nice to have an organized group of articles about relevant topics all on one site.
2. The site has a discussion board. For the most part, I feel discussion boards are all the same and are generally only as good as the people who actually post on them, but this one (as an internationally promoted site) has the potential to be an amazing resource for arts managers. I would hope over time, arts managers from all over the world can provide input to questions posted by emerging or established professionals - the diversity and the breadth of knowledge would be invaluable.
3. The Resource Center. Alas, it is currently pretty thin but here's hoping for an abundance of valuable resources! Another part of the website that has the potential to be great.
4. The Surveys. Ever have a question about something like "what are your membership benefits" for another organization? Now you don't have to make an intern look up the phone numbers or e-mails for all of the people you want to ask, you can just post a survey on this website and get responses.

There were a few not-so-good things about it:
1. Holy navigation problems Batman! Click here, go here, click there, go to the same here...weird and a little eerie. I almost felt like I was meant to be reading something on that page. Like most websites, the kinks just need to be worked out
2. Not enough people participating......yet.

I would be interested in hearing everybody's thoughts once they explore the site!

Tanya

ARTS MANAGERS RESOURCE

This was included in the NYS Alliance for Arts Education e-newsletter and may be of interest:

Artsmanager.org is a resource for current and future arts managers, board members, and students who seek real solutions to management challenges faced by many not-for-profit arts organizations. Features of this site include news updates, discussion boards, KC President Michael Kaiser’s bi-weekly blog, and a resource center to provide practical advice for busy arts managers.

Visit artsmanager.org

De-tweet

Hi folks-

I was over-exuberant in my hashtag excitement. I had it up and running for a day, and it made a bungled mess.

Refer to the previous post, but ignore everything about twitterfeed - still a good service, just not for that. If you're tweeting, you can still use the hashtag...

I'm slightly out of my league...

Posted by Chris Casquilho

February Networking Meeting Announced

Hi Emerging Upstate Arts Professionals,

This month, the Emerging Upstate Arts Professionals are heading north! UpstArt has generously invited us to attend their Valentine’s Day Peep Show – A Juried Erotic Art Show and Valentine's Day Party, featuring work by Jonathan Becker, David Thurlow, Erin Lonergan, and other area artists. Food, spirits, live music, costumes! Network and mingle with artists, arts professionals, lovers of art and everybody in between!

Here are the details:

February Networking Meeting

When: Saturday, February 14, 2009: 7:00pm - ? (this Saturday!)
Where: The UpstArt Gallery @ The Rusty Matcutter
21 Cooper St. Suite 301, 3rd Floor
Glens Falls, NY

Want to know more about UpstArt?
You can find them on MySpace and Facebook or visit the Rusty Matcutter website: www.therustymatcutter.com/index.html

UpstArt is a not for profit contemporary arts organization, formed one year ago for the purpose of bringing together the contemporary arts community and the upstate New York community. Our organization seeks to promote visual arts, music, writing and theatre while serving our local communities by hosting charity events and art openings, as well as a place to come together and share ideas. We work in a cooperative, networking capacity and are thoroughly respectful and conscious of our impact on our surroundings.

Hey, man, can I tweet your hashtag?

It sounds...well...like a really bad come on, or maybe a script for a grungy-vice-cop TV pilot.

But it's not! Tweeting a hashtag is the wave of the future. Moreover, it's the wave of our future.

For those of you unfamiliar, check out Twitter for the basic mechanics of the platform.

Once you're signed up and running, check out this commentary on hashtags.

Also read this.

If you want to follow the #euap hashtag via SMS on your cell phone, you'll need to:

1. register for twitterfeed
2. follow the following rss: http://hashtags.org/tag/euap.rss UPDATE: Twitterfeed doesn't work well for this application...wouldn't recommend it - Chris Casquilho

Then, start following #euap for tweets of earth-shattering importance!

Some of this is a little foggy feeling at first - but that seems to be the nature of these things. There's been a lot of learn-as-you-go and wiki-style help features. This might not be the end product, but it's the way of things for now. If you're looking for clear answers, social media isn't for you. But then again, where else are you getting clear answers...

Princess Grace Request for Proposals

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA has announced the availability of applications for the 2009 Princess Grace Awards in Theater, Playwriting, Dance Performance, Choreography, and Film. Founded in 1982, the foundation is dedicated to identifying and assisting emerging artists in theater, dance, and film, and has awarded grants totaling over $5 million to nearly 500 individuals across the United States.

Theater Awards take the form of scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships. Grants are awarded based on the quality of the emerging artists' past work, their potential for future excellence, and the impact the collaboration between the nominating organization and the artist will have on the individual's artistic growth. The Playwriting Award includes a residency at New Dramatists, Inc. in New York City. Individuals may submit an unproduced, unpublished full-length play for consideration. (Deadline: March 31, 2009.)

Dance Performance Awards take the form of scholarships and fellowships. Awards are based on the applicant's artistic merit, significance of the award to her/his current artistic development, and the potential for future excellence and impact on the field. Choreography Fellowships offer emerging choreographers the opportunity to create a new work with a company with which they have little experience. (Deadline: April 30, 2009.)

Film Scholarships, awarded to both undergraduate and graduate students, are by invitation only. Universities, colleges, and schools are invited to recommend applicants via their Department Chairs or Deans. Film scholarships provide funding toward the filmmaker's thesis film. A complete list of accepted schools is in the FAQs of the Grants Program section at the foundation's Web site. (Deadline: June 1, 2009.)

Award amounts generally range from $5,000 to $25,000 each, based upon expenses for annual salary or artistic fee, tuition, or thesis project costs. All award applicants must be U.S. citizens or have permanent resident status at the time of application. Additionally, all applicants (except playwriting) must be nominated by a nonprofit organization (school or company) with which they will be affiliated during the grant period (September 2009 to August 2010).

For further information and applications, visit the foundation's Web site.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Three generations

Three generations

Posted using ShareThis

This is a post from Andrew Taylor at Artful Manager about inter-generational knowledge transfer discussed at the National Arts Presenter's conference recently.

Digital a-go-go

Hey gang!

There's a whole lot of talk out there about Twitter, Skype, Blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, and sites being launched right this minute that will change how we communicate and do business.

Being the arts professionals of today and the arts executives of tomorrow, we had better get a handle on them. I've been trying to keep up, and it is daunting to be sure. I've read advice like "you should be using at least five of the seven social media sites" or "you don't have to do everything, just do one thing right" etc.

I agree that one should focus one's energies on what one can do well - but if we're going to talk the talk, we should walk the walk. I've got my blog set up to twitter my twitter followers when I make a new post...whoa! My blog also posts to Facebook, and my Twitter updates my Facebook status. My company has a Facebook page and a Facebook group.

Who cares? Well, if I'm heading to my Emerging Upsate Arts Professionals meeting, or attending the gallery opening of a steering committee member I can twitter it from my phone which will stick it on facebook for me, and everyone tuned in will slap their heads, grab their coats, and run (not walk) to the event. I can go home and blog about what a great time we all had and what miraculous insights we gained thereby, and everyone who missed it will get to partake in some measure of the fruits.

I throw the following gauntlet to those of you who consider yourselves the next generation of arts leaders...

Even if you don't use them regularly, you should set up an account in the following:
1. Twitter
2. Skype
3. Facebook
4. Blogger (so you can set up blog following, even if you don't write one.)

Furthermore, I would like to see the members of this group:
1. Subscribe to this blog - use rss, add it to your facebook, subscribe via email, or whatever.
2. Join the Facebook group Emerging Upstate Arts Professionals.
3. Set up a Skype account and add all the Emerging Arts Professionals you can find.

Finally, as a test, I ask all Emerging Upstate Arts Professionals to have a Twitter account set up by the time of our next meeting on February 12. We'll see if we can't orchestrate a mass tweat and start up the list.

Cheers!

posted by Chris Casquilho