Putting Artists Thrive into Practice to Change the Narrative and Raise the Value of Artists in Every Community
The examples shared below show Artists Thrive in action and provide ideas and usage tips. How will YOU put Artists Thrive into practice?
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SELF-ORGANIZE PEER GROUPS
ARTISTS THRIVE IN ACTION: Artists are self-organizing into pairs and groups to share their results from their surveys and hold each other accountable as they start to make incremental shifts in their practice.
Tips
START SMALL: Work with one or two categories from the I Am an Artist Tool that are most important to your practice right now. Find others with the same priorities and begin to take ownership of the descriptors, including adding new language and examples that fit your experience.
BRING A GENEROUS SPIRIT: This is a tool about growth and self-improvement, not judgement. Try using the tools to coach and incentivize yourself and your peers. Help each other reach the next level of improved performance.
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OFFER CONSULTS
ARTISTS THRIVE IN ACTION: Organizations are inviting artists to take the I Am an Artist self-assessment, then offering one-on-one meetings to discuss their takeaways and connect the artists to resources to support their journey.
Tips
PERSONAL REFLECTION, NOT DATA: This is a national tool drafted by fellow artists, arts service organizations and other allies to support artists in reflecting on and improving their own practice—it is not about gathering and manipulating data on artist practice. Unless you choose to share your responses, your data will remain private.
ARTIST-CENTRIC APPROACH: This is an artist-centric resource. If you are a service or program provider, you might invite artists to share their survey insights. Be curious, listen deeply, and ask questions that help them focus on what works, what the imagined future looks like, and how they might begin to envision taking steps in that direction (using the Artists Thrive resources and stories as supports).
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INVITE FEEDBACK
ARTISTS THRIVE IN ACTION: Organizations are modifying and/or using portions of the Artists Thrive survey to collect external assessments of how they are serving artists and how they can improve their performance.
Tips
INVITE A CONVERSATION: Surveys may tell you what people say. Only conversation can tell you why. Consider how the survey could be an invitation to a robust conversation as opposed to a tool for passing judgement.
CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS: Invite out-of-the-box ideas about conditions under which artists will thrive. What are the leapfrog innovations worth testing?
ENHANCE PROGRAMMING
ARTISTS THRIVE IN ACTION: Administrators are kicking off everything from professional development workshops to year-long classes using sections from the tools to ground and advance the conversation.
Tips
START WITH A PRESENTATION: You might want to share more about Artists Thrive initiative before jumping in. Resources are available under the Connect & Share menu.
SHARE THIS GUIDE: Share copies of this guide with artists, staff, and board members to support their ongoing exploration, answer questions, and equip them to be Artists Thrive ambassadors.
