Happenings… now?

Lunch hour downtown (Millennium Park) hundreds of people eating in the grass, or on the Patio, taking pictures with the Bean, general site seeing and sun bathing while a band plays some bluegrass/country at the Pritzker Pavilion, a couple artists paint part of the walkway and a group of mime musicians wander around seemingly looking to make something happen. Well, at least a few of them were trying. O.K., one of them was trying. The others were not playing their part and what could have been a cool thing to follow around the Park became something that just passed by. Encapsulating the feeling of disappointment in these middling mimes is a regular thought from Don Hall on his “An Angry White Guy in Chicago” blog that popped up again today, “Do it big or stay in bed, baby.”

Here are some folks deserving of getting up in the morning.

SIDE NOTE: Auditions for VisionFest 2009 are on Monday. More info here

Building a Career in the Arts

If you have not started reading The Mission Paradox Blog, start now, seriously. Everyday Mr. Thurman offers thoughts on arts marketing, which can be hard for many of us to navigate. Today his post touched on the choice of careers in the arts. Is it a safe choice? Is it safer than being a lawyer? The best thing about Mission Paradox is that it not only offers thoughts, it offers solutions. Thurman’s solution to the choice we make about our career is to ask yourself, what value you do bring to the career? Don’t ask “is it safe?” Ask “do I bring anything?” If you do, and this pertains to any career you choose, then it is worth any risk, perceived or unknown.

And what about us who still work day jobs to support our careers in the arts? What can we do to start this building process? Or are we already doing that? Building a career in the arts is tough. It’s a long hard road. We continue down the path because we bring something of value to it. Or we get off the road.

Back in the early days of deciding to walk this walk, a lawyer friend spoke with the same passion about his job that we speak of theatre. A great revelation. It is not the career, it is the person. What we can do and what we bring to the table is about us and not the end result. We could wait for Godot, or we could put on one helluva show.

What are your thoughts?

Cultural Data

Spent yesterday at the Chicago Cultural Center attending two seminars. The first was an introduction to the Illinois Cultural Data Project, which is a first rate online tool designed to assist companies in keeping historical programming and financial data records in order to benchmark themselves against other companies. The project is just kicking off here in Illinois after successful launches in PA, MD, NY and CA. In PA, the project helped re-establish waning government support of the arts and is looking to go national in the near future. If enough arts organization jump on board, not only will we have enough fuel to prove our vitality to said government, we should also see a growth in audience support as there is so much easily digestible information you can provide patrons to win them over on how even their smallest contributions go a long way. Telling someone how much their support is needed does not compare to showing them how it is needed, and how it has worked for other companies they know and love.

The second seminar was a tutorial on the CityArts Grant that has a three year cycle and now is the time to submit applications for 2010-12. It’s a behemoth of an application, but the tutorial made it seem like a breeze.

In the long run, it’s the individual who keeps our company running. While grants are nice, the comfort of having someone we know or who has come to see our show support our art cannot be beat. As we get further into the Data Project, we’ll show you some reports that highlight where your dollars are going and how vital everyone of you are to our continued success.