The 2019 Field Network Conference

In April 5-7 this year we hosted the third Field Network Conference in Portland, Oregon. Held every other year (leap-frogging with the National Touring Exchange), the Conference gathers Fieldwork facilitators and participants from across the country to further develop the Fieldwork methodology, as well as to discuss other issues impacting artists in their respective communities.

The Conference welcomed Field Network site representatives from all over the country (representing The Field NYC were Executive Director Jennifer Wright Cook, Deputy Director Shawn René Graham, and Fieldwork facilitator Pele Bauch), joined by Portland-based artists, presenters, funders, and audiences for a tightly packed weekend of art-sharing and discussions - on stage and of both the round- and long-table nature.

While feedback forms the foundation of the Fieldwork process, the 2019 Field Network Conference schedule focused particularly on how equity (or lack thereof) shapes feedback in contemporary culture: How are artists using feedback? Is the feedback we’re getting useful or equitable? Who gets to give feedback? Whose feedback counts?

Brett Campbell of Oregon ArtsWatch recently published, "Field of Vision," an in-depth review of the Conference not just summarizing the weekend's programming, but also calling out the challenges in tackling inequity in the arts in collaboration with the very individuals who benefit from said inequities.

"These funders, even those who don’t use public funds (but do get tax breaks for donations), play a vital role in determining what we see and hear on Oregon stages," Cambell writes, "and that role demands scrutiny and constructive feedback from artists, arts lovers, and the rest of the community."

Read the full article here.

Special thanks to then-Network Manager Katherine Longstreth, and to Conference coordinator and current Network Manager Jen Mitas, and conference consultant Subashini Ganesan for organizing such an ambitious event, and for bringing both The Field Network and their local arts community together (in what feels like such an organic way) to engage in these important, pressing discussions.

April 2019 Meet Our Artists: Jane Jerardi

Our Members, Fiscally Sponsored Artists, and other program participants represent a wide range of career stages and disciplines. We love them - and, as fellow artists, we're always inspired by them. With this monthly feature, we hope you'll feel the same way!



Name: Jane Jerardi

What do you do?
Dance, Performance, Video, and Installation Artist

What inspires you?
The creative process. And seeing other artists’ work. Seeing artists begin and continue and persevere through the questions of their own work never ceases to amaze me.

What are you proud of?
That we re-started The Field in Chicago. We have 18 people in our current Fieldwork group here! Pretty exciting.

What are your goals?
To keep creating interesting art and to support fellow artists in the process.

Jane Jerardi and Dao Nguyen's Six Acts of Witness (2015) participatory event. Photo by Slaveya Minkova

Any advice for fellow artists?
I find making is a lot about getting out of the way. Convincing the parts of you that want to procrastinate and the part that thinks your ideas aren’t very good – to tell them to just slowly step back. And, you keep going despite them, while they’re there waiting in the background.

Then once you have something – that’s usually kind of terrible – you at least have something which is certainly better than nothing. And then you start to negotiate with it and then get weirdly into it and wonder about it and expand it, change it, or manipulate it and multiply it, or teach it to a friend, and get them to change it into something better. And then, you start having strong opinions about it – that it needs to be a certain way and you’re not really sure why but you’re fairly convinced of it.

And then, the project has somehow become bigger than you and you’re just following its lead. And you’re still not sure if you’re worthy – or your ideas are any good, but you do it anyway for some reason.

And despite it all – you realize that what’s beautiful about this is that you can make something without really much of anything at all. There are dances waiting to be made, photos waiting to be taken with your phone, your dollar-store notebook waiting to be written in, music waiting to inspire. Your art is as worthy as anyone else’s and we certainly need it.

(Excerpted from Jane’s recent essay about studio practice, “on beginnings,” published by The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. Go read the full piece! We love it!)

Jane Jerardi and Dao Nguyen's Six Acts of Witness (2015) interview photo by Slaveya Minkova

How does The Field help you?
The concrete nature of the (Fieldwork) process really aids so many different kinds of artists, no matter what stage their project or work might be at. It never fails to surprise me how often different artists connect to it.

©Jane Jerardi

Additional Viewing:

excerpts from Nocturne

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How Can We Really Earn the Name, The Field?

by Jennifer Wright Cook, Executive Director of The Field

The name “The Field” is ambitious. It implies that we believe that the whole ecology of artists and makers is vital to the health of our world. “The Field” means that we believe that all voices and visions are key. Maybe we haven’t earned that name?

From May 2017 til May 2018 The Field was one of 60 arts organizations in the Race Forward’s Racial Equity in the Arts Innovation Lab, an amazing yearlong training program to improve racial equity in the arts and culture sector. Representing The Field was former Program Manager Wilfredo Hernandez, and myself - Executive Director, Jennifer Wright Cook.

Click to read their June 2017 press release,
"Race Forward Announces Distinguished Roster of
Participants for Racial Equity in the Arts Innovation Lab."

After several workshops and skill-sharing (and dance parties), each organization had to launch a prototype to advance equity in their organization. The Field focused our prototype on Fieldwork, our 32 year old flagship feedback program that has been used by tens of thousands of artists and educators nationally and internationally. 

For context, Fieldwork artists/participants have historically skewed primarily white, primarily female, primarily dance/movement-based work. Our four Fieldwork facilitators are artists of color; three of whom have facilitated for 10+ years. In order to support our facilitators and sustain the program as a whole, we realized (1) We have some work to do, and (2) We are gonna do that work.

Wilfredo and I analyzed the pedagogy and practice of Fieldwork by looking hard at the Facilitator Manual and the participant Guidelines. We looked for coded language and silent references to the lifting up of white Eurocentric aesthetics around style, structure, design, body type, etc.

The work we set out to do was co-created with our Fieldwork facilitators. They are vital to the work. We collaborated with Fieldwork facilitators Pele Bauch, James Scruggs, Shalewa Mackall and Naoko Maeshiba via discussions, and review of writing and processes.

Current Fieldwork facilitators, L-R: Pele Bauch, Shalewa Mackall, Naoko Maeshiba, and James Scruggs

Field Deputy Director Shawn René Graham and National Field Network Manager Katherine Longstreth participated in our discussions and revisions. Full Field staff was looped in to the process and resulting programmatic changes.

Here are two key problem areas we identified together, and our processes to address them:

1. Problem: The emotional labor of our facilitators is real. We need to support them more, check in more, listen more, and pay them for check-ins and debriefs.
   Process: We are baking in regular check-ins and debriefs to our facilitator engagements, and we are adding money to the budget to support this work.
2. Problem: We need to be race explicit. Our public-facing Guidelines had not intentionally and authentically included artists of color.
   Process: We added more inclusive language. For instance, we included the following text to the Guidelines used by all participants, and made them available on our website: “If you feel like the feedback is too much or is biased by race, gender, culture or other -isms, the facilitator will lead the group to ensure that the artist’s work and vision is centered authentically and respectfully.”

In case you’re wondering, “Is this just a Diversity Initiative that just aims to get more artists of color in Fieldwork?” – the goal of this work is not to get more artists of color in Fieldwork – although that might happen.

The goal is to ensure that artists of color feel intentionally and authentically seen, supported, and engaged. As Wilfredo said,

"If we are going to create the circumstances in which artists of color feel supported and uplifted, then we need to scaffold that experience and make sure we are co-creating that reality each time we enter into the room. That requires some level of standard language and practice."

So what’s next?

• Fully bake in the new practices and protocols so that Fieldwork can better support artists of color
• Share our work with our national Fieldwork sites
• Connect to more outer borough and/or artists of color led spaces for Fieldwork

Overall we are deeply grateful to Race Forward for this incredibly ambitious effort to impact the NYC arts and culture sector - for putting in heart, muscle and brains, and for empowering us to move ourselves and our organizations forward toward equity; and to the NYC Cultural Agenda Fund for funding this ambitious effort – and for putting out the RFP that made space for the work to happen! If there is no incentive for equity work, unfortunately, most white-dominated organizations will not do it.

We also want to thank our cohort partners at DanceNYC, ARTs East New York, and Spaceworks; as well as our coach Ellen Gurzinsky for making us work harder and laugh more.

The work is ongoing and consistent. It doesn’t end; it is iterating and shifting and growing forward.

PS. Here is full scoop on what we did and what we learned.

The Field DC/Portland Touring Exchange

Our latest Network Touring Exchange wrapped up this Spring! Launched in 2016, this program provides the opportunity for movement-based Network Site Leaders and Fieldwork facilitators to visit another Network Site for 2-7 days of mutual capacity-building activities. Read about the 2016 Network Touring Exchange here.

This Spring we were happy to have Claire Alrich (Site Coordinator of The Field/DC; independent dance artist) and Sarah Greenbaum (Fieldwork facilitator; Dance Place Artistic & Community Program Manager) travel to Portland, Oregon from April 13-16, 2018. Here's what they reported from the field, to The Field!

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Project Summary

The goal of this exchange was to research residency models. During the exchange we planned to meet with community leaders and organizers of art spaces that host artist residencies to research different ways feedback is incorporated into residency structures. These conversations also focused on how programs centered equity, and how equity could be enhanced.

Day-by-Day

Friday, April 13: We began our first day in Portland meeting with Subanashi (Suba) Ganesan, Creative Laureate of Portland, Portland-based dance artist, and founder of New Expressive Works (N.E.W.), a flexible use dance space in SE Portland, which hosts performances, classes, and rehearsals. We talked with Suba about N.E.W.’s residency program which incorporates three sessions of Fieldwork over its six-month session. These Fieldwork sessions are led by The Field/ Portland Site Coordinator Katherine Longstreth.

Claire Alrich, Subashini Ganesan, Sarah Greenbaum (selfie)

Next, we met with Linda K. Johnson, who shared some history of the Portland dance scene and, specifically, her role in Conduit Dance Company, which was a major force in the local, national and international dance community until it closed in 2016 after 21 years due to lack of affordable space. Linda also discussed her mentoring program Corpus, which was devised from a need in the community for continuing artistic and community development for post-graduates in the Portland area.

Saturday, April 14: Saturday morning we attended an Authentic Movement class at FLOCK, a one-room dance center in Northeast Portland with eight member-artists, each of whom pays a flat fee each month for dedicated time in the space as well as access to flexible time they can reserve week by week. Authentic Movement is one of the only regular classes the space offers; generally it is dedicated to rehearsal and workshops for its members.

After class we talked with Tahni Holt, choreographer and founder of FLOCK. Tahni shared her experience of running FLOCK as well as her motivation for starting the space; we also spoke more generally about the successes and challenges of the Portland dance community, specifically in-regards to gentrification and shifting demographics of neighborhoods.

Claire Alrich and Tahni Holt (Photo by Sarah Greenbaum)

Saturday afternoon we participated in a Fieldwork showing organized by Portland-based artists Katherine Longstreth, (The Field/ Portland Site Coordinator), and Jen Mitas (Fieldwork facilitator.) The showing took place at Performance Works NW, a church-turned-studio space run by Linda Austin, which hosts an Artist in Residence program. Several Portland-based artists, including Catherine Egan, Allie Hankins, and Michael Galen, showed their work. We shared a segment of our evening-length work, Holon!, which will premiere this July at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, DC.

Following the showing we went out for drinks and snacks with the Fieldwork participants, getting to know each other and sharing about our respective communities.

Sunday, April 15: We spent Sunday morning exploring the West Hills of Portland and the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Sunday evening, we returned to N.E.W. for the Artists in Residence Fieldwork showing. We watched works in progress by the four artists and participated in the feedback session, with about 30 minutes of feedback for each artist. Katherine Longstreth led the session and Suba Ganesan also attended.

Joint showing with Field/PDX and Field/DC artists (L-R) Celine Bouley, Catherine Egan, Allie Hankins, Rachael Dichter, Katherine Longstreth, Claire Alrich, Jen Mitas, Michael Galen (Photo by Sarah Greenbaum)

Monday, April 16: Monday morning we gathered at Jen Mitas’ home along with Katherine Longstreth to discuss the Fieldwork Facilitators Guide, with an eye towards shifting the guide to make Fieldwork more equitable and accessible to all. Prior to the meeting, Jen met with Suba Ganesan; Jen brought Suba’s insight to the meeting as well. We met for three hours and had a fruitful conversation, but recognize that there is much more work to do.

From there we went to Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) to meet with Erin Boberg Doughton (Artistic Director and Curator of Performance), Roya Amirsoleymani (Artistic Director and Curator of Public Engagement) and Van Pham (Development Associate). We discussed PICA’s structure, its position in a changing neighborhood and its Creative Exchange Lab, a three-week, interdisciplinary, research-based residency that takes place on site at PICA and at nearby artist retreat Caldera Arts.

We also attended the Creative Exchange Lab’s open showing at PICA, where artists shared samples of their work with the Portland community.

Takeaways & Actions

This residency provided us with ample time to learn, discuss, question, reflect and connect. The following points reflect recurring themes that surfaced during our time in Portland – important conversations that we continue to reflect on.

• Bringing together diverse groups of people in flexible spaces 
• Working from a scarcity vs. abundance lens as a means for creating more equitable sharing of resources 
• How artists shift - and shift with - the changing landscape of a city 
• The importance of holding space for process, without expectation of a product 
• The impossibility of a “blank slate” and the need to acknowledge background/assumptions when viewing art and giving feedback.

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To learn more about future Network Touring Exchanges or how to bring Fieldwork to your city, visit The Field Network at thefield.org.

The Field's National Network: National Touring Exchange (pt. 2)

This spring The Field initiated its pilot Network Touring Exchange (NTE) program by sending three of our national Fieldwork facilitators on tour. Read a little about their experiences below.


Artist Chrissy Nelson traveled from Boulder, CO to Salt Lake City, UT, where, in addition to participating in a Fieldwork session, she also connected with Field facilitators Amy Caron and Maggie Willis, local artists, and dance faculty at the University of Utah.

L to R: Amy Caron, Chrissie Nelson, Kerri Hopkins

She learned how Fieldwork could fit into a larger artistic community, for example, how to run Fieldwork as a program under the umbrella of a larger artistic organization, and she was exposed to some of the smaller details of how to run Fieldwork in a simple, grass roots fashion.

Salt Lake City hosting Chrissie Nelson

Chrissy was also reminded by Amy Caron to use Fieldwork as a way to “practice” art generation, to sustain her interest and her creation, rather than feel pressure to show a new work each time.  

“Being present with the artists of another site helped me to consider new organizational AND artistic practices while also validating the work we are already doing in Boulder."

Artist Ilana Silverstein toured with her feminist punk rock dance band, Tia Nina, from Washington, DC to New York City. They participated in The Field’s 30th anniversary Fielday performance at Dixon Place, took a dance class, and explored NYC while planning their next artistic steps.

The cast of Tia Nina
 about to perform

“Taking myself out of my comfort zone in my home community stirred up so much. On a personal level, the NTE reignited my love for the grassroots community building that The Field excels at. I felt so energized by the diversity and warmth of the other artists involved in the Fielday.”

Other Tia Nina Members: Leah Curran Moon and Lisi Stoessel

Artist Amy Caron travelled from Salt Lake City, UT to Milwaukee, WI. During her time in Milwaukee, Amy taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milkwaukee, participated in a Fieldwork session, toured the city, reinvigorated her creative practice and connected closely with Milkwaukee site director, Joelle Worm.

Amy Caron

“I think this NTE opportunity in Milwaukee was successful in re-energizing my artistic practice.  As parent of a toddler, my focus on my creative practiced had diminished significantly in recent years and I was looking for a suitable opportunity to reintroduce myself to my practice and a stepping stone where I could begin actively building a new paradigm for creating work.  I think a great deal of impact from this tour experience came from my host also being an artist/mother – we were able to relate to the challenges we both face and I felt like she was truly a peer artist with similar life goals."

Joelle Worm and Amy Caron

The Field wishes to thank these brave adventurers for participating in the pilot year of of the NTE and for reminding us to reinvigorate our creative practices by: stepping outside our comfort zones; connecting with our peers (even when they are far away) and that Fieldwork is a great place to practice art generation.

If you are interested in learning more about these Fieldwork facilitators read part 1 of the National Touring Exchange blog here. If you are interested in learning more about the Field Network or starting a Network site in your city click here.
National Touring Exchange is funded by the