A Voice in the Wilderness
This post is guest-blogged by Eleanor Whitney, NYFA’s Program Officer for External Affairs and Fiscal Sponsorship.
When you think of a vibrant art center, what do you imagine? In the United States, you might think of large urban capitals that have been creative centers for the past two centuries, such as New York, Chicago or San Francisco. You might even think of vibrant mid-sized cities like Milwaukee, Portland, OR, or Santa Fe. But do you even think of any rural areas?
I grew up in suburban and rural Maine. Though we were only a 2-hour drive from Boston, I felt like I grew up in a place where the arts were under-recognized and underappreciated as a vital source for local culture. As soon as I could, I moved to recognized centers of artistic production: first Portland, Oregon and then New York City (specifically, Brooklyn), convinced that this was where I could build my life as an artist.
Thanks to my work at NYFA as the Program Officer for External Affairs I have had the opportunity to travel to art centers, both urban and rural, around the country. I have had the opportunity to learn about what artists and leaders in these organizations are doing to make their communities vital centers for the arts. I have also been able to share with them how they can utilize NYFA’s resources to help. Just as arts organizations in urban areas are seen as important drivers of economic development, leaders in rural areas are also working hard to make their organizations serve as catalysts for economic and cultural development within their local communities. They are joining efforts to make their towns, counties and regions vibrant places for artists to make and sell their work.
The Rainbow Cafe on Main street in Pendleton, OR
Pendleton Blanket Handbag
This summer I traveled to the Pacific Northwest and visited arts organizations located both east and west of the Cascade Mountains. In the middle of the rolling hills and fields of Pendleton in eastern Oregon, I was particularly inspired by the work of the Pendleton Center for the Arts. Located in an old Carnegie building on the town’s main street the center features a gallery, a showroom for local craft items where visitors can purchase handmade items from over one hundred local artists, as well as free access to the Internet and computer workstations. They offer regular teen programming and have recently launched a professional development program for artists. I found a beautiful handbag made out of a remnant of a vintage Pendleton blanket – that’s not something you can find in Soho, or even the regular Pendleton store. While I was there, they were gearing up for a week-long rock and roll camp for teens. All of the staff was energetic and excited about being in Pendleton and supporting artists in the region.
About 8 miles outside of Pendleton on the Umatilla reservation, nestled at the feet of the Blue Mountains, is Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts. A print shop, gallery, and residency, Crow’s Shadow invites Native artists to come to create prints with Master Printer Frank Janzen. They also open up the residency to Native artists from other countries, such as New Zealand and China, and are working to expand both their national and international reach under Interim Executive Director (and future Master Printer) Melissa Bob.
Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts, Umatilla Reservation
My travels also took me to Missoula, Montana. It’s no secret that Missoula is a cultural hub for the region, but there I found some especially interesting organizations that are community oriented, accessible, and contributing to making the city even more open to artists. One is the Missoula Art Museum, which is free, open daily, and features only contemporary art work. Some contemporary art museums might feel pretentious and obscure, but the Missoula Art Museum is welcoming, spirited, and open. With art classes for children and a focus on Montana and “inner northwest” artists, they do much to open community members up to the museum and contemporary art experience.
Welcome, Artspire!
Another organization in Missoula working to make art accessible is Zootown Arts Community Center. The ZACC offers art classes for children and adults, as well as studio space and print shop access. They also have a beautiful store that features handmade items from local artists. I found a pair of ‘oh so trendy’ feather earrings from “Not Your Father’s Feathers,” but with a western twist.
What these organizations showed me is that one does not have to live in a major metropolis to find a supportive community for professional artists. I think it’s important that artists realize that they don’t need to move to an urban center when deciding where they want to live and how they want to construct their lives. Rural areas can be cheaper for living, provide more space for working, and offer a slower pace to life and more time to devote to art. These organizations are working hard to demonstrate that rural areas and forward thinking contemporary art are not a contradiction in terms, but that the two can nurture and support each other and cultivate a vibrant, exciting community.
What are some dynamic arts organizations in your area, whether that’s urban, suburban, or rural? What are some other inspiring arts organizations in rural areas you know about?
Keep an eye out for my next entry on my travels to Chicago, Milwaukee, and the Northwoods of Wisconsin!
Eleanor Whitney
Eleanor Whitney is a writer, musician, and educator who grew up in Maine and lives in Brooklyn, New York. She has contributed to a variety of publications and blogs about art, music, literature and culture. She received her BA from Eugene Lang College and is pursuing her Masters in Public Administration at Baruch College. She is currently the Program Officer for External Affairs and Fiscal Sponsorship at NYFA.
The Artist’s Digital Toolkit: Part 4
Online Exhibition
My earlier posts in this series have focused on new ways that artists are utilizing digital resources in order to network, collaborate, and fundraise. With the planning stages complete, the work done, and the objet d’art realized, many artists turn to traditional outlets for exhibition of their work. Whether that means submitting an updated portfolio to galleries, applying to competitions, or performing your work at a local venue, the primary goal is to get as many people as possible to engage with your art in a meaningful way.
The evolution of digital media has made it increasingly easy to broadcast your artistic message to anyone with internet access. Consequently it has also made it difficult to cut through the noise and generate significant, continued interest in any single event.
Below are some of the resources and trends that emerging artists are using to help promote themselves and their art.
Online Galleries
Initially optimistic given the plethora of search results for “online art gallery,” I quickly realized that most of these websites are little more than thumbnail warehouses. Little if any attention is paid to the display of the images and there is no sense of space or curatorial critique. The few innovative sites I came across represent early stages of what may well represent a unique opportunity at the intersection of digital media and art.
Culturehall, one of the more established online resources, is a “curated online resource for contemporary art where selected artists can share their work with curators, gallerists, collectors and other artists.” The site holds periodic juried applications where artists are asked to submit work for consideration in upcoming ‘issues.’ Once accepted, the artist is given web space as part of the online, curated exhibit where she can upload and display photographs of work. Fortunately, Culturehall has managed to cultivate a unique and consistent aesthetic, well-suited to online art exhibitions.
Light, Space & Time is another online gallery featuring rotating exhibitions of digital editions of works. This model differs slightly from Culturehall in that their exhibitions are billed as competitions with the winning works gaining more notable exposure and marketing. While this may be the case, the exhibition losses much of the curatorial interest since it results in a “Top 5” scenario rather than a carefully curated space.
Vimeo offers a freemium resource for video artists and musicians to upload and share high-quality digital video files. While the site is free to use for anyone, there is a weekly upload limit for free users. Last year, Vimeo hosted a two-day festival in New York featuring professional development programs, panel discussions, screenings, and awards. The site also attempts to foster an online community where video artists collaborate on projects and share information about upcoming events.
Despite the few spaces online dedicated to a provocative and informative exhibition of (pictures of) art, there appears to be significant room for improvement, With related projects like Google’s Art Project and the Smithsonian Institute’s virtual exhibitions, we can expect to see more ambitious and creative manifestations of online exhibitions in the near future.
Crowd Sourcing Shows
An interesting application of one of the tools mentioned in an earlier post is using crowd-funding platforms like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo as tools for market research in planning a tour. This was one of the original uses of crowd funding platforms when the British rock band Marillion used crowd funding principles to finance and plan its 1996 US tour. More recently, Arianna Huffington used crowdsourcing to help plan and organize portions of her Third World America book tour. The crowdsourcing model can be used effectively to gauge interest in certain markets and to pre-sell records, tickets, prints, in order to raise money up front.
NeuvoStage is service built specifically for this purpose. Bands and performers are able to search for prospective venues and dates and propose potential shows. If the show gains enough pledged support through the site, the band is awarded the contract and books the gig. The site, still in its nascent stages, only offers a few venues in Boston but has intriguing potential for growth.
Embracing Piracy
Brian Newman had an interesting post on his blog about how the film industry in China has started adjusting to the rampant piracy of new films. Instead of relying only on sales from opening night tickets sales, filmmakers are increasingly using product placement in films as a means to finance production. Though this may help curb the profit losses from piracy, it remains to be seen whether this practice poses issues for the artistic integrity of new films.
Interestingly, it is precisely this artistic integrity that led the video artist Nina Paley to embrace ‘piracy’ as a distribution method for one of her films. The difficulties she faced in securing rights for music used in her 2008 film, Sita Sings the Blues, caused her to offer the movie as a free download. This unorthodox distribution method not only opens her film to a wider audience, but Paley has also managed to make money from donations.
Though there are hundreds of new resources for emerging artists to promote their work online, it appears that we have only begun to scrape the surface of the possibilities. Online exhibition gives us not only an opportunity to re-imagine our physical relationship to art but also poses fascinating and important questions about copyright, ownership, and artificial intelligence. Will there come a time when online exhibitions are competitive with live shows? What kinds of implications might this have for the art world? Do you use digital and online resources to share, promote, or exhibit your work?
In my next post, I will examine how emerging artists are using the internet and digital resources to sell their art…
Turning German, I think I’m turning German? I don’t really think so!
This post is guest blogged by kate hers, an expatriated artist living in Berlin, on her experience as an immigrant in Germany. I met kate on my trip to Berlin in June and after discussing her experiences in Berlin, I asked her to share her story on our blog.
Berlin boasts an international, cosmopolitan, and “multi-kulti” population. More creative artists and entrepreneurs are moving here from abroad every day. But even with Berlin’s historical struggle with topics of race and ethnicity, this so-called “multi-kulti modernization” does not mean that the people who live in Berlin are any more educated, tolerant, or culturally sensitive. While the city has a lot of opportunities for artists and creative people, the real disadvantage I face as a person of color is racism and, even more insidious, a gendered racism tied to my status or imagined position as an Asian woman.
Ironically, many German artists claim that Berlin is a tolerant and diverse city. I always agree but only in relationship to other German cities; it cannot compare to cities like Los Angeles or New York. If I end up moving back to the United States, this lack of real tolerance and understanding will, without a doubt, be my reason. I have had my fill of experiences with racism – from ignorant, foolish, “well-meaning” comments to a run-in with violent Nazis on public transportation where almost everyone looked away and did nothing.
In Germany, there was no civil rights movement, no identity politics in the 90’s, no proud to be “hyphenated-German” campaign. Either you are a German or you are a foreigner. It does not matter what passport you carry or where you were born. In order to be considered German, you must be ethnically German, i.e. 100% Caucasian-German. In addition, people like me don’t get to be both American and Korean; I can be only one or the other. This is symptomatic of the fact that many Germans make little distinction between an individual’s ethnic, racial, cultural, and national identities. I am forced into an easily understood category and am interrogated about this category at least every other day. Germans like order. Germans like reliability. Germans like to know where my parents are from.
Interestingly, of the huge numbers of Americans (of course here I mean the Americans of European descent, since the majority of Germans don’t consider me truly American) immigrating to Berlin, more than half of them do not learn to speak German. One would assume that this would be viewed, on a political level, as a failure to integrate. But this reluctance to assimilate is never discussed. What is discussed is the lack of German language proficiency in Arab and Turkish populations. What does this double standard say about German values?
In October 2010, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany’s attempts to create a multicultural society had “utterly failed.” This only added fuel to the already contentious debate started by the controversial book, “Germany Does Away With Itself,” written by the economist and politician Thilo Sarrazin.
I agree with Merkel that multiculturalism as an integration strategy or ideology has not succeeded in Germany (at least not yet), but I found her claims problematic and misleading because the term “multi-kulti,” as it is used in Germany, does not equate to multiculturalism as a political movement developed in the United States. The implication that Germany tried to create a multicultural society is deceptive. As migrant workers were called to work in Germany in the late 1950s, citizens of diverse cultures settled here and set up their own communities. Germany never “attempted” a multicultural society, it just happened. Where the German government failed though, was in its ability to create integration policies that would diminish ghettos and encourage native Germans to respect immigrants and accept their cultures as part of a shared cultural identity.
The current political reasoning places the entire responsibility of integration on the immigrants and rests the blame for a failed multicultural state on their so-called resistance to assimilate. Even the United States, with its long history of immigration, continues to struggle with multiculturalism as a political movement – minority ethnic groups, gays and lesbians, women, and religious groups are still discriminated against. Many of these conflicts have little or nothing to do with language. Yet the dominant culture can be intolerant of difference. The failure explanation – that because immigrants do not integrate and do not learn German, is too simple. What about the responsibility of the dominant cultural group – ethnic Germans – to ensure the success of multiculturalism?
One of the areas that can be improved is the education system. Students are never given the tools necessary to deal with issues of nationality and immigration. Leaving school, they lack the fundamental vocabulary used to discuss ethnicity, race, culture, and nationality. All they have are shady notions of what make us different and the dangerous stereotypes passed down from generation to generation.
For real multiculturalism to work, distinct ethnic or religious groups need to be treated as equals to the mainstream culture without promoting any specific groups as superior or inferior. Multiculturalism has failed in Germany because it was never given a chance. Though distinct ethnic communities may choose to stay in their separate ghettos, who can blame them? Immigrants can be harshly discriminated against in Germany and as an immigrant, albeit a very unconventional immigrant, I speak from personal experience.
Where can I begin with my encounters with racism? Rather than count the number of times people have yelled unintelligible sounds at me, which I can only assume the verbal assaulter thinks he is mimicking a tonal language like Chinese or Vietnamese or relate the numerous times I have had to explain where I am “really” from, I prefer to discuss the more treacherous, complicated, and remarkable incidents.
Nov. 2009 – While leaving Eberswälder subway station in Prenzlauer Berg with my half-Asian half-German partner, we unintentionally cut someone off while crossing the street. The so-called injured party got extremely angry and called us fidschis. A “fidschi” is a derogatory term used by Germans for an Asian person, typically used to describe those of Vietnamese descent who hang around certain subway stations selling illegal cigarettes. My German passport carrying companion turned and calmly told him in native accent-less German to piss off. Surprised the man proceeded to get irate, yelling more racial slurs as his friends held him back from attacking us. Evidently this fidschi slur first made its appearance in the GDR to discriminate against migrant workers from Vietnam. Ostensibly referencing the Fiji Islands, it is emblematic of how ignorant a large population of Germany is about the difference (never mind between single ethnicities) between Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Dec 2009 – I was at a café in Prenzlauer Berg with all Asian female friends, two from Korea and another who had grown up in Germany. A middle aged German man approached me while I was ordering cake. He asked me where I was from, to which I replied the United States. When he asked me the annoying question, “Where are you really from?” I sighed and said, “Where do you think, North Korea?” in a cheeky, sarcastic voice. His reaction was to grab my breasts. Shocked, I shouted obscenities to which he was surprised and he put his hands up to his face to protect himself. I regret that I did not call the police and press charges against him. At this moment, just having moved to Berlin two months earlier, I was feeling vulnerable and did not want to call attention to myself.
June 2011 – I was in Metro, a large wholesale market in Germany, like Costco or Sam’s Club, helping out a friend to promote his Chinese restaurant. Cooking live and giving out free samples of several items on his menu, my job was to inform the visiting customers that they could try the food out for free. A Metro worker announced to a customer, that there was free Asian food available that day. Then the customer laughed, “But if I eat the Asian food, will I get slanty eyes?” I rushed up to her to exclaim how offensive and racist her language was. This woman was surprised I found it offensive, and then asked how else could one describe Asian eyes, because they were really slanty! I controlled myself and informed her in my broken German that all eyes are shaped differently and why should Caucasians eyes be the standard shape to which all others should be compared. She was open enough to listen to my observations, but it was obvious she didn’t understand – she said it wasn’t meant to be taken in a mean way and that ‘slanty’ was the acceptable terminology for Asian people’s eyes in Germany, and is therefore not racist. After I found out she was of Arabic descent, I kind of just gave up. My belief that other people of color should be more sensitive to these issues has been proved wrong time and time again.
November 2010 –I was riding on the S-Bahn going a few stations north of Gesundbrunnen with a foreign female friend from Argentina. While buying tickets, we saw four men yelling at a man and his small son on the platform several meters from us. The man being verbally attacked was of Arabic descent and the four other men were Caucasian. One of the Caucasian men, who seemed to be leading the group, threw his beer bottle on the platform not far from where the Arabic man was standing. As the train entered the station, we ran to get on, being careful not to sit in the same car as these savage men. It didn’t matter. After we took our seats, they came into our car, intentionally sitting diagonally from us. We concentrated on our conversation, thinking it was better to ignore their presence. All of a sudden, a half-full beer bottle was thrown against the compartment glass wall next to my head. I screamed. The leader of the group started yelling at us. My friend bolted from her seat and I followed her. He started to chase us through the cars, shouting about foreigners and communists. At the end of the train, we cowered next to two young men not knowing what to do, hoping their presence would protect us. The perpetrator kept ranting and raving and coming closer until he was standing a few feet from us. Finally, a middle-aged man spoke up and told him to stop. The neo-Nazi spat on him and left. This experience is the most horrifying and shocking to Germans, many who ignorantly believe Asians are not discriminated against or experience little racism because we are the model minority (a “positive” myth that is similarly perpetuated in the United States).
(I refer to these men as neo-Nazis based on their behavior, not necessarily based on what they look like since they were not of the skinhead variety. Rather, these men looked preppy. According to reports, neo-Nazis have changed their style to fit into the mainstream.)
What kind of backlash can we expect after politicians have made declarations about the ‘costs’ of multiculturalism? Not surprisingly, my dreadful neo-Nazi encounter took place in November of 2010, just two months after the publication of Sarrazin’s book. To be sure, Berlin, the artist’s paradise, has its darker side, especially if you are non-white or you come from an undesired country. I want nothing more than to see a thriving, diverse Germany that embraces and utilizes the cultural capital of all its citizens and residents, regardless of the color of their passport or their skin. In the meantime, it is best to be informed and on guard. ♦
kate hers is an American visual artist who has lived in Berlin for 2 years and has integrated as much as she can. She speaks German, likes currywurst, organically composts and is always on time. However, she doesn’t like to follow the rules and gets reprimanded routinely by the natives for jaywalking. Her new work, Dr. Rhee’s Kimtschi Shop seeks to dismantle outdated and essentialist notions of a fixed cultural identity – while celebrating cultural tolerance and engaging conversations of multiculturalism in Berlin. She is also a founding member of usartberlin, a creative networking organization for Americans living in Berlin.
The Artist’s Digital Toolkit: Part 3
Funding for Artists
My previous posts in this series looked at new ways that artists are incorporating digital resources into networking and collaboration. The next step in many artists’ creative processes is finding the money to fund projects. With the steady decline of public support for the arts, and existing grants becoming increasingly competitive, artists are seeking new financial resources to fund their work.
Crowd-Funding
One of the fastest-growing markets in arts support is crowd-funding. Websites like Kickstarter, ArtistShare, and Emphas.is, help artists and entrepreneurs raise money for projects by soliciting donations directly from their fans. Though still in its infancy, crowd-funding has produced two distinct models for the platform, each with its own benefits and drawbacks.
The first, and most popular, model of crowd-funding is the general-use website for all types of projects. General crowd-funding platforms, such as Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, and Invested.in, are open to just about everyone and projects range from independent films to 3D printers. While these sites tend to be the most well-known and established forms of crowd-funding, the quantity and diversity of projects can make it difficult for someone browsing the site to happen upon your fundraising campaign and decide to invest. Of course, these high-traffic sites also have the benefit of occasionally going viral.
Kickstarter, an all-or-nothing fundraising platform, allows artists and entrepreneurs to raise money for specific projects. Like many of the crowd funding sites, Kickstarter encourages members to offer rewards to participants who donate at various levels.
IndieGoGo, a similar fundraising platform, allows all types of projects from all over the world (Kickstarter is US only). Also, IndieGoGo allows users to keep donations they receive even if they don’t reach their fundraising goal (the catch being that Indiegogo takes a bigger cut of those donations).
Recently, new crowd-funding websites have narrowed their focus to appeal to smaller communities with shared interests. For example, the Japanese site Green Girl specializes in promoting female artists and entrepreneurs; Emphas.is is dedicated solely to photojournalism projects; Ideame (launching soon) aims to help Latinos realize their projects through community funding. Appealing to a smaller group with shared interests allows greater potential for creating and fostering an active online community.
Another benefit of boutique crowd-funding sites is that they can offer users services that apply directly to their community or field. For example, Green Girl regularly features project creators on its Facebook page and curates a quarterly digital magazine with articles on their artists. Emphas.is gives media organizations added incentive to invest in exciting projects by offering first publication rights for funding at least 50% of a project’s budget. These small features strive towards the foundation of a community centered on funding and engaging with community-related projects. It will be interesting to see how these specialized organizations evolve in the coming years.
Of course, creating a compelling project proposal isn’t the end of fundraising; that’s where the work really begins. Once artists have their campaign underway, they need to engage as many dedicated fans as possible. One of the easiest ways to do this is through social networking sites. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ are all excellent resources for organizing a network of donors, while Twitter serves as a way to provide committed funders with information and project updates. Often, the success or failure of a campaign will depend on how well an artist has cultivated and engaged his audience. Networking, collaborating, and connecting are often essential for laying the groundwork for fundraising.
Grants
Another vital source of funding for artists is grant writing. While the process of finding, researching, and applying for grants can be arduous and discouraging, several online resources have made the process faster and easier.
Foundation Grants to Individuals Online offers a searchable database of grant opportunities available to individuals. Check your local library for free access to their online database.
NYFA Source provides a powerful tool for finding grants and award opportunities nationwide. With listings for over 4,500 arts organizations, 3,600 award programs, 4,700 service programs, and 900 publications for individual artists NYFA Source is an invaluable resource for discovering funding opportunities.
Organizations like Grantspace offer classroom and online courses and grant writing workshops. Additionally, many local arts organizations offer information sessions and workshops to help artists prepare successful grant applications.
Fiscal Sponsorship
Another important resource for individual artists and emerging arts organizations is fiscal sponsorship. Fiscal sponsorship allows individuals and groups to ‘borrow’ an organization’s tax-exempt status for a limited duration or scope project. This means the sponsored individual or group can gain access to grants requiring 501(c)(3) status and also accept tax-deductible donations. Sponsorship can also lend more credibility to artists and projects.
There are hundreds of organizations that offer fiscal sponsorship including Artspire, Fractured Atlas, and the Brooklyn Arts Council. When applying for sponsorship, you may want to choose an organization whose goals align with your goals as an artist or entrepreneur. Additionally, some non-profits offer different services and charge different fees, so it’s worthwhile to do some research before applying.
A more complete list of organizations that offer fiscal sponsorship can be found here.
Effects of New Markets
Tanja Aitamurto’s case study from last year highlights several interesting ways that crowd-funding has impacted journalism. The notions of ‘cause marketing’ and ‘pitching in public’ are perhaps most applicable as these issues have the potential to influence significant changes in the arts world. Though these new markets present exciting opportunities for individual artists, they also pose provocative questions about our notion of culture. Does crowd-funding the arts stifle creativity in the name of mass appeal? Or does it encourage innovation, experimentation, and social criticism? What long-term effects might we expect from the reduction or elimination of public funding for the arts? What art is worth funding?
Additional Links: More info on designing a successful crowd-funding campaign; RocketHub.com; Spot.us; Sellaband; Grantseeking for Individuals Webinar
The Artist’s Digital Toolkit: Part 2
Collaborating and Participatory Culture
In my previous post, I examined some of the resources available online for artists to build and engage their creative communities. The growth and development within these networks is indicative of an emerging generation of artists rethinking the way they incorporate technology into their creative process.
Another rapidly evolving element of the creative process is the means by which artists collaborate on projects. Social networking has made it possible for artists all over the world to work together easily; web 2.0 has expanded the ways in which we interact with our physical world; and participatory culture has placed an increasing emphasis on the role of the audience and redefined the boundaries of collaborative art.
Increasingly, art is not only made by an artist for an audience but also as a collaboration between the artist and audience. The increasing prevalence of participatory culture has prompted new design strategies for creative organizations and propagated a new generation of arts collaboration websites.
Wreckamovie provides a platform for creating and executing collaborative projects over the internet. Artists upload tasks (e.g. writing a scene for a screen play, composing music for an opera, or designing animations for a film) that community members complete and submit for review. This Wiki inspired approach to collaboration empowers community members to engage in art projects. Though originally created as a resource for independent filmmakers, artists have used Wreckamovie to create visual art, web-comics, and even a full-scale opera production.
Kompoz, a site dedicated to collaborative music projects, allows users to upload audio files of works in progress which other users can then add to or modify. The site features musicians from around the world working in dozens of genres. Some collaborations have resulted in virtual bands that record ‘together’ regularly. Kompoz has fostered a vibrant community of musicians with songwriting contests, regular podcasts, and even an internet radio station dedicated to the music of Kompoz musicians.
Sites like Wreckamovie and Kompoz not only facilitate artists by connecting them to free professional resources, but they also permit audience members to engage in the creative process and collaborate on projects. While this model can’t replace entirely the traditional models of supporting artists through funding, crowd-sourced projects can result in an audience that is intimately invested in the artist’s work and career; that is priceless.
The Freelancers Union and Craigslist offer more traditional methods of artistic collaboration. The Freelancer’s Union “promote[s] the interests of independent workers through advocacy, education, and service,” and provides a database where anyone can search for, contact, and employ union members. This database makes it easy to access a wide range of artistic expertise and facilitates creative collaboration throughout the arts community.
While not the most sophisticated resource for collaboration, Craigslist provides a free and simple method for finding artists and craftspeople for hire. One notable advantage of Craigslist is that postings are categorized by location making it easier to establish face-to-face partnerships.
Artists have also utilized extant web platforms for collaboration and the creation of participatory art. Eric Whitacre, an American composer and conductor, used YouTube to create a virtual choir to perform his pieces. By soliciting performances from the YouTube community Whitacre was able to engage a large community in his creative process and generate a wider audience for his music.
Traditional arts organizations are also embracing the tenets of participatory culture by encouraging active participation in the artistic and curatorial processes. In 2008, Brooklyn Museum’s exhibit Click! invited the public to submit photographs on the theme “Changing Faces of Brooklyn.” The ‘crowd’ was then asked to evaluate each photograph. The project culminated in an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum and an online interactive feature.
Split Second: Indian Paintings, also at the Brooklyn Museum, asked participants to compare paintings from part of the museum’s permanent collection and make split second decisions about their preferences. The results are used to select works for exhibition scheduled to open next week.
These exhibitions not only engage communities in the artistic process and cultivate new interest in the arts. They also force us to reconsider many of our beliefs about the art world: art as necessarily elitist, the curator as gatekeeper, the specialist as expert, and the very essence of ownership are all called into question by these exhibits. Regardless of where we come down on these issues, the conversation itself can be an energizing force within the arts community. Furthermore, these and other programs can serve as models for arts organizations and individual artists interested in participatory art making.
As always, I am interested to hear your reaction to the issues raised above. Are you an artist who has a lot of experience collaborating with some of these resources? Do you use other means to participate in group art projects? What do you think about the rise of participatory culture and the issues this raises?
In my next post, I will take a look at some of the digital resources available to artists for fundraising…
Additional links: Broadcastr, San Francisco Symphony: Community of Music Makers, Talent House, YouTube Symphony Orchestra
The Artist’s Digital Toolkit
Online Resources for the Creative Process
One of my goals with this blog is to provide vital information and resources for emerging artists in formative stages of their careers. To this end, I have put together a series of posts examining the digital resources available for various stages of the creative process including:
- Connecting
- Collaborating
- Funding
- Sharing
- Selling
Each post will explore recent trends and developments in one of these areas and provide a review of online tools available to artists.
With the shift away from traditional methods of making and selling art, artists are faced with greater logistical obstacles in almost all aspects of their creative process. These burdens, once shouldered by management companies, PR firms, and record labels, have fallen to artists who are frequently ill-equipped to navigate complex issues like copyright law and non-profit regulations. Negotiating this new territory can be difficult and prohibitive for many artists. Additionally, time spent tackling administrative and legal issues is time that could be spent making art.
As a solution, artists have increasingly turned to small, web-based start-ups to outsource various parts of their arts production process. In her 2004 report, Mary Madden points out that many artists have welcomed the use of digital resources in creating, promoting, and selling art. These new tools provide a wealth of previously unavailable resources to large numbers of artists at a significantly lower cost. For example, using the internet and social networking, artists are able to create and connect with global communities of fellow artists and fans.
Artistic Networking
The first topic that I will examine is the changing face of how artists connect with each other and with their communities. An essential component of any creative process is finding an environment in which artists are inspired to create. Artists have historically gravitated towards public spaces like cafés and pubs where they can meet like-minded people and share ideas in an open forum. This model is increasingly being supplemented by online communities where artists can share ideas and information quickly and without restrictions.
Websites like Artists Forum, NewMusicBox, and Empty Easel provide a wealth of information and resources for young artists, as well as discussions on a wide range of topics. These sites offer a stimulating blend of tutorials, reviews, articles, and user discussions. The real benefit of online communities like these is the universality of access they provide; anyone with an internet connection and a passion has the power to access or create a thriving community of peers.
Recently, more selective ‘members only’ groups have sprung up as a solution for artists who seek small, like-minded communities. Pelime (People Like Me) is an invitation-only group that provides a network of creative professionals working in fifteen different creative media. Members present digital portfolios of their work which they share with other members and the public. In addition to providing a unique online experience, the creators also host real-life events for members to network face-to-face.
Of course, the established platforms of social networking also serve to effectively foster communities for artists. In a previous post, I looked at some of the ways that creative people are using Facebook creatively. At NYFA, we also provide more selective community resources through members only Facebook groups for artists participating in our professional development training programs.
Not only are online communities effective tools for connecting with other artists, but they also facilitate dialogue between an artist and her audience. This forum gives artists direct access to new and existing fans while simultaneously providing audience members with an intimate look at artists’ creative processes. This model can help inspire artists and provide a foundation for collaboration and fundraising, which I will address in later posts.
As you know, part of the mission of this blog is to foster an active and engaged community with our readership. Tell us how technology has impacted your life as an artist. Are online communities an essential part of your creative process? How do you connect with artists or community members using the internet? Do you find online communities limiting or liberating? Inspirational? Irritating?
In my next post, I will take a look at some of the ways artists are incorporating collaboration in their artistic process…
More links: Art-Support, Pixiq, WetCanvas, Artists Network.
Innovation in Berlin, Sales in New York?
In the final days of my trip to Berlin, I visited residency programs, met with government officials, and, of course, continued to meet with artists. The word ‘innovative’ was pervasive throughout these interactions; both artists and arts spaces in Berlin seemed to revolve around fostering an innovative environment for creativity.
An Innovative Residency…
Künstlerhaus Bethanian is the largest of the residency programs that I visited on my trip. Künstlerhaus, headed by Christoph Tannert, supplies living space, studio space, and professional and emotional support for artists. Each artist is sponsored by an organization or individual that pays for any other expenses the artists may have (like food or production materials).
Christoph Tannert from Künstlerhaus Bethanian
In addition to the innovative sponsor system, Künstlerhaus provides what Tannert calls a utopian, process-oriented space. Artists have the time and space needed to produce work. Furthermore, Künstlerhaus provides a platform for artists to exhibit their work. The organization houses 25 international visual artists year-round. Each artist gets 100 square meters of his or her own space to show work. This space comes complete with individualized exhibit invitation cards for publicity.
I found it interesting and rather disappointing that Künstlerhaus Bethanian had no American artists in the residency. Tannert explained that many American organizations that he spoke to did not understand the concept of supporting artists without the expectation for a new body of work. I wondered, can the model presented by Künstlerhaus conform to America’s model of supporting artists?
An Innovative Workshop Program…
Tannert also told me that Künstlerhaus recently moved from an old hospital space in the same neighborhood. The former space now houses an organization called bbk berlin, which provides studio space and workshops for artists. bbk answers to the frequently asked question: where can recent art-school graduates access the space and materials that they need to create their work?
bbk provides inexpensive classes and workshops while giving artists the opportunity to use large-scale production materials that would otherwise be inaccessible (e.g. large silk screen racks and oversized printers and computers).
Supplies at bbk
Print Workshop at bbk
Innovative Exhibition Spaces…
Berlin’s artists (and art enthusiasts) also supply space for artists to show their work. One such space is the small, artist-run exhibition called SOX. Benedikt Terwiel and Alexander Wagner run SOX, a storefront display of rotating, site-specific projects. Because SOX operates as a storefront, it can be kept open without staffing costs. This innovative solution to reducing overhead costs results in a dynamic, versatile exhibition space that meets the needs of emerging artists.
Another unexpected arts space in Berlin is found inside of the U.S. Ambassador’s house. The Department of Cultural Affairs set up a new initiative to hang American artwork in the Ambassador’s house as a ‘gallery’ space and to invite cultural leaders to a reception to view the artworks. To see Ambassador Murphy inaugurate the new project, see the video below.
But what is the benefit of all this innovation? With all of this production and innovation in Berlin, where are the new jobs and art sales? On the last day of my trip, I went to the Berlin’s Senate Department for Cultural Industries. I spoke about the unique places I saw on my trip and my interest in the emphasis Berliners place on production and innovation.
I learned that while space and time are important for artists, some officials feel that too much attention is being placed on production and not enough on sales. Berlin’s art market is struggling, despite the flourishing arts community.
Usually the arts create jobs and improve the economy. In Berlin, however, artists are producing in the city and selling elsewhere. Even Berlin’s main art fair, Artforum Berlin, could not continue due to lack of funding. Though other fairs like Preview and ABC will continue, it is clear that the art market has taken a major hit.
While Berlin may excel at providing for individual artists, it seems that one of New York City’s strongest assets lies in its continually prosperous art market. A senate staffer told me that Berlin is trying to be more like New York City through initiatives like Gallery Weekend .
This insightful information was shocking news to me, as I was investigating why Berlin was more hospitable for artists, but it is clear that New York City and Berlin can learn from each other’s successes. Perhaps rather than note why Berlin is more hospitable to artists, we should strive to understand and better implement the benefits of both cities.
Even government support of the arts is polemical in Berlin, despite artist incentives like healthcare and retirement funding. The large exhibit that I saw at the beginning of my trip, Based in Berlin, was opposed by many Berlin-based artists for its unusually large budget. The exhibit cost 1.6 million Euros in total, leaving little money for other institutions. (To read more on this controversy, visit bbk’s open letter To Have and To Need)
I left Berlin inspired by the innovative arts spaces, the vibrant artists, and the passionate administrators. I also left with a deeper understanding of how Berlin supports artists in ways that New York City and other places in the United States do not. Armed with this knowledge, we can try to adapt some of Berlin’s unique ideas to our existing infrastructure to better support individual artists. What do you think?
Special thanks to all organizations which hosted NYFA on my trip: Based in Berlin, BerlinArtLink, Co-Verlag, Art Laboratory Berlin, Estherka Project, USArtsBerlin, Dock11/ Eden****, Kunstlerhaus Bethanian, American Academy in Berlin, Radial System V, and Deutsche Guggenheim.
My Big Discovery…that’s Old News to Berlin Artists
Rebecca and Jonathan in Front of MMX
On Sunday, I went to meet Jonathan Gröger and Rebecca Loyche, a 2010 NYFA Photography Fellow, who live and work in Berlin. Jonathan and Rebecca, along with partner Jason Burgess, just completed their one-year project MMX (MMX meaning 2010 in roman numerals), an open art venue and non-profit on Berlin’s commercial gallery street in Mitte.
Rebecca and Jonathan, who also moonlights as a boat captain and photographer, gave me a tour of MMX, which ran an encore exhibit in February and is now closed to the public. Among the many impressive features of MMX, I was perhaps most intrigued by its visitor incentives.
For example, MMX offered a daily membership, which meant one daily member-fee (like an entrance fee) that included unlimited attendance of lectures and viewings that day and the option to purchase alcohol in the gallery (which, without membership, would not be legal). MMX’s programming boasted an impressive 6-week gallery rotation and a lecture series, making a daily membership ideal.
Commissioned Graffiti at MMX
As I to visit up-and-coming spaces in Berlin, I continue to see the drive and inventiveness of these young German entrepreneurs. Rebecca and Jonathan brought me across the street to their new venture, Co-Verlag. Jonathan took me through the rubble of the old building complex. He showed me where walls were taken out (frequently by his own hand, since he is handy with a jackhammer), to create more space for artists to “breathe.”
One artist currently lives in Co-Verlag, while several others, including Rebecca, have studio space there. In addition to the German artists (one of whom is also Jonathan’s dentist slash multi-media computer artists), a group of Icelandic artists have creates a makeshift “settlement” in the garden.
Standing in front of a demolished wall with an old bathroom sink still affixed to where the second floor bathroom once was, Jonathan explains that ideally Co-Verlag will become a self-sufficient artists space. Artists can work with the history and context of the abandoned East Berlin space. Jonathan adds, “Of course, it would be nice to give [the artists] white walls” as well.
Jonathan in Front of a Wall Needing Rennovation (look for the second story sink)
My BIG Discovery…that’s old news to Berlin artists
Over the course of our brunch, I of course asked Rebecca and Jonathan my main query: WHY is Berlin so hospitable to artists? After speaking about cheap rent and available larger spaces, they mentioned something that I had not heard of before: Germany’s specific Artist’s Healthcare.
Künstlersozialkasse, or KSK, is a health insurance and retirement fund program for artists. KSK works as an artist’s employer, paying half of the fees incurred while the artist pays the other half. There are minimum qualifications to be applicable for KSK, and artists of all discipline can apply. Many suggest getting a native-German speaker to help fill out application forms; the intricacies of the language become tricky, and receiving KSK has become more difficult because of the rise in artist population in Berlin.
NYFA Blog friend Kate Hers, an American artist living in Berlin, outlines how to apply to the KSK in her blog Nomadic Wanderings by Estherkaprojekt, which is a terrific resource for all American artists thinking of moving to Berlin or currently living in Berlin.
The difficulty of obtaining KSK membership is only exacerbated by the visa process. Here is the Catch-22: in order to obtain a visa, one must had health insurance. In order to have German health insurance, one must have a visa. Organizations like Bundesverband der Veranstaltungswirtschaft e.V. (BDV) can help with this process, but still most recommend getting a native-German speaker to assist you.
USArtsBerlin Potluck
Delicious Potluck meal brought by USArtsBerlin members
We met up with Co-Verlag partner Jason Burgess, and Rebecca, Jason, and I took the S-Bahn (subway) to a party hosted in honor of NYFA’s visit by the U.S. Embassy. Artists kate hers and Madeline Stillwell were kind enough to plan this potluck meet and greet with their group USArtsBerlin so that I could speak directly with artists in the group, along with Elizabeth Corwin of the Department of Cultural Affairs.
I enjoyed my time talking to the artists, who came from all over the United States. We spoke of artists’ upcoming projects and acclimation to German culture.
Kristen Tovson
As KSK was fresh in my mind, one attendee caught my eye. I spoke with Kristen Tovson, an American dancer, who is a few months along in her pregnancy. She told me about the German government’s child rearing incentives that applied to her as a taxpaying German resident.
She noted Kindergeld, a children or family allowance that helps defray some of the costs of raising children, and Mutterschutz, mandatory maternity leave for employed women working for a German company.
In the evening, I attended a dance performance at Dock11/Eden****. Kirsten Seeligmüller, one of the founders of Dock11, and NYFA Blog friend Sven Neumann showed me around the beautiful dance studios and performance spaces at Dock11 and Eden****. Afterwards, the pair invited me to a cast party barbecue, where I enjoyed the company of artists and friends and ate some truly exceptional sausage.
At the USArtsBerlin Party hosted by Art Laboratory
I left the potluck and barbecue with a sense for the artists community in Berlin, and I look forward to learning more about the positives (and perhaps negatives) of living in Berlin as an American artist as I continue my tour of the city.
Weekend Update: NYFA in Berlin, Day 1
Guten Tag from Berlin! My first two days investigating the Berlin arts scene have been very informative. In the 48 hours I have been here, I can already see the city’s innovative artistic communities and initiatives.
Saturday, June 18th
After arriving early morning Saturday, I visited the city’s project Based in Berlin. The exhibition, spread over five different locations, shows the work of 80 emerging artists who live and work in Berlin. The exhibition covers the full range of contemporary art practices from paintings and drawings to sculpture, photography, film and video, as well as installations and text-based works.
Jakob Schillinger, a Based in Berlin curator
I had the opportunity to meet with one of the five curators, Jakob Schillinger, at Based in Berlin’s main gallery at Atlelierhaus at Monbijou Park. Jakob first explained the choice of the exhibition site. The Atelierhaus was an old German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Berlin) art school. The current government decided on the demolition of the building, which Jakob explains is the fate of most GDR buildings.
Based in Berlin is a city-funded project, and the curators convinced the city to postpone the demolition of Atelierhaus. The venue became not only a container for contemporary art, but also a comment on process and reappropriation, two themes that run throughout the exhibit. For more information on the artwork and themes of the exhibition, visit the Based in Berlin website.
Michael Royce and Jakob Schillinger walking into the converted WWII bunker
The curators even used an old World War II bunker on site as an improvised art theatre for film viewings (Jakob mentions that the acoustics in the bunker were ideal).
The show only exhibited emerging artists who have become visible in the past five years and have received limited funding. Each artist received production funding and a 500 Euro honorarium for participation. Artist run centers were also invited to exhibit and continue their regular programming cycle over the six-week show (which may include more well-known artists).
Is this an exhibition model that would work in the United States? Should we use more unused open spaces, and could we create such a poignant show with a different type of national history? Or do we already have such spaces, like MoMA PS1 and the New Museum?
After walking through the exhibit with Jakob, we sat down in the exhibition café for some frozen coke-colas and got straight to our major questions about Berlin.
Why is Berlin so appealing to artists? The easy, real reason that artists go to Berlin is that it is cheap, according to Jakob. However, that is rapidly changing and the cost of living in Berlin is beginning to rise, bringing to mind the age-old question: Is the population of active artists and creatives making the city more desirable?
Jakob adds that in Berlin, the “institutional model” prevails over the “gallery model.” In Berlin, an artist can more easily survive on stipends, grants, and teaching than in New York, where one must either be successfully selling in galleries or taking 1-3 side jobs to support himself.
Jakob then introduced us to Kajsha Dahlberg, one of the artists exhibiting in Based in Berlin. Below is a short clip of Kajsha explaining her work, A Room of One’s Own/A Thousand Libraries, to me.
A Room of Ones's Own/A Thousand Libraries, Detail; Kajsa Dahlberg
Kajsha is Swedish and now in Berlin on a Swedish grant. However, she said that if she had the same option for stipend and residency in New York that she now has in Berlin, she would take it. And when asked how she supports herself, she said that it was always a bit of a mystery.
After speaking with both Jakob and Kajsha, I learned what seems to be the one of the major difference’s between New York and Berlin for artists from their perspective.
Berlin is about PROCESS, while New York City is about PRODUCT. In Berlin, artists have the time and space to create work, because of the low cost of living and many large, unused spaces. In New York, artists are continually pushed to create and sell work in order to support the high cost of living there, leading to a competitive gallery and sales scene.
Inversely, in Berlin competition among artists is low, because most artists do not sell their work at home. Berlin is a relatively poor Germany city with a very high unemployment rate. The city is rather a home base to have the time and space to create work with a supportive network of artists, but when an artist needs to make sales, he or she must go elsewhere—which is not too bad, considering the central European location of Berlin.
Keep an eye out for my next post on the second half of the weekend where I meet with NYFA artist Rebecca Loyche, attend a USArtsBerlin welcome and networking party for United States expat artists, and see a dance performance at Dock11 with one of its proprietors, Kristen Seeligmüller….
NYFA Blog Is Going International!
Tomorrow I fly to Berlin to investigate the city’s arts scene and to further understand why it is such an appealing place for artists to live and work. As a reminder, this trip is in response to a NYFA Blog poll asking what city you, our readers, would like to learn more about. Berlin was the overwhelming victor, so I planned a trip to explore Berlin and to share what I learn with NYFA Blog readers.
Over the course of my stay, I will be meeting with government officials, visiting exhibits like Based in Berlin and Sox, attending performances at venues like Dock11, speaking with curators and arts administrators, exploring institutions like Künstlerhaus Bethanien and Radial System V, and getting to know artists all over the city. I will be blogging daily in my time in Berlin and sharing my experiences on the NYFA Blog.
I’ll also be surveying artists on the benefits of living in Berlin, from the amount of community and government support for artists to the logistics of living as an artist abroad (for the many international artists in Berlin). Perhaps I will even bring some new strategies to support artists back with me.
I am looking forward to exploring what the Berlin arts scene has to offer, and I hope you will follow along with my travels. Any thoughts?
Bis bald!
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