Emerging Program Institute: sessions | schedule | travel | register
February 15-17, 2009 | Charlotte, NC & Spartanburg, SC

The Emerging Program Institute will combine best practices from the nonprofit arts sector with specific, hands-on information about artists’ residencies, in an informal, participatory setting.

Topics include:

• Mission Impossible? - Bring your mission statement (the rougher the better!), get feedback from your peers, and go home with something clearer, more focused, and more reflective of your unique purpose
• Using the Internet for Good: Fundraising 101 and Crafting Your Call to Action - Practical tools and strategies for building a successful and compelling presence online, presented by Jono Smith.
  Jono Smith is the vice president of marketing at Network for Good, a nonprofit committed to making it simple and affordable for nonprofits of any size to recruit donors and volunteers online. Prior to joining Network for Good, Jono spent eight years as the marketing director at SunGard Higher Education, helping colleges and universities in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East use online technologies to better serve their students. Jono also served in the Clinton Administration as a Special Assistant to the Director of White House Communications. Jono holds an undergraduate degree in English and Theatre from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and currently lives in Washington, DC.
• Facilitating Transformation - Lessons learned in providing artists with the support to transform their creative practice
• Partnerships that Work - Practical considerations in building partnerships that can evolve, aligning missions, and collaborating efficiently and effectively. Led by Scott Browning, founder, Hall Farm Center (Townshend, Vermont).
• In Your Own Backyard - Using Charlotte, North Carolina; Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Townshend, Vermont as case-studies, explore how artists' residency programs can be responsive and connected to their local communities
• Building Your Brand - What makes your organization unique? Who are your peers? Who do you hope to attract? Find your own style, use it consistently, and woo the world.
• Asking the Artists - Many artists' residency programs ask the artists for something during a residency -- from administrative work to performances or presentations to outreach projects. We'll look at some different approaches, from the loosey-goosey to highly structured, and explore how to ensure a good experience for all, how to protect the solitary time of artists, and communicating expectations upfront.

Site visits offer the opportunity to see artists' communities first-hand, to meet the staff and artists, and to explore facilities, site development, hospitality handling, and all of the other tricky, sticky elements of running an artists' residency program:

• The McColl Center for Visual Art (Charlotte, NC): McColl Center, located in downtown Charlotte, aspires to be the leading Center for creative and transformational exchanges between and among artists and the community. Their mission is advancing artists and community through dynamic residencies, exhibitions, and educational programs based in contemporary art. Based in a renovated church, McColl Center has spectactular visual arts facilities and vibrant community programming.
• HUB-BUB (Spartanburg, SC): What was once an old Nash Rambler car dealership is now the front line of creative culture in downtown Spartanburg. HUB-BUB offers more than 100 nights of art, culture, and entertainment a year in the Showroom Gallery and Performance Hall, including concerts, film, progressive art exhibits, experimental theatre, workshops, community forums and more. HUB-BUB also hosts an innovative Artist-in-Residence program, inviting emerging young artists from all over the country to live, make their art, and interact with Spartanburg in inventive ways.

The 2009 Emerging Program Institute is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.