KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING!!
From Ira and the This American Life team: "The collapse of the banking system explained, in just 59 minutes. Our crack economics team—the guys who explained the mortgage crisis, Alex Blumberg and NPR’s Adam Davidson—are back to help all of us understand the news. For instance, when we talk about an insolvent bank, what does it actually mean, and why are we giving hundreds of billions of dollars to rich bankers who screwed up their own businesses? Also, two guys go to New Jersey to look at a toxic asset.
Other shows on the financial crisis: Giant Pool of Money and Another Frightening Show About the Economy. And you can get daily updates about the financial crisis on Alex and Adam's Planet Money podcast and blog."
You can podcast all these shows and listen when you ride the train from work to rehearsal to work to cocktail party to......
Ira's fundraising pitches on NPR are also legendary. Listen and learn....
The Field provides strategic and creative services to thousands of performing and media artists and companies in New York City and beyond. Founded by artists for artists, we also respond proactively to sector-wide challenges through special programs such as Field Leadership Fund: a fellowship that offers real opportunities, remuneration and access to ambitious artists, arts organizations and arts managers.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
next wave of audience development?
Add your voice to the next wave of Audience Development ideas with the Mellon Foundation's Project Audience.
Caveat: I love/hate their spin on participation: "no price for admission" (what?) - you just have to give freely of your time and expertize (2-4 hours a week! that's not nothing!).
If they really value the expert input of arts leaders, they should pay for it. Right? If I charge a super duper low-cost fee of $50 an hour (bargain!) that could be $100-$200 a week in extra income. (that could help support the new Metrocard fees!!)
Come on Mellon. You are philanthropists! Put your money where your mission is!
Caveat: I love/hate their spin on participation: "no price for admission" (what?) - you just have to give freely of your time and expertize (2-4 hours a week! that's not nothing!).
If they really value the expert input of arts leaders, they should pay for it. Right? If I charge a super duper low-cost fee of $50 an hour (bargain!) that could be $100-$200 a week in extra income. (that could help support the new Metrocard fees!!)
Come on Mellon. You are philanthropists! Put your money where your mission is!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Microphilanthropy: Brian Lehrer show on WNYC
Listen up ambitious fundraisers....Brian Lehrer gives you great ideas about how to raise $ for your work....yes, it's mostly environmental causes, social services, etc...But appropriate it for your art business. Same same...
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
WPA2?
Many of us have talked obliquely and abstractly about a 2009 WPA and an economic recovery package that actively engages and utilizes the creative economy. But Arlene Goldbard is throwing down the gauntlet and raising the bar. I am still reading through all of it before I commit to action but my gut says GO TEAM GO!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Touring: best practices and pitfalls (from the experts!)
On Wednesday March 18th, The Field and Dance New Amsterdam co-hosted a panel on Touring: From Grassroots to Agents. Superstar expert talkers included Sara Juli, Alexandra Beller and James Scruggs. It was an invigorating and inspiring power talk and I wanted to share with you all their Best Practices and Pitfalls about touring. (Caveat: these are my paraphrases!)
BEST PRACTICES:
AB: radiate your gig (i.e. did you get a gig at Edinburgh? try and get to Dublin, Paris, Madrid...once you are over the ocean, try and stay for a bit. You already paid (or the presenter did) the airfare! This holds water for any gig: once you are out on the town, see who else can "block book you" and save some $$)
JS: Got a University gig? know the other departments (not just the dance/theater/music one) - see where else you can teach, talk, perform. The more outreach you do, the more butts in seats, and maybe a bigger fee too. You gotta be proactive. They won't necessarily do it for you.
SJ: Learn what sets your work apart and work it! Be articulate, clear and passionate. Have your "elevator pitch" ready for whenever you can say it.
PITFALLS:
SJ: Touring is not for everyone. It's hard, tiring, not always a money-maker. Think before you leap.
JS: Beware of presenters asking you to censor your work. Know what you will change and what you won't. (what plays at HERE may not play in Peoria)
AB: She's decided only to take FLAT FEES for gigs. No more "60/40 Box Office split" etc. It just isn't cost-effective.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
talk talk talk and no action?
If you have never heard Ben Cameron speak, check this out on youtube. I could listen to him read the phone book! (Someone just warned me that they removed the youtube link? here's more Ben Cameron just in case. Here and here too...thanks Alberto for the links!)
On February 17th more than 300 NYC theater stakeholders got together at the Players Club (no I did not make up that name!) to talk about THE STATE OF SMALL AND MID-SIZED THEATERS.
It was jam packed, too hot and I was starving but that's not why I was frustrated. Beyond Ben Cameron's rousing call to arms (this is DefCon 5 Elevated Orange Survival of the Fittest time), I felt like the same old same old same old ideas were tossed around (be more inventive! do shows outside! use thrift store clothes! get more funding from foundations that have no money!).
We all know the truth, we say we want to do it differently (to really partner, to really let go of non-core services, to let go of our too big office spaces and share!, to stop duplicating services, and to maybe even CLOSE OUR DOORS because we are not really needed by our constituents). And I do it too. This is the hardest work ever and it's so much easier to stay the same.
But sitting in the Players Club that hot day I thought 25% OF US WILL BE OUT OF WORK NEXT YEAR AT THIS TIME. 25% OF US WILL NOT BE MAKING ART. DefCon 5!! We can either push and shove and tooth and claw, or we can strategically and generously and mindfully look at the arts ecology and community of New York City and make proactive choices that prioritize vitality, diversity, passion, best practices and joy.
I vote for the latter. And now I just have to commit to that myself.
PS...
On February 17th more than 300 NYC theater stakeholders got together at the Players Club (no I did not make up that name!) to talk about THE STATE OF SMALL AND MID-SIZED THEATERS.
It was jam packed, too hot and I was starving but that's not why I was frustrated. Beyond Ben Cameron's rousing call to arms (this is DefCon 5 Elevated Orange Survival of the Fittest time), I felt like the same old same old same old ideas were tossed around (be more inventive! do shows outside! use thrift store clothes! get more funding from foundations that have no money!).
We all know the truth, we say we want to do it differently (to really partner, to really let go of non-core services, to let go of our too big office spaces and share!, to stop duplicating services, and to maybe even CLOSE OUR DOORS because we are not really needed by our constituents). And I do it too. This is the hardest work ever and it's so much easier to stay the same.
But sitting in the Players Club that hot day I thought 25% OF US WILL BE OUT OF WORK NEXT YEAR AT THIS TIME. 25% OF US WILL NOT BE MAKING ART. DefCon 5!! We can either push and shove and tooth and claw, or we can strategically and generously and mindfully look at the arts ecology and community of New York City and make proactive choices that prioritize vitality, diversity, passion, best practices and joy.
I vote for the latter. And now I just have to commit to that myself.
PS...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The Equus Projects: A Dance Company Leaps into Market Research - The Equus Projects
Like many non-profit dance companies, the extent of our market research for new projects and tours has been largely dictated by an informal appraisal of the interests of our community. Because we work with horses, we network with equestrians, trainers, equine venues – in other words a fairly diverse community that is far afield from our dance community.
For the most part, we've followed our gut. The ERPA process has helped us explore how we can expand our activity beyond our current network, and how we can do so with some informed research, specifically market potential research. Since this journey is new territory for us, I wanted to share what we're discovering in the hopes that others won't have to recreate the wheel.
Our ERPA project involves developing a network of regional coordinators who will help us cultivate opportunities (performance and workshop venues, funding prospects, press contacts) in four regions in the United States that we return to annually. Each region will center around a specific hub community, which will most likely be the community of our regional coordinator.
Our first goal has been to define these 4 regions in concrete terms. Do they include the entire states or simply the communities surrounding the hub community ? In some cases, as with our NYC hub, the region covers several states. As the project progresses we plan to fine-tune the boundaries of these regions. To get the ball rolling, we've delineated the regions based on survey data collected from audience/workshop attendees form previous tours.
We've also begun with some “low hanging fruit” from within the dance world. This has included things like tracking the number of professional dance companies listed on the arts council's registry in Seattle (our pilot region). This is step one towards assessing the dance audience size for this region, which we hope to estimate based on a few studies that were published in the region.
Of course, this is just a start. We need more clarity about these regions in order to make informed decisions as to how we'll build on-going relationships in each. At this point, however, we are encouraged by the generous and insightful responses we are getting from our contacts in Seattle, which has given momentum to this project.
We are learning that it's one thing to bring your work to a new community and just hope it works out. It's another to do your homework (the research) and set a strong foundation for developing meaningful connections.
For the most part, we've followed our gut. The ERPA process has helped us explore how we can expand our activity beyond our current network, and how we can do so with some informed research, specifically market potential research. Since this journey is new territory for us, I wanted to share what we're discovering in the hopes that others won't have to recreate the wheel.
Our ERPA project involves developing a network of regional coordinators who will help us cultivate opportunities (performance and workshop venues, funding prospects, press contacts) in four regions in the United States that we return to annually. Each region will center around a specific hub community, which will most likely be the community of our regional coordinator.
Our first goal has been to define these 4 regions in concrete terms. Do they include the entire states or simply the communities surrounding the hub community ? In some cases, as with our NYC hub, the region covers several states. As the project progresses we plan to fine-tune the boundaries of these regions. To get the ball rolling, we've delineated the regions based on survey data collected from audience/workshop attendees form previous tours.
We've also begun with some “low hanging fruit” from within the dance world. This has included things like tracking the number of professional dance companies listed on the arts council's registry in Seattle (our pilot region). This is step one towards assessing the dance audience size for this region, which we hope to estimate based on a few studies that were published in the region.
Of course, this is just a start. We need more clarity about these regions in order to make informed decisions as to how we'll build on-going relationships in each. At this point, however, we are encouraged by the generous and insightful responses we are getting from our contacts in Seattle, which has given momentum to this project.
We are learning that it's one thing to bring your work to a new community and just hope it works out. It's another to do your homework (the research) and set a strong foundation for developing meaningful connections.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Stolen Chair visits the CSA capital of the world
Hi there you artsy entrepeneurs and entrepenurial artists out there,
Jon Stancato from Stolen Chair here. Our company's proposal for ERPA was to adapt the business model of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) to the world of experimental theatre, creating a membership community that would invest seed money in Stolen Chair's process and then reap a year's worth of theatrical harvest. You can read more about the proposal and some of our early thoughts about the project in an interview I did for Rochelle Denton and NYtheatre.com's NYtheatre Voices.
But now for some hot off the presses original content, exclusively for followers of this here ERPA blog:
Today Stolen Chair's company manager Aviva Meyer and I took a field trip to New Paltz, NY, the CSA capital of the world. Yes, believe or not, this adorable village and its surrounding township have more CSAs per capita than anywhere else in the world. One of Aviva's friends (and a friend of Stolen Chair), the incomparable Jonathan Wright, generously offered to take us around the community and introduce us to some farmers. Aviva daylights in the office of congressman John Hall and met Jonathan while the two coordinated the grass roots components of Hall's first election. Jonathan and I had a chance to chat briefly about Stolen Chair's plans to go CST over a noisy post-show (Stolen Chair's Theatre Is Dead and So Are You) meet-up back in January and he immediately offered roughly a dozen brilliant ideas which have guided our thinking on the project since then. As a four-year member of a CSA, I certainly understood that traditional market logic doesn't fully apply to this special experience. There are value-added benefits like the sense of community, the good feeling of supporting local business, and the ineffably improved taste of a simple carrot when you know the farmer who planted it. From the beginnings of our conversations, Jonathan was earnest and adamant that CSAs offer a vital emotional richness that goes beyond any sort of cost-benefit analysis and our success in the CST would depend entirely on our ability to adapt that to a theatrical model.
Our New Paltz adventures began in a packed restaurant on Main Street called Bistro, where two eggs, hash browns, toast, jam, and unlimited coffee runs you $1.95. You can upgrade both the eggs and the coffee to organic for a small fee and this is where New Paltz shows its colors as the truly special sort of town that could boast so very many CSAs.
After our delicious meal, we headed across to street to chat in an arts co-op that Jonathan helped found years ago, where we talked about the difficulties of creating a business that is dependent, at least in part, on community support (of course, all businesses need to be supported by the community, but most get this support through the sale of goods and services, not "shares"). It echoed many discussions the Chairs and our board have had about continuing to have multiple revenue streams besides the CST.
We took a short drive over to Taliaferro Farms where we met its sole proprietor, Pete Taliaferro, who generously offered an hour of his time (thanks, Pete!!!) to share his passion for the CSA models. Pete was one of the first large farmers in the region to get his farm certified organic and has operated a CSA since 1998 when his charter membership had about 28 people. Though it has sometimes hovered near 400 members, his membership has stabilized at just under 200. Pete estimates that the CSA comprises roughly 50% of his overall production, with the rest split between wholesale, retail markets, and relationships with local restaurants. He said it is possible to go 100% CSA, and a number of smaller farms in the area do just that.
Pete said a number of things that were directly applicable to our plans to adapt the CSA to theatre; chief among them were the importance of providing "choice" to members, what it really means to form a membership community, and his thoughts about how to use the income provided by CSA member dues. I'll tackle each of these points in order. Pete's CSA is unique in a number of ways; not only does he only offer on-site options (no drop-off points in NYC or anywhere off the farm for that matter), but members are essentially given an allowance to spend however they like on that week's produce offerings (in the common CSA model, members show up to a pick-up or drop-off location and are given instructions about precisely how much they are to take of each veggie). Pete credits his impressive retention rate with this particular innovation. As he continues to develop what this allowance/credit system means, it begins to look a lot like Pete has created his own microcurrency, fitting for a farm in which 60% of the propane is purchased through a barter arrangement. And if this starts to sound like a miniature government, I think the comparison is apt because Pete is definitely the mayor of Taliaferro Farms. He presides over each CSA day, fielding member suggestions, collecting recipes, and slipping a member some bok choy fresh from the field if they seem to be disappointed with the offerings in the box. While I'm sure his produce is incredible, Pete's charisma is clearly part of what drives members back year after year. He supports the community, going to birthday parties and subscribing to the local arts organizations, and they come out in droves to support him. He is a keen businessman who gets the most fundamental rule of business: it's an arrangement between real living breathing individuals. Pete has also very organically (no pun intended) figured out how to solicit the kind of feedback that helps him improve his program ("Get rid of the plastic bags!" and "Publish this recipe for Kale Chips in the newsletter!") while careful to limit his exposure to criticism that might become a nuisance. He responds to his members emails but you won't find a suggestion box at Taliaferro Farms. As for how the CSA income affects his business and bottom line, Pete has crafted a nifty soundbite: "I use it as a bank." He speculates with this money and uses it to fund growth opportunities for the farm's future. While this does pose some risks, it seems like Pete has hedged them well. I could have spent the whole day traipsing in the mud with Pete (even though I, like some parody of a city slicker, wore suede sneakers for my day at the farm!), but we had more to see. On the way out, though, Jonathan pointed to the rows of field that line the street. Come harvest time, those rows overflow with cut flowers that CSA members can pick to their heart's content, but, for Jonathan (and, I suspect, many others), it also provides the sort of rich sense-memory that sets Pete's farm apart from some competitors.
Jonathan took us on a quick tour of the Brooks Farm Project, a non-profit organization that is 100% CSA and offers quite a bevy of educational outreach programs to complement the rest of its community involvement. It, too, offers a striking vista as you make your way to the pick-up site: a bubbling stream and mountains in the distance. Apparently, CSA members are asked to park so that they have to walk past the stream en route to the CSA. This reminded me instantly of time I spent working and training with Thomas Richards at the Grotowski Workcenter in Pontedera, Italy. Their enigmatic work explores the boundaries between theatrical performance and religious ritual, among other things, and they will not let visitors "witness" the piece during daylight hours. They say it's because the studio is too warm for the work during the day, but after a few weeks there I can testify that this really isn't the case: I think they realize that part of the work's provocative mystery originates with the long dark drive through craggly trees and sunflower fields. By choreographing the participant's approach to the "product," both Brooks Farm and the Workcenter can foster the type of emotional connection that pushes both beyond the realm of transaction. We didn't chat with anyone at the Brook Farm project, but we will definitely return to find out more since they are one of the few CSAs operating under the same not-for-profit laws that govern Stolen Chair.
We closed the day out with Billiam van Roestenburg over at Liberty View Farm. Billiam's approach proved just how much variation is possible within the general umbrella of a CSA. Billiam's trisected his orchard into three revenue streams: whole sale, u-pick, and lease a tree. Of course, it's the latter program that was immediately exciting to Aviva and me. People from the surrounding area, NYC, and even Vermont lease one or more trees from Billiam. They then own all the fruit that comes off the tree that season and can pick it as frequently as they want. Members get their own slice of farm life and a good deal on certified naturally grown apples and Billiam ends up with a higher profit margin on the fruit since he doesn't need to put in the labor for picking and processing. Billiam's farm, which also offers heirloom egg varietals and an assortment of goat's milk products, is built on quite a niche demographic. It's gay owned and operated and Billiam (according to his own accounts) intentionally tries to scare Republicans out of the membership through some healthy Bush-bashing in the weekly newsletter. He holds sculpture nights and benefits, and tells stories of weekend nights when the orchard is filled with 200 strumming acoustic guitars. He is, to put it simply, a marketing genius, and understands how to give something simple (Cortland apples growing on a tree) the energy of a backstage pass at a rock-and-roll concert. For Stolen Chair's purposes, I really like the sociopolitical cohesion of this particular membership community and the microcommisioning principles behind the lease-a-tree concept, not to mention the formidable media-savvy at work here.
I'm (clearly) still processing this thrilling and inspirational day. I leave wondering more about how we can use space to help foster emotional richness, how to use marketing to make CSA members feel like they are part of a sub-culture, and how to foster collaboration without endangering our own firmly established mission. I also wonder if it's possible to "reverse-commute" the CSA principles and, just like Billiam has NYC foodies trekking to his upstate orchard, develop relationships to bring upstate residents to our work in NYC. Finally, I wonder how the blue and spotted heirloom eggs that Billiam gave me are going to taste!
I plan on bringing all the Chairs up to New Paltz for another field trip (and maybe a creative retreat for our next project!) sometime this spring. Until then, if you're interested in helping us navigate this exciting new terrain, please email me at jon[at]stolenchair.org or fill out survey (and join our mailing list) at http://stolenchair.org/ERPA.
Jon Stancato from Stolen Chair here. Our company's proposal for ERPA was to adapt the business model of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) to the world of experimental theatre, creating a membership community that would invest seed money in Stolen Chair's process and then reap a year's worth of theatrical harvest. You can read more about the proposal and some of our early thoughts about the project in an interview I did for Rochelle Denton and NYtheatre.com's NYtheatre Voices.
But now for some hot off the presses original content, exclusively for followers of this here ERPA blog:
Today Stolen Chair's company manager Aviva Meyer and I took a field trip to New Paltz, NY, the CSA capital of the world. Yes, believe or not, this adorable village and its surrounding township have more CSAs per capita than anywhere else in the world. One of Aviva's friends (and a friend of Stolen Chair), the incomparable Jonathan Wright, generously offered to take us around the community and introduce us to some farmers. Aviva daylights in the office of congressman John Hall and met Jonathan while the two coordinated the grass roots components of Hall's first election. Jonathan and I had a chance to chat briefly about Stolen Chair's plans to go CST over a noisy post-show (Stolen Chair's Theatre Is Dead and So Are You) meet-up back in January and he immediately offered roughly a dozen brilliant ideas which have guided our thinking on the project since then. As a four-year member of a CSA, I certainly understood that traditional market logic doesn't fully apply to this special experience. There are value-added benefits like the sense of community, the good feeling of supporting local business, and the ineffably improved taste of a simple carrot when you know the farmer who planted it. From the beginnings of our conversations, Jonathan was earnest and adamant that CSAs offer a vital emotional richness that goes beyond any sort of cost-benefit analysis and our success in the CST would depend entirely on our ability to adapt that to a theatrical model.
Our New Paltz adventures began in a packed restaurant on Main Street called Bistro, where two eggs, hash browns, toast, jam, and unlimited coffee runs you $1.95. You can upgrade both the eggs and the coffee to organic for a small fee and this is where New Paltz shows its colors as the truly special sort of town that could boast so very many CSAs.
After our delicious meal, we headed across to street to chat in an arts co-op that Jonathan helped found years ago, where we talked about the difficulties of creating a business that is dependent, at least in part, on community support (of course, all businesses need to be supported by the community, but most get this support through the sale of goods and services, not "shares"). It echoed many discussions the Chairs and our board have had about continuing to have multiple revenue streams besides the CST.
We took a short drive over to Taliaferro Farms where we met its sole proprietor, Pete Taliaferro, who generously offered an hour of his time (thanks, Pete!!!) to share his passion for the CSA models. Pete was one of the first large farmers in the region to get his farm certified organic and has operated a CSA since 1998 when his charter membership had about 28 people. Though it has sometimes hovered near 400 members, his membership has stabilized at just under 200. Pete estimates that the CSA comprises roughly 50% of his overall production, with the rest split between wholesale, retail markets, and relationships with local restaurants. He said it is possible to go 100% CSA, and a number of smaller farms in the area do just that.
Pete said a number of things that were directly applicable to our plans to adapt the CSA to theatre; chief among them were the importance of providing "choice" to members, what it really means to form a membership community, and his thoughts about how to use the income provided by CSA member dues. I'll tackle each of these points in order. Pete's CSA is unique in a number of ways; not only does he only offer on-site options (no drop-off points in NYC or anywhere off the farm for that matter), but members are essentially given an allowance to spend however they like on that week's produce offerings (in the common CSA model, members show up to a pick-up or drop-off location and are given instructions about precisely how much they are to take of each veggie). Pete credits his impressive retention rate with this particular innovation. As he continues to develop what this allowance/credit system means, it begins to look a lot like Pete has created his own microcurrency, fitting for a farm in which 60% of the propane is purchased through a barter arrangement. And if this starts to sound like a miniature government, I think the comparison is apt because Pete is definitely the mayor of Taliaferro Farms. He presides over each CSA day, fielding member suggestions, collecting recipes, and slipping a member some bok choy fresh from the field if they seem to be disappointed with the offerings in the box. While I'm sure his produce is incredible, Pete's charisma is clearly part of what drives members back year after year. He supports the community, going to birthday parties and subscribing to the local arts organizations, and they come out in droves to support him. He is a keen businessman who gets the most fundamental rule of business: it's an arrangement between real living breathing individuals. Pete has also very organically (no pun intended) figured out how to solicit the kind of feedback that helps him improve his program ("Get rid of the plastic bags!" and "Publish this recipe for Kale Chips in the newsletter!") while careful to limit his exposure to criticism that might become a nuisance. He responds to his members emails but you won't find a suggestion box at Taliaferro Farms. As for how the CSA income affects his business and bottom line, Pete has crafted a nifty soundbite: "I use it as a bank." He speculates with this money and uses it to fund growth opportunities for the farm's future. While this does pose some risks, it seems like Pete has hedged them well. I could have spent the whole day traipsing in the mud with Pete (even though I, like some parody of a city slicker, wore suede sneakers for my day at the farm!), but we had more to see. On the way out, though, Jonathan pointed to the rows of field that line the street. Come harvest time, those rows overflow with cut flowers that CSA members can pick to their heart's content, but, for Jonathan (and, I suspect, many others), it also provides the sort of rich sense-memory that sets Pete's farm apart from some competitors.
Jonathan took us on a quick tour of the Brooks Farm Project, a non-profit organization that is 100% CSA and offers quite a bevy of educational outreach programs to complement the rest of its community involvement. It, too, offers a striking vista as you make your way to the pick-up site: a bubbling stream and mountains in the distance. Apparently, CSA members are asked to park so that they have to walk past the stream en route to the CSA. This reminded me instantly of time I spent working and training with Thomas Richards at the Grotowski Workcenter in Pontedera, Italy. Their enigmatic work explores the boundaries between theatrical performance and religious ritual, among other things, and they will not let visitors "witness" the piece during daylight hours. They say it's because the studio is too warm for the work during the day, but after a few weeks there I can testify that this really isn't the case: I think they realize that part of the work's provocative mystery originates with the long dark drive through craggly trees and sunflower fields. By choreographing the participant's approach to the "product," both Brooks Farm and the Workcenter can foster the type of emotional connection that pushes both beyond the realm of transaction. We didn't chat with anyone at the Brook Farm project, but we will definitely return to find out more since they are one of the few CSAs operating under the same not-for-profit laws that govern Stolen Chair.
We closed the day out with Billiam van Roestenburg over at Liberty View Farm. Billiam's approach proved just how much variation is possible within the general umbrella of a CSA. Billiam's trisected his orchard into three revenue streams: whole sale, u-pick, and lease a tree. Of course, it's the latter program that was immediately exciting to Aviva and me. People from the surrounding area, NYC, and even Vermont lease one or more trees from Billiam. They then own all the fruit that comes off the tree that season and can pick it as frequently as they want. Members get their own slice of farm life and a good deal on certified naturally grown apples and Billiam ends up with a higher profit margin on the fruit since he doesn't need to put in the labor for picking and processing. Billiam's farm, which also offers heirloom egg varietals and an assortment of goat's milk products, is built on quite a niche demographic. It's gay owned and operated and Billiam (according to his own accounts) intentionally tries to scare Republicans out of the membership through some healthy Bush-bashing in the weekly newsletter. He holds sculpture nights and benefits, and tells stories of weekend nights when the orchard is filled with 200 strumming acoustic guitars. He is, to put it simply, a marketing genius, and understands how to give something simple (Cortland apples growing on a tree) the energy of a backstage pass at a rock-and-roll concert. For Stolen Chair's purposes, I really like the sociopolitical cohesion of this particular membership community and the microcommisioning principles behind the lease-a-tree concept, not to mention the formidable media-savvy at work here.
I'm (clearly) still processing this thrilling and inspirational day. I leave wondering more about how we can use space to help foster emotional richness, how to use marketing to make CSA members feel like they are part of a sub-culture, and how to foster collaboration without endangering our own firmly established mission. I also wonder if it's possible to "reverse-commute" the CSA principles and, just like Billiam has NYC foodies trekking to his upstate orchard, develop relationships to bring upstate residents to our work in NYC. Finally, I wonder how the blue and spotted heirloom eggs that Billiam gave me are going to taste!
I plan on bringing all the Chairs up to New Paltz for another field trip (and maybe a creative retreat for our next project!) sometime this spring. Until then, if you're interested in helping us navigate this exciting new terrain, please email me at jon[at]stolenchair.org or fill out survey (and join our mailing list) at http://stolenchair.org/ERPA.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Artists are unemployed? really?
The National Endowment for the Arts is telling us what we already know intuitively. But their imprimatur says it all in concrete, data-driven, government sanctioned words. Read it and weep.
Many of you/us are job-less. This won't change for a long-time. The thing I still don't understand though is: are they only talking about artists that make their LIVING (i.e. money, significant money, money enough to pay the rent?) Are they including all of our fine feathered friends who work a handful of other jobs to support their art-making?
What about all the directors/waiters/dancers/caterers/data enterers/arts administrators/actors/choreographers/massage therapists/Pilates trainers/painters/ ??/?/? Are they counted by the NEA, the IRS or even our local bean counters?
Intuitively it seems true that artists (whether those that make a living from their work and those that don't) - are getting hit and we are getting hit hard! Income is decreasing on most fronts and expenses are increasing! What's an artist to do? DO WHAT YOU DO BEST ALREADY AND INNATELY! be creative, nimble and innovative. don't give up, don't give in. act from your passion and your courage and do things you believe in and you love.
And then: ask your landlord for a rent reduction! My photographer friend Patrick just got $500 off his rent because he said, "I need to move out by May. I can't afford to stay." Patrick is a great tenant and his landlord loves him so it's a no brainer. It's a renter market out there folks, just ASK. (I even asked my hair cutter for a "artist friendly reduction." If you don't ask, they won't tell!
Many of you/us are job-less. This won't change for a long-time. The thing I still don't understand though is: are they only talking about artists that make their LIVING (i.e. money, significant money, money enough to pay the rent?) Are they including all of our fine feathered friends who work a handful of other jobs to support their art-making?
What about all the directors/waiters/dancers/caterers/data enterers/arts administrators/actors/choreographers/massage therapists/Pilates trainers/painters/ ??/?/? Are they counted by the NEA, the IRS or even our local bean counters?
Intuitively it seems true that artists (whether those that make a living from their work and those that don't) - are getting hit and we are getting hit hard! Income is decreasing on most fronts and expenses are increasing! What's an artist to do? DO WHAT YOU DO BEST ALREADY AND INNATELY! be creative, nimble and innovative. don't give up, don't give in. act from your passion and your courage and do things you believe in and you love.
And then: ask your landlord for a rent reduction! My photographer friend Patrick just got $500 off his rent because he said, "I need to move out by May. I can't afford to stay." Patrick is a great tenant and his landlord loves him so it's a no brainer. It's a renter market out there folks, just ASK. (I even asked my hair cutter for a "artist friendly reduction." If you don't ask, they won't tell!
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