Ways to Use Your Survey Responses To Raise the Value of Artists
Below are a number of suggestions to use the Artists Thrive Surveys. They are for self-assessment, but also a great conversation starter! This is not an exhaustive list! Get creative and share with us how you're the tools.
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And don't go it alone! There are a number of ways below that involve self-reflection, but many encourage you to bring others together and support each other as everyone is on a unique path!
If you want to go fast, go alone;
if you want to go far, go together.
- African Proverb
Self-improvement
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REFLECTION: You might begin very small with one key insight or inspiration. Remember the tool is aspirational, not judgmental. No one is (or needs to be) good at everything. This is a way to gain clarity on your strengths and needs.
SELF-CARE: This reflection may offer awareness on areas where you’re pushing yourself too hard and prioritize caring for yourself.
FOCUS: These new insights may focus your energies and make decision-making clearer. Define success for yourself or your organization and work backwards from there—use this tool to help along your journey.
FUNDING: This can be a way to start the conversation around funding, capacity, and need. What resources will make the greatest impact on increasing your capacity? How might this process help you make the case for new sources
of funding and support?
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Advocacy
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RAISE AWARENESS: New tool to advocate for and raise awareness of the needs of artists in your community.
JUSTICE AND EQUITY CONVERSATIONS: This resource can support complex conversations by facilitating a dialogue and inviting multiple perspectives.
INCREASE PARTICIPATION: This democratic process can engage diverse individuals and groups in creating a shared vision.
POLICY REFORM: Offers language and specific actions for policy changes that can improve the conditions of artists in your community.
FUNDERS: Share these best practices in the field with funders to encourage collaboration with artists and identify potential for significant impact.
MEDIA: Invite your local media to join this national conversation. Tell a story, share a blog post, write an op-ed. Maybe even rent a billboard!
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Organizational Improvement
PROGRAM EVALUATION: The rubric could lead to holistic program evaluation and assessment systems that allow organizations to report impacts qualitatively and quantitatively over time.
STRATEGIC PLANNING: The framework might inform a strategic planning process by creating alignment within your organization of the program priorities, decision-making, culture, resources, and activities the values and practices that lead to artists thriving.
MEASURING WHAT MATTERS: The spectrum offered by the rubric from Artists Give Up to Artists Thrive can serve as a reference point for identifying, prioritizing, and tracking your impact on artists in your community, as well as advancing justice and equitable outcomes.
CONSTITUENT DIALOGUE: Use this tool to elevate and inform dialogue on the relationship between artists thriving and communities thriving. Offer it in the spirit of inviting insights, not passing judgment.
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Collaboration
CREATE THE FOUNDATION for more effective, reciprocal, and collaborative relationships based upon a shared vision of success and common values.
FILL IN GAPS: No single individual or one organization can go it alone in changing conditions for artists to thrive. You can use the tools to identify the categories that you might lead on and those where you may need partners for support.
DEVELOP CROSS-SECTOR RELATIONSHIPS: Many of the categories within the tools call for experience and expertise outside of the cultural sector. Artists Thrive can help you prioritize and spark interest across different fields.
