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.

Deepening Our Roots: Capacity Building Cross-Country

By: Ilana Silverstein, Field Network Manager

With generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the The Field Network convened for our Annual Field Network Conference in Washington, DC last April and, shortly thereafter, for a new network capacity building initiative.  In May, Joelle Worm (The Field/Milwaukee) and I flew to Boulder to meet Chrissy Nelson (The Field/Boulder) for a 48 hour Capacity Building Meeting.  Our goal was to build the Boulder and Milwaukee Field sites by sharing best practices in fundraising, community building, and facilitation.

Of the many takeaways from the weekend, here’s three:

Back Up is the Best  On the Saturday night of the site visit, we gathered some local artists for a happy hour.  We promoted the event as an evening of mingling, mapping, and the de-Mystification of peer to peerfeedback. I sensed that Chrissy was nervous that no one would come. There were other popular arts events happening that evening and only a few people had RSVP’d.  But then, her energy shifted because she realized that she had us. Having 2 colleagues as back up, gave the work validation, felt less isolating (she was reminded of the larger community that she is a part of), and made hosting the event not as scary. And, people did come, and had a great time!

Post-Feedback Shout Outs  During our session on facilitation, one of the topics discussed was how to help artists apply feedback.  The three of us, along with James Scruggs (via conference call) developed a structure to make sure artists are getting the feedback that they need. After Fieldwork, the facilitator invites the artists to say one thing they heard that they are going to go back and use or a recent “aha moment” in making the work. By saying these observations out loud, the artist may be more likely to apply them as she or he continues in the creative process.  I look forward to trying this out in Fieldwork this Fall. 

Collaboration and Fieldwork Workshop  One of The Field/DC's dreams is to host a workshop on collaboration.  We find that artists come to Fieldwork wanting to collaborate but do not know how to initiate that relationship.  Chrissy shared a structure for a successful 2-hour collaboration workshop that she organized in Boulder.  I hope to produce a similar workshop in DC and tie in some Fieldwork basics.  

Just as arts residencies provide artists with time away from family/home for diving into the creative process, this site visit gave us the opportunity to focus and look critically at our sites’ organizational development.

In 48 hours we:

-   Strategized how to share the work load of running a site with our colleagues

-   Connected with local artists

-   Brushed up on facilitation skills

-   Brainstormed how to support and be supported by our kindred spirits, The Field Network.

The timing of the visit was perfect.  Joelle, Chrissy and I had recently connected at the conference and were able to draw on the inspiration we had felt from the guest speakers and other colleagues there.  Working as a cluster of three seemed just right.  We were effective in getting work done, as well as nurturing our artist-selves (desperately needed as site-leaders). 

In planning this capacity building initiative, Jennifer Wright Cook, Susan Oetgen and I had considered a web-based convening, but I am so grateful that we didn’t go that route.  Meeting face-to-face was key.  Being in the presence of other Fieldwork lovers is a tremendous gift.  There is a heightened sense of investment and listening among us whether we are engaging in Fieldwork or not.  

By tapping into The Field Network, anyone can find these individuals across the United States and Europe - from Boulder to Berlin!

To learn more about The Field Network, Fieldwork, or connect with the Washington, DC arts community, email me, at dc@thefield.org