A month or so ago,
Beet Street, a local non profit arts initiative sent out an invitation for area artists to apply for a professional development workshop presented by an organization called
Creative Capital. As I looked at the information I was tempted to go ahead and delete the message. I could think of too many reasons why I shouldn't apply. I'm new in town. I write folk songs. My art isn't one of the fine ones :) But I also knew underneath the excuses that I was really yearning for just such an opportunity. With one short note of encouragement from Beet Street Project Manager, Kari Munson, I decided to go ahead and apply. To both my surprise and delight I was accepted.
A couple of weeks ago I received a workshop schedule and a bio of each one of the five presenters. Their credentials were both plentiful, and to me, a little intimidating. Extraordinarily talented AND successful people in both their specific disciplines and in their repeated fulfillment of professional and personal goals. The day before the workshop I was inexplicably anxious. I suspect that part of me knew that most, if not all of the games I play with myself that keep me from fully engaging in my creative work and actually thriving by it were about to be escorted to their demise. The myths that I cling to about being an artist in this world were going to be shown for the lies that they were. I was about to be challenged to take up an authentic and personal course of action based upon my own gifts, values and goals.
On Friday we gathered for the first evening of the workshop, an opportunity for each of the 24 participants to give a presentation of our work. As I heard each of the group members talk about their work I was immediately struck with the high level of quality and artistic integrity each one brought to the table. I sang my song, Wide Open Heart as my presentation, but I realized soon after that that was a very limited display of all the work that I do. In fact, I think one of the most valuable pieces that I took from the weekend is that I need to really work on improving the ways that I talk about and otherwise represent my creative work to others. It's not easy for me to encapsulate all of my projects in a three minute elevator speech, but I do need to be prepared to give quite a bit more pertinent information about what I do than I have ever actually prepared or practiced.
As each person shared I was also struck with the realization that this was the beginning of something I've wanted for a long time, a diverse artistic community to be a part of. These are indeed my people. They understand intimately what it means to be an artist in the world, with all of the attached opportunities, bumps, insecurities, instability and also the great satisfaction that we get in our unique communication of our perceptions, experiences, beliefs and emotions. Here we were, thrown into a pool of mutuality, that kind of connection that we thirst for from the corners in which we isolate ourselves. As the weekend progressed, I recognized knowing looks and gestures from people who actually knew and understood much of what we all go through as artists, and I felt for the first time in a long time like I wasn't really as crazy as I once thought. Here, I was surrounded by brilliance, and I was encouraged to shine unabashedly. What a gift!
Saturday morning opened with two excellent presentations by human powerhouse, Colleen Keegan on strategic planning and writing solid business plans. While I've helped people do both of these in my coaching, I don't think I realized until this weekend that I really need the help of a facilitator in this process, and I couldn't have found a better start than what I found in Colleen's presentations. Creative Capital has created a workbook for participants that walk us through the step my step of strategic planning. We were also given a great outline for preparing a business plan. One of the most helpful answers I received in these sessions was that I need to write a unique business plan for each one of my creative projects. I have to say that Colleen is one of the most amazing people I've ever met. She is both the ultimate professional, with high level wisdom and experience spilling out of her, as well as being a deeply caring and committed advocate for artists.
Afternoon workshops were Promoting Your Work, with artist and author, Jackie Battenfield, and composer, Byron Au Yong, followed by Funding Your Work with actor/director/playwright/teacher Aaron Landsman, and director, Maureen Huskey. Jackie, author of
The Artist's Guide: How to Make a Living Doing What You Love(DaCapo Press 2009), told her story of starting a gallery in Brooklyn in the early part of her career. She started from scratch and built the gallery into a $250,000.00 a year operation only to realize that if she were to put the same time and energy into promoting her own art, she could enjoy the same sucess, only doing what she really loved to do. She and Byron also shared a helpful model of different levels of relationship with audience, from unexposed to exposed to connected to core. This tool has many implications for me in the ways that I promote what I do, and I can't wait to apply it to my own marketing strategy. I was also encouraged by the way that all of the presenters portrayed marketing as the development of a relationship between artist and audience.
I initially thought that I might not get as much out of the Funding Your Work presentation. I was wrong. Aaron and Maureen not only shared a number of potential sources that I would have otherwise never known about or considered for my own work, they also had excellent suggestions about cultivating good relationships with sources of funding. The thing I appreciated most about this presentation was the directive to persist. I have a habit of giving up after the first try. Both Aaron and Jackie told stories about how they ended up being funded only after applying for the same support several years in a row.
Break out groups in the afternoon included creating an online presence, and verbal communication. Of the entire weekend, these felt like they were the weakest in terms of content, but I also think that by this time on Saturday afternoon, we were already pretty overloaded with information. I would have loved to have had a chance to hear more of the presenters' own stories and anecdotes during this session. We ended the day with a happy hour at the home of one of last years Creative Capital participants. After a full day we were glad to have a chance to unwind a bit together and just chat. I enjoyed meeting some of the folks from last year's workshop and hearing how they have fared in the year since. This was yet another encouragement.
I'll fill in the details about Sunday's activities tomorrow. In the mean time, check out
Jackie's book, and hear
Byron's story!
