Thursday, April 28, 2016

Field Leadership Fund: Equity - The Balancing Act

By Rajeeyah Finnie-Myers

The Field Leadership Fund’s (FLF) Opening Retreat took place back in December 2015. Following the retreat the Fellows took part in the FLF 8-week Workshop Intensive. When designing the Intensive, I had hoped that it would foster a feeling of community among the cohort and set the stage for strong collaborations. I think it successfully accomplished those goals.  But perhaps just as importantly, it also brought up valid questions around creating a safe space that supports the work of disrupting systems of inequity. There is a balancing act that needs to happen when designing such a space. On one hand The Field wants Fellows to feel that the space is theirs to create, explore, question and own; but on the other hand if there isn't enough structure people may be less willing to take risks. Trust, responsibility and accountability are all two way streets and it can be challenging when both sides don't necessarily see eye to eye on what these aspects look like in our day to day interactions.

Kendra Ross & Aya Lane
There were practical ways that both sides met the challenge. I made it a point to prepare each guest facilitator ahead of time so that all involved understood the kind of environment we were creating at the workshops. I also shared the facilitators’ intended outcomes for each workshop with Fellows ahead of time. The FLF evaluation consultant collected feedback from the Fellows after each workshop and we were able to use some of that feedback to adjust our approach along the way. Fellows took it upon themselves to come together and form clear and tangible ways that The Field could give them what they needed. They asked questions and made requests as a way of making this experience work for them. The Field was always willing to consider requests - sometimes saying yes and sometimes saying no. 



Eric Lockley & Bryan Glover foreground;
 Sydnie l. Mosley & 
Azure D. Osborne-Lee background
On the last day of the Intensive, the cohort went through what we called the “pairing process” which ended with each Manager Fellow being paired with an Artist or Arts Organization Fellow. These partners would then set out to work together for the remainder of the Fellowship (through April 2017).  Artist/Arts Organization Fellows expressed their desire to make the decision about who they would work with and Manager Fellows expressed concerns about their potential partners having unrealistic expectations of them. The Field took both sides’ concerns into account by having each Fellow rank with whom they’d prefer to work. The rankings weighed heavily in The Field’s decision making process. And though there was pushback about The Field making the final decision of who would work with whom, overall Fellows expressed that they are really happy with their FLF partner. 


With the ultimate decision-making power being in the hands of The Field, an important question arose: what is the difference between trusting someone and surrendering your power to over to someone?  This question can come up in any relationship, rather it be with donors, presenters, critics, board members, collaborative artists or staff. Additionally, what happens if there is money (or any other resource) on the table? 

At The Field we are left reflecting on what true equity looks like in these instances.  Weigh in with your thoughts and look for more from The Field on this topic as we continue to learn from FLF.


Photograph from the pairing event.*

All photographs by David Flores

*Azure D. Osborne-Lee, Kyoung H. Park, Goussy Celestin,  Rachel DeGuzman, Aya Lane, Bryan E. Glover, Eric Lockley,
 Kendra Ross, Jehan O. Young, Sydnie Mosley and Alexis Convento. Not pictured: Emily Berry 


Friday, April 1, 2016

The Field's National Network: National Touring Exchange (pt. 1)

The Network Touring Exchange (NTE) is a pilot opportunity for our national Field Network Sites to build their capacity by working with other Field Network Sites.  Represented by one dance/movement-based artist/Fieldwork Facilitator, a Fieldwork Site may travel to another Fieldwork site for 2-7 days to learn, share, collaborate and grow.

The Field is excited to announce the recipients of our first Network Touring Exchange!

photo by Dave Rubin
Amy Caron will travel from Salt Lake City, UT, to Milkwaukee, WI, April 6 -12.

Amy is a multidisciplinary artist based in Salt Lake City.  Her artistic versatility is informed by her experience as a crossover athlete.  A high-level figure skater and gymnast at a young age, Amy later represented her country in World Cup competition as an aerialist on the US Freestyle Ski Team.  She holds her BFA in modern dance and also studied animation and arts technology.  Her short dance films screened at Galapagos Art Space, American Dance Festival, KMUTT School of Architecture and Design, and Macau Art Museum.  The year 2006 marked a career turning point when Performance Space 122 commissioned Waves of Mu—a complex installation/performance work about the neurobiology of empathy created with world-renowned scientist V.S. Ramachandran.  Through this rewarding venture into science, Amy grew as a social practice artist, expanded the interdisciplinary nature of her work, and received a Visiting Artist Grant from Duke University.  In 2012 Amy premiered Holotype, a large-scale biomorphic installation for The Leonardo Museum.  Inspired by her rigorous study of algae and the challenge to translate the obscure organism’s inscape, this ambitious multi-year project filled the museum’s vast 4,000-sq./ft. atrium.  Andrew Andrew, Culturebot, and Interior Design Magazine have covered Amy’s work. www.amycaron.com
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Ilana Silverstein will be touring with her feminist punk rock dance band, Tia Nina, from Washington DC to New York City on April 9-12. 

Tia Nina was started by Leah Curran Moon, MPA PhD (J Van Stone), Ilana Silverstein, MFA (Sammy Rain) and Lisi Stoessel, MFA (Sticks) in 2011.  Tia Nina plays the festival circuit including Capital Fringe DC, Asheville Fringe NC, the Festival of Subversive Ideas and Minds, College Park, MD, as well as theaters like The Lang Theatre, DC, Single Carrot Theatre, Baltimore, and Gesa Powerhouse Theatre, Walla Walla, WA. The band plays non-traditional venues including SlutWalk DC on the National Mall and the Wonderland Ballroom. Tia Nina’s community events include dance tailgating and feminist parties for artists and scholars. Their shows are included on the syllabi for Gender Studies courses, and the band has taught in the Dance and the Women’s Studies departments at University of Maryland, George Washington University, Whitman College and DeSales University.  Tia Nina recently received a Space Subsidy Grant Award from Dance Metro DC, and works with celebrated composers Michael Moon and Eric Shimelonis, performer Colleen Hutchings (Chymes Maloney), and costume designers Katy Kincade and Deb Sivigny. By originating vivid, creative live performances of punk rock modern dance, voice & stage art and live-form puppetry, Tia Nina defines — unforgettably — the value of thinking critically about gender in popular culture. www.tianinarocks.com

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Photo by Heather Grey
Chrissy Nelson will be travelling from Boulder, CO, to Salt Lake City, UT, April 21-24. 

Chrissy is a dance artist, physical therapist, and movement educator.  She is adjunct faculty at Metropolitan State University of Denver where she teaches Experiential Anatomy, Somatics & Injury Prevention, as well as Pilates and various dance techniques.  Also adjunct faculty at CU-Boulder, Nelson teaches Improvisation, and serves as the Co-Director of the Theater & Dance Wellness Program.  In addition to her teaching, Chrissy also directs The Field | Boulder, collaborates frequently with sound and visual artists, has performed original works in PA, NY and CO, and co-produces FRASS events (Front Range Artist Salon Series).  Chrissy's performance research involves the vulnerability found in improvisation, both in movement and in the spoken word.  Most recently, Nelson was invited as an intensive teacher at CI Iowa 2015, and was part of the teaching faculty at the Texas Dance Improvisation Festival 2015.  As a soon to be certified Movement Fundamentals Practitioner, Nelson values CI as a foundation to the dance artist’s practice, and incorporates its principles into all of her movement-based teaching.  Chrissy received her MFA in dance from the University of Colorado-Boulder (2013), with a secondary emphasis in both Somatics and Improvisation in Performance.  She received her MPT from Ohio University in 1998. https://chrissyln.wordpress.com/

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Read about their 2016 National Touring Exchange in Part 2 of this series.