Dual Citizenship: Artists Residencies in the US and Abroad
As if running a nonprofit organization and an artists’ residency program weren’t challenging enough, several organizations have set up shop in both the US and abroad, programming across borders, languages and cultures, as a sort of dual citizenship for artists’ communities. For these organizations, managing a double identity in the US and abroad reflects their commitment to celebrating and understanding both the intersections and divergences between cultures, through the art, artists, and local communities that form the fabric of each organization.
The Convergence of Art & Science
An increasing view of artists and scientists as equal partners, where neither discipline is compromised, is an exciting development in the residency field. It is this search for balance that has drawn so many to the convergence of science and art. “This growing and global movement has…taken on an increasingly collaborative eco-activist agenda as well as a visually stunning and celebratory one…. Addressing the world’s problems will require creative and inspiring collaborations between people, places and creatures.”
Artists’ Communities Make Case for Public Worth
In May 2005, the Board of Selectmen in Peterborough, New Hampshire, said they had doubts about The MacDowell Colony’s eligibility for the charitable property tax exemption defined by state law, beginning a two-year legal battle that resulted in a court decision in March 2007 in favor of the Colony. While the case began as an issue of property tax exemption, the lawsuit raised much larger questions: What public good is served by residencies, both for society at large and for local communities? And how can a retreat-style residency -- one that provides visiting artists with seclusion from the public -- demonstrate its value to the community?
Studio Safety
There are many resources to help you establish studio practices that protect the health and safety of both artists and the environment. Your local college or university likely has a department of health and environmental safety, with guidelines for waste disposal, clean-up, spill procedures and more. There are also a number of online resources available.
Raising Women’s Voices
“Unless you hear from women, you’re only hearing half the story,” goes the saying at Hedgebrook, a retreat for women writers on Whidbey Island, Washington. Others, too, follow this principle, including Hopscotch House, the residency program of the Kentucky Foundation for Women, in Prospect, Kentucky; Soapstone, a residency for women writers on the Oregon coast; and Women’s Studio Workshop, a residency for women in the visual arts, focusing on the production of artists’ books, in Rosendale, New York. The stories of their beginnings are similar—one or a small handful of women working to increase opportunities for women artists and to create an environment that will be a catalyst for change.
Public Access to Your Financial Data
As a nonprofit, your organization’s financial data is, generally speaking, public information. Increasingly, funders, prospective employees, community groups, and others are accessing nonprofits’ 990 forms. Being able to access this information also means that more data can be collected on nonprofits and research conducted on trends, financial viability, and growth in the nonprofit sector.
Measuring Joy: Evaluation at Baltimore Clayworks
It wasn’t so long ago that when I would see the words “measurable outcomes” on a grant proposal, I would experience a wave of nausea and anxiety. I would be required, the grant stated, to prove to the prospective funder that our programs and activities had created a better life for those who touched clay, and for the rest of the city -- and maybe the rest of humanity. Wow! A tall order. Not only were we to prove how a small clay airplane can save the world, but save it by what percent over last year, and how airplanes versus cups, for instance, can have a significant impact on a community.
Ragdale — A Historic Landscape Revisited
Created in 1898 by Architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in Lake Forest, Illinois, Ragdale served as the family retreat for more than three-quarters of a century. After 25 years of operation as an artists’ retreat, it was clear that without intervention and careful planning and management, the resources that have given Ragdale its identity and significance for more than a century would begin to disappear. The Alliance spoke with Carol Yetken, the landscape architect who created Ragdale’s Master Plan based upon a collaboration of Ragdale staff and trustees, professionals, Shaw family descendants, artists-in-residence, and community stakeholders.
A Conversation on Diversity
Four Alliance members—Malcolm Christian from Caversham Centre in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Mark Masuoka from the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, NE, Ce Scott from the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, NC, and Pamela Winfrey from the Exploratorium in San Francisco—engaged in a discussion on how their organizations approach diversity.
Artist Workspaces: Creativity in Collective
The exchange of ideas is at the heart of any artists’ community. Artist workspaces are one model of residency: they offer shared studio space that encourages engagement between artists and often emphasize a particular art form and its associated facilities, equipment, materials, and technical assistance. Artist workspace residencies can be a practical response to the logistical needs specific to an art form, such as sculpture, printmaking, glass arts, and digital media. Like all residencies, they support artists in the creation of new work in a variety of ways, which may include financial support, room and board, professional development, production assistance, exhibition, and more.