Yesterday I posted about some bigger discussions to have when engaging in the discourse on funding for the arts. I spoke about communities and artist support & integration. Today, as promised I want to talk about the power of the arts community and the myth of scarcity.

The myth of scarcity in the arts is the long held belief that there’s not enough X to go around. Where X represents one patrons, audience, venues, whatever. This myth creates a sometimes vicious competitive environment.

The myth is detrimental to both individual artists and the community.

The good news is that it really is BS. But that does mean coming to terms with some understanding and reality checks. The first concept to grasp is that the current system of the arts industry is broken, the pyramid is inverted. Artists, who should be at the top of the pyramid (all other services should be in support of artist) are currently at the bottom (playing the support role to all the services). This is not a complaint, just a statement of (important word choice coming up) current fact. In order to change this, artists will need to begin with reconsidering how to succeed in the art world (more on that later).

Another reality check is that there is only a minuscule number (I’ve heard rumours that it is 1% of 1% of all artists) make a large amount of money off their artwork. And by large amount of money, I mean rockstar lifestyle. We could probably figure out who they are right now, ummm, Damien Hirst, Olafur Elliasson, maybe Jeff Koons and tangentially Christo & Jean Claude (tan. because they make money off sketches of their work). Am I missing anyone?

Here’s the secret, everyone else is making money off alternative sources of income which are funding their work (teaching, speaking, working in the arts, etc). Now, there are probably quite a lot of artists who make a reasonable amount of money off their work (as opposed to the rockstar levels of money), mostly these are artists who can create easy to market & sell work, which, often is not even the work they would consider the most important or interesting. Like the e-bay and painting-a-day people (there’s a lot of merit in these methods of funding). If you are doing large scale public projects (say a chalk line around NYC) then your funding might come in a small part from grants and individuals, but in a larger part from speaking opportunities, image rights and some amount of commodification. My painter friend is pursuing painting portraits as a means to fund his work, a couple of my other friends who create non-object based work subsist on teaching and occasional fellowships. It’s a good idea to understand that you will be the biggest funder of your own work, so you should find something you can do to make money that will make you happy.

So, about how this community concept can help. It’s quite simple actually, so simple in fact that there is a cliche already made for it: a rising tide lifts all boats.

If as a community we decide that we are going to help one another, whether that is sharing knowledge, resources, experience whatever, then we all rise up together. Don’t even think it isn’t selfish, don’t you think that if I help my friend the painter get a show in a gallery or out at Coney Island, well one day he will turn around and help me when I need it. Sharing is a way of creating greater strength in numbers. (What you give is what you get).

Yes we should all be talking about money too. It empowers us all to know what people are paying for services and products so that we can price our own products and services accordingly. (For example, in my experience speaker fees can range anywhere from $200 [for local panel] to $1000 [for individual presentation outside NYC], and stipends for showing work that is documentary in nature [documentation of a project already completed] is about $300). It also helps us all present a more united front, sure there are lots of artists doing things for free (even I admit to that for a select situation), but the more we all ask for the money we rightly deserve, the more likely people will pay for it. The power of a positive no is a great thing.

So think about it, and figure out what you have to share with your fellow artists, and go out there and give that away (while simultaneously asking to be paid for your creativity).

Photos all creative commons license, courtesy of flickr and: (top to bottom)
“Support Starving Artists” by dltq
“Inverted Pyramide” by megafon (ironic that it is at the louvre no?)
“community kitchen” by smallestbones

I was invited recently to participate on a panel regarding fundraising in the arts. I was told by the organizer that I was being invited for my experience in fundraising for the HighWaterLine project. I told them, you know I only raised about 30% of the cost of the project and funded the rest of it independent filmmaker style (credit cards) and am still working on ways to recoup, so I’m not sure I am the best representative. They said, actually that’s the other reason we have invited you, we want someone who is honest about their fundraising achievements and challenges.

I’m pretty excited about the panel, since, as you may have noticed, I am really interested in talking about new funding models.
I think there are a couple of important parts of the conversation around fundraising which need to be addressed, I will look at value/integration and support of artistic communities today…

First, how we talk about value of the arts in a community. The argument on the monetary value of the arts, while valuable and of great merit is overused and doesn’t fully address all of the facets of a strong arts economy. I just read a good article in the New York Times Magazine about arts in education, it profiles a report which debunks the power of the arts in strengthening skills in the “tested” subject areas. (I’ve had a problem with this argument for a while). Instead it notes that what was witnessed was: “persistence in tackling problems, observational acuity, expressive clarity, reflective capacity to question and judge, ability to envision alternative possibilities and openness to exploration.” (Nowhere has this been made more visible to me than the week I spent at ACPA, where high school students undertook a week long art project with me where they solved problems, collaborated, focused and expressed).Similarly it is important to find ways to talk about the broader impact that the arts has on our community psyche and collective consciousness. What does it mean culturally and socially to be a creative community?

And what does all this have to do with arts funding? It’s re-framing the argument and looking deeper at the value of the arts and encouraging broader support, which gets us back to the other facets of a healthy funding environment for the arts. While city, state, and federal support of the arts combined with private support giving money or resources to both organizations and individuals provides fertile ground, an active patronage also needs to exist to help create a sustainable environment (somebody has to buy the work/tickets/etc).

The final (and possibly most complicated) pieces are both government regulation in support of arts (low rent/tax breaks for venues and orgs, housing subsidy for artists, open permitting and city agency support) and integration of arts and artists into private sector economy.
The integration could occur in a variety of ways - one idea I like is to hire artists within the corporate community to inspire creative thinking. I guarantee that if you put me on your board of directors that I would be able to see things from a different point of view and come up with creative solutions. Within the private sector artists have the ability to inspire the creativity necessary to advance companies. I would also advocate for institutions to host, essentially, artist residencies. I could provide a number of inspiring community based projects to help with any variety of Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club or NRDC initiatives.

Tomorrow I will write about creating a supportive artistic community, as an artist, and how we can help each other overcome the scarcity myth.

Images courtesy of Creative Commons on Flickr (from top to bottom):
“Fund Public Art” by bourgeoisbee
“Funds Please” by otherthings
“Creative Hands - Mindy” by Dalydose
“fuck it i’ll fund that.” by yatta

crossposted from seedingthecity.org

I like to approach projects from an “outside the box” (boy, thats an overused term) point of view. When I mentioned the “Seeding the City” to a friend who works with green roofs, he questioned the value of planting such a small plot of greenery - how is that going to have any real affect on the Urban Heat Island Effect?

May answer, “Each individual module may have a negligible affect, but what would hundreds of modules spread across the city do to both our environment, our awareness and our social fabric?”

When you consider the potential of the project, creating potentially enough greenery on rooftops to recreate a Central Park in the sky? Now it gets interesting.

I have also been considering how to raise money for the project outside of the “normal” channels (i.e. grants). A couple of things have come up recently which I am investigating:

• ThePoint.com is a tipping point model for fundraising and social action. Get enough people to commit to something, and then it can happen. I posted the project on there with enough funds to launch the project, its a pretty high price, so we will see how close I get, but it does allow many people to be involved at a small level - it is a further exploration of microfinancing.
• Another idea is to exchange money for experience or special commodities from the project, this is based on the model of artistshare.com. The funding is given up front and then the funders are invited to participate in interesting ways throughout the project.
• Finally, my own thought of allowing people to “sponsor” grm’s throughout the city. Pay $50 and you would sponsor a grm in your choice of one of the neighborhoods. This wouldn’t be on your own roof, but would include your sponsorship information on the signage and website.

So, does anyone have any thoughts on any of this? Are there ways you would want to participate financially? Would you give a small amount for nothing in return or prefer a larger amount and a unique experience or commodity (if so what would that experience or commodity be?) or would you prefer to know that your funds are directed at a specific piece of action?

I’ve talked before about the collective power of artists and why we should share. I’ve been seeing it repeated on Sellout and in the comments over there recently too. (Basically it is the idea that by sharing resources and knowledge we can actually create a greater wealth of opportunities and resources). In light of that, I was trying to figure out the best way to share those resources with one another. Of course a forum seems like the obvious answer - but that can easily become unweildy and devalues quickly. (It would be hard to replicate the success of chow nee chowhound).

I will start by offering what I know here in these pages…
I will start with the basics, some good places to get reference materials-

• Fractured Atlas: Good place to learn more (professional development), get more (fiscal sponsorship, health insurance, liability insurance [for events, film production & public art], publicize (promote & learn marketing), and get some member discounts.
• Sellout: Participate in an ongoing discussion regarding artist issues.
• Chicago Artist Resource: a fantastic site with loads of information and interviews for artists everywhere (most of the content is not location specific). Check out articles and links to other resources on your practice (incl. health & safety, health insurance links, public art, community & social issue arts, magazines & journals, and a great collection of artist and art professional’s stories), career (incl. strategic planning, marketing & promotion, community, organizations & unions) and business (incl. branding, financial planning, legal issues, and advocacy)
• NYFA: New York Foundation for the Arts is a great site (you have to register to use it) which provides an international listing of resources, called NYFA Source. It is a searchable database of residencies, grants, space, apprenticeships, etc). They also list classifieds - jobs & opportunities.
• International Sculpture Center: Given that the definition of ’sculpture’ has expanded to include installation, video and some time-based works, these resources are for more than sculptors. They host a sculptor community forum, artist’s registry, and resources.
• Artists Space: The most useful (anecdotally) non-fee based, uncurated online image registry.
• Artist Career Guide: Right now it is mostly a promo site for Jackie’s upcoming book, but she is posting interviews with professionals semi-regularly (currently there are interviews with two curators), but it also lists workshops she is teaching - and she can definitely whip your under-promoted butt into shape.

Anyone know of others I should include?

Note to self, other posts should include: grant writing tips, making sticky websites, the theory of becoming an expert, online fundraising…

In trade, anyone know a financial planner who works with artists (needs to know our particular situation) based here in NYC?

Found the image on: http://www.business-improvement.org/.

So, I am just thinking out loud here, but I have been thinking about the creative process and the current funding models for artists and their projects. My favorite funding model (of course) is that of Creative Capital. They award an initial grant and then can provide follow up grants during key points of the project to take advantage of new opportunities and to ensure its success. They also (I love this part) focus on developing the artists career long term by developing the artist. They provide workshops on professional development which teach fundraising, strategic planning and pr/marketing (I happen to know a lot about these workshops). They also provide extensive one on one consultations, referrals to other professionals and an extended network. They really nurture the whole artist. What this does is ensure that the artist’s career is successful beyond any single project.So here’s what I am thinking - and it is still a little muddy - why not create a loan program that operates in a similar way. Loan artists project monies, train them to ensure the project is successful and as their careers blossom they pay the money back (CC asks all grantees to reinvest - once they reach some level of success many of the artists give donations to CC). Maybe this loan program can be combined with the Artist Pension Trust model? Their model requires participating artists to donate artworks to a pool which is sold after a number of years in which the participating artists’ value is expected to increase, then the entire pool of artists shares the proceeds.So maybe the loan program takes in artworks as payment as well. There is certainly some risk involved, and some works will end up with greater value than others, but it may indeed be worth the risk. (Predicated on having object based work or ancillary product to sell).
Anyway, like I said, just thinking out loud here…

Images, top to bottom:
Chris Doyle, “Leap,” Creative Capital Grantee & Artist Pension Trust Participant
Sanford Biggers, “Kalenda” (mistitled on photo), Creative Capital Grantee & Artist Pension Trust Participant

com·mod·i·ty : \kə-mä-də-tē\
Function: noun | Inflected Form(s): plural - com·mod·i·ties | Etymology: Middle English commoditee, from Anglo-French commoditee, from Latin commoditat-, commoditas, from commodus | Date: 15th century
1: an economic good: as a: a product of agriculture or mining b: an article of commerce especially when delivered for shipment <commodities futures> c: a mass-produced unspecialized product <commodity chemicals> <commodity memory chips>
2 a: something useful or valued commodity patience>; also: thing, entity b: convenience, advantage 3: obsolete: quantity, lot 4: a good or service whose wide availability typically leads to smaller profit margins and diminishes the importance of factors (as brand name) other than price
5: one that is subject to ready exchange or exploitation within a market

I was recently asked to explain how I am able to create (fund and find audience for) the kind of work that I do. This question was from someone who a) is professionally interested in managing creative careers and making money (sustainable art) and b) who is steeped in more traditional models within the visual arts world, but has some knowledge in new methods of distribution and funding in the literary, film and music industries. So let’s break this down.
First, the kind of work that I do: I create (in addition to a more traditional studio based practice) temporary, performative based public artworks. Some have sculptural aspects and all have a community building and/or eco-visualization aspect. Most of these projects do not produce a single representative object which can be bought or sold. I am currently using the term “non-object based work.” I use this to describe my work and the work of some friends of mine. Some other examples are, Lise Brenner, a choreographer whose most recent projects include a choreographic charting of native flora in Brooklyn which resulted in directions which could be applied to a performance as the final product (not an actual performance) and a historical investigation of a neighborhood through sound work and tours. Aaron Landsman is a performer who created a sound work that was a tour of a day in the life of a neighborhood and a performance which is produced in individual’s apartments. Stephanie Skaff whose recent project was a street performance in which she set up a street vendor cart in Lower Manhattan to share stories from street vendors around NYC (it was the culmination of months of going out and meeting and speaking to many many vendors around the city). None of these artists’ works result in specific objects which can be bought or sold and neither of them have set up situations which are subject to ticketing for a traditional performance.

Now it should be noted that we are not in a unique situation. There are numerous historical precedence to all that we are doing: Richard Long’s Walks, William Pope L.’s performance/crawls, numerous earthworks (Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, Michael Heizer’s Double Negative, Walter de Maria’s Lightening Field, the list goes on), a variety of conceptual artworks and even some dadaist non-object based work. So it’s not like we don’t have a point of reference.

Second, who is this for: The work that I and many of my contemporaries working in a “non-object based” way is done in such a way as to engage a larger audience than one might find in a traditional gallery or performance space. In a sense, we are preaching way beyond the choir. Whether it is someone passing by on the street in Canarsie as I draw the chalk line with whom I engage in a conversation about climate change or a stockbroker who never thought twice about his daily stop at the coffee cart until he met with Stephanie. So the projects are all really broad based and interested in participating in a wider social discussion.

Third, what is the current funding? Currently, most of these projects are funded through foundations and municipal or state funds. In my case, almost 50% of my project time is taken up through grant applications and writing. I am sure it is similar in other cases as well. This funding is really wonderful as it comes as a project based monetary amount, with no strings attached and - here’s a nice thing you may not know - most (if not all) funders require that you include in your budget an artists fee. They want to know that they, in supporting the project, are supporting the artist. If you have been a lucky (is that the right word? its quite a lot of work for it to be luck) recipient of a grant, then you that you will be required to do periodic reporting on how the money is being spent and what is happening with the project. Other than that, don’t expect a whole lot of interaction (unless you get a Creative Capital grant). The granting agency doesn’t interfere with the work, nor do they, though, provide much formal support. Some might profile your project in their outreach, some might provide feedback, but mostly it is up to the recipient to make the project succeed or fail.

A portion of the funding may also come from private donations - frequently made up of “friends and family grants” and - euphemism - “self-funding.” These sources may ebb and flow based on project frequency and/or outside competition for money. While it is frequently true that if you ask someone for a donation they will give it, it is also true that it is hard to repeatedly hit up the same people without any reward.
And as much as I like to believe in the abundance of funds available to artists, grants are definitely limited. And with some recent changes in the world of major funders, the money available is shrinking. So we are looking for new ways to create sustainable careers.

The commodity model: This model implies a specific object of value which can be traded in exchange for money. The traditional gallery/dance/performance system is based on trade. You give me money, I give you an object or a specified moment of time which is valued based on the opinions of others. This model is heavily dependent on a) an object or ticketed performance b) the perceived value of your creation (perceived by people other than the artist). For those of us working outside of the traditional object based practice, we can produce sale-able items (for example I have the beacons, documentary photos and maps, Stephanie has CD’s of her conversations with street vendors - although I think she gave those away for free), but the goal of the practice is not the object - therefore the value of the object is often diminished.

A new funding model: I don’t have an answer for this yet. It is what all this thinking is leading up to. However there are a lot of new models out there for other practices and funds:

• artistshare.com - this new model allows music fans to directly participate in the creation of new music/cd’s. a patron can donate to the musician and in return receive anything from a glimpse inside the recording process, to attending a recording session to being an executive producer on the album
• artist pension trust - using artworks as investment, this trust accumulates works of many artists and distributes revenue from art sales to all artists
• self-publishing/distribution for literature, films & music - more sites are popping up making it easier to manage your own career in these media, including lulu.com, withoutabox, cdbaby…

So I am thinking about how to create a new paradigm for supporting the arts - is it modeled as a mix between artistshare, artist pension trust and creative capital grantmaking? If you have specific thoughts, or want to join in the larger conversation (I am putting together a group of interested individuals to have a larger discussion), then leave a comment.

images from top to bottom:
yves klein, “jumping into the void”
aaron landsman, image from “Gatz” performance by Elevator Repair Service
lise brenner, matrix from “The City from a Plant’s Perspective: Mapping NYC as Native Flora”
michael heizer, “double negative”
richard long, “a line made by walking”
eve s. mosher, “HighWaterLine”
stephanie skaff, “Make Me One with Everything”

I have been thinking about noting the numbers involved in the High Water Line project, and after shifting 3,000 pounds of chalk - yep, you heard that right, 3,000 - now is as good a time as any!

I have had sort of a critical mass of community board meetings and parks meetings happening as the project and the summer holidays (for the community boards) rapidly approaches. So here are some of the numbers so far:

3,000 pounds of chalk moved from the truck into storage
208 ounces of pigment
444 paths drawn on my community walk map
13 community boards
8 community board meetings (so far)
9 parks department representatives
4 DOT representatives
2 NASA scientists
8 grant applications (so far)
50 miles of biking (approximately) the line
10 miles of walking the line
2,000 action packets
2 websites (new one coming soon!)
1 press mention (so far)

And we won’t even go into budget and expenses yet…

It seems that a lot of what public art making requires is just plain old persistence. I have learned on this project what it really means to sell your idea and how not to take no for an answer. Don’t get me wrong, there have been several times along the way where I have just thought - ugh! why am I even doing this? Then I pick myself up, dust myself off and plow on ahead. I do know that it is going to continue to be a hard process, but it is something that I am really passionate about, and when I do find people who are really excited about the project (the audience at Community Boards) or just plain super helpful - many of the people in city agencies - it can be a great boon to the spirit and buoy me back up again.

Speaking of people excited about the project, I am looking for volunteers to work on the project - so if you love talking to people about climate issues, and want to go for long interesting and meandering walks around NYC - contact me!

There are a couple of more hurdles to clear - the biggest of which is finding space to mix the chalk and pigment. If anyone has some outdoor space, studio space or storage space that they aren’t using, don’t care if it gets dusty and has access to power - definitely let me know! Special bonus if it has a loading dock. That would certainly be easier than shifting 3,000 pounds of chalk each month.

Top photo of natural pigments, courtesy of The Real Milk Paint Company.

So, with the head cold set in good and well - stuffy head, burning eyes, that whole experience of walking around in a dream? - it gives me time to think. And catch up a little on blogging - if somewhat incoherently.

I’ve been thinking about just how much work it is to produce a public art work (in case you didn’t know, i am in the midst of doing that right now), especially one that is, well, ephemeral and fleeting. Here’s the rough overview:

• get grants: that means researching, writing, editing, compiling, mailing etc. and not just one or two - more like a dozen at least
• get approval: so the grants give you some backbone at least, but then you have to get approval from parks, developers, DOT and community boards. you have to write letters, and emails, send packets, attend small meetings, attend big meetings
• get sponsors: try to get people to give you things for free. and because.
• get press: write a press kit (thats a whole other thing), research contacts, send releases and kits to contacts, contact contacts, follow up with contacts, pester people
• get partners: to do things you can’t do (teach workshops, plan events), to get their support (park conservancies, neighborhood groups), to get promotion

I’m sure there is stuff I am forgetting but thats the gist of it. All to lay down the fleeting blue chalk line.

But here’s the rub. I actually like it. Clearly there is something wrong with my head, it would certainly be much easier to create work in a studio and then air it out in the gallery without all this other rigamarole. And don’t get me wrong, I still love doing studio work (in fact, right about now I just plain miss it). But there is something oddly appealing about all this work prior to the project. And here’s what I have realized: it’s a pattern.

Yup. I also like cross country mountain biking better than downhil. I like backcountry snowboarding. I like kayaking (okay that doesn’t really fit the story, but I still like it). Truth is, I like the hard work, it makes the reward that much sweeter.

But do me a favor. Come out and say hello when I am drawing the chalk line. It will make it even sweeter still.

Yes, that top image is Tuckerman’s, and yes I have ridden it and loved it.

I know I promised some tips for writing grants to come soon, but things keep happening with the Sea Change project, including a potential name change. I will let you know the details when it gets more fully worked out.
This week g-pup and I were supposed to be flying over to Edinburgh to see some family, but I got hit with that awful cold/flu thing that has been flying around. So there is no way I am getting on a plane with any kind of sinus sickness. (I’ve done it twice before, it is really not a good idea). So instead I am home working on more of the project needs.
I continue to apply for funding, getting the Greenwall & Jerome Foundation applications together. I am rewriting the application to refocus on the performance aspect of me putting down the chalk line and talking to people one on one about climate change (since thats where the real power is right?) I am also contacting and scheduling meeting with the community boards through which I will be creating the project, its important to get them interested in the project and will help drive interest, understanding and permits.
Am I making any sense at all? My heads a little stuffy.
It all feels like it is moving both quickly and slowly at the same time. I have some really amazing support from all of the fantastic people at Solar One. I have also made some new friends along the way with whom I am trying to create some supportive relationships. I am really looking forward to making this project happen. It is going to be such a fantastic experience. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t expect it to be all sunshine and daisies (I can’t think of the phrase). I know there will be long, hot, lonely days out there. I know there will be discussions with skeptics. I know there will be angry people. But I also hope to interest people who might not be thinking about climate change. Maybe I will influence someone to make a difference in their life, or a difference in many lives. I am really looking forward to meeting all the different people out in the different communities.
Anyway, this is mostly the ramblings of a sinus-y sick person with a stuffy head.

Wow what a beautiful holiday gift to me! I decided to check the mail on Saturday at our apartment. (We don’t get most of our mail here because of the well known Brooklyn mail problems). We got a request for year end donations from the American Museum of Natural History (which, by the way, is my idea one of the most magical places on earth), and a couple of mis-delivered items (see above), and a letter from Brooklyn Arts Council - I mostly thought it was either the newsletter or another appeal for money - in fact it was a promise of money! I got the DCA regrant! So now I am all excited and pumped and working forward on the project - it was a little hard to focus on the holiday celebrations - I was thinking about the Sea Change project and the logistics and calendaring of the project.

So congratulations to me and a huuuuge thanks to BAC for believing in me and the project. I am so excited to be able to say that someone is backing me, it really helps other granters feel like they are not alone in supporting the project (it is a real chicken and the egg scenario).
Today I did some research on the chalk I want to use for marking the line, I have found that the sports field marking chalk is white. I found some good blue chalk powder in the form of the powder used for construction marking (chalk lines - which I always thought was fun to do when I was little - hmm a little premonition?) I was also looking into gulal (the colored powder used for the Indian celebration of Holi) but I don’t think it is permanent enough - I want something that will stay around for a couple weeks. Anyone have any ideas?
I also will be building the calendar around the work projects that I have and the travel coming up in the year. My friend over at Solar One just got back from the Al Gore Climate Project training (teaching people to give an effective presentation and giving them the tools). He is hoping to put me in touch with other New Yorkers who attended so that we can coordinate a whole workshop outreach portion of the project - the presentations will be done in partnership with community organizations in the communities through which I will be creating the project.

So now I wait to hear back from NYFA and Cabot, and still have to write letters to Puffin and Jerome…