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

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.