Support for Individual Artists Preconference

A graduate of New World School of the Arts high school, Miami native Letty Bassart has performed extensively in the States and abroad with Spanish and modern dance companies. Inspired by her experience as a hospice nurse and epidemiologist, and by the “telling details” of great narratives, her choreography has been featured on multiple Miami stages.

Christopher Demos-Brown is an attorney and a playwright. His plays have been produced throughout South Florida. The world premiere of When the Sun Shone Brighter—about a Cuban-American Miami mayor undone by ambition, lies, and sex—experienced a critically acclaimed production at Manalapan’s Florida Stage in 2010.

Regin Igloria maintains an interdisciplinary studio practice informed by his work as a teacher and arts administrator. He serves as the director of artists-in-residence at The Ragdale Foundation and also runs North Branch Projects, a community bookbinding studio and project space in Albany Park, Chicago, which he founded in 2010. He received his MFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design and his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Exhibiting internationally, Igloria is represented by Zg Gallery, Chicago.

A site-specific and architectural composer, Bora Yoon was classically trained at Ithaca College’s Conservatory of Music, and is steeped in a first love of choral music, acoustics, and frequencies. The recipient of multiple international awards and commissions, Yoon has presented at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Nam June Paik Museum (Seoul), Singapore Arts Festival, Walker Art Center, TED (Cannes Festival), and museums and galleries across the globe.

Relevance of Place

This discussion will address creating spaces for artists—residencies, workspaces, and other artist-centered spaces—and examine their connection to surrounding communities.

Staying Responsive

Discussion during this time will focus on how funders are developing ways to adapt existing programs and/or develop new initiatives to respond to the ever-changing needs of ever-changing artists. Discussed will be ways of responding to demographic changes and underserved communities, including artists of color, immigrant artists, and older artists. Also addressed will be responsiveness to emerging fields and the ways artists are working, as well as how application and selection processes serve as gatekeeping mechanisms…or welcoming invitations.

GIA Support for Individual Artists Research Project

In 2012, GIA is embarking on a multi-year research project to establish benchmark national data on financial support provided to individual artists from public, private, and nonprofit grantmakers. Research and interpretation will include recommendations for funders looking to initiate, improve, or expand their individual artists support practices. At the end of the first phase of this project in October, GIA staff and consultants will report on the initial field scan and obtain input from preconference participants.

Explore the Wynwood Walls project and meet some of the artists and community stakeholders involved in the neighborhood-wide installation of large-scale graffiti, street art, and mural works. Portable lunches with a Cuban flare will be provided by Wynwood-based Jimmy’z Kitchen and can be eaten at the Light Box or in public areas throughout the arts district. Maps, guides, and good company provided.

Artist-centric Evaluation and Assessment

The ability to evaluate and assess our programs is critical, and yet the tools and methodologies to do so are often at odds with supporting artists in open-ended, process-based work. This session will examine approaches to assessment that reflect a service to artists and focus on understanding and articulating impact.

Professional Development Services

How do funders encourage, support, and provide professional development opportunities for artists? Why are these opportunities important to artists and to the funders that support them? Addressing artists’ professional development needs across their career-cycle, this discussion will highlight the myriad ways funders incorporate professional development into their programs, either as standalone services or as grant-related benefits.

Registrants’ Choice

Preconference registrants will be polled in September to determine additional content of common interest. Up to two topics of greatest interest will be addressed during one or both discussion breakouts.