Professional Development Opportunity for Emerging Leaders of Color:

The Emerging Leader Network of Americans for the Arts is poised to reach new heights in the Great Lakes Region in 2008!

Americans for the Arts has received support from the Joyce Foundation to re-grant Professional Development Funds to emerging arts leaders of color from the Great Lakes region —Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Grant dollars will be used to partially offset the costs for these selected emerging arts leaders to attend Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, DC (March 31–April 1, 2008), the Annual Convention in Philadelphia (June 20–22, 2008),and the National Arts Marketing Project (NAMP) Conference in Houston (November 9–12, 2008).

Additional information about this new initiative is on the Emerging Leader website: www.AmericansfortheArts.org/EmergingLeaders.

Important Dates – DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED!
APPLY NOW! The deadline for applications is 5pm CST Wednesday, February 20. Recipients will be announced by March 3, 2008.

If you have any questions about this program or the Emerging Leader Network of Americans for the Arts, please contact Rebecca Borden, manager of professional development, by e-mail at rborden@artsusa.org or by phone at 202.371.2830.

Funding for this program has been generously provided by the Joyce Foundation of Chicago.

 

Fractured Atlas Online Courses for Artists and Arts Administrators:

From Adam Forest Huttler (Fractued Atlas’ Executive Director):
"My undergraduate degree is in theatre. For the most part, my time in college was spent rolling around on the floor and exhaling on a hum. This did a lovely job of teaching me how to "project" to the rafters, but it taught me virtually nothing about how to actually make a living in the theatre industry. The closest we came was a mini-semester on auditioning. Nothing on how to start a theatre company, nothing about fundraising or marketing or budgeting or any of the myriad other skills that real working artists need to have these days.

The truth is that this experience is far more common than not. Unless you specifically pursue a degree in arts administration (or do what I eventually did and get an MBA) it is assumed that craft and aesthetics are enough. The arts industry today is sadly full of artists who are running businesses - either by choice or by default - but have essentially zero training in how to do that.

With this mammoth need in mind, I am pleased to announce the launch of Fractured U. For the last year we’ve been quietly putting together an online curriculum in arts management aimed squarely at artists who are working outside the mainstream establishment and trying to make things happen on their own terms. The initial roster of classes provides introductions to fundraising, marketing, and professional identity. The course list is short for the moment, but we’ll be expanding it steadily over time.

Fractured U. is free and open to the public, although you’ll need to be a Fractured Atlas member to participate in discussion forums or take quizzes. Since this is a brand new service - and one that I hope will someday be a big part of what we do - I’m eager for any and all feedback. So give it a whirl and tell us what you think!"

You can take a look at the courses here: http://courses.fracturedatlas.org

Also, just to let you know, we are constantly upgrading our Liability Insurance programs. We currently offer: Annual Liability Insurance, Event Insurance, D&O Insurance, Film Production/Equipment Insurance, Public Art Insurance, and Worker’s Comp Insurance. We will soon launch (in the next few weeks): E&O Insurance, Volunteer Accident Insurance, Teaching Artist Insurance, and Studio Rental Insurance. Please continue to check our website and inform your members of these programs — the rates and plans are incredible and, in most cases, are specifically designed for Fractured Atlas members (ie, no one else has access to these plans/pricing).