Artists Standing Strong Together -
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
― The Lord of the Rings
Back in March, when the world was struck with "The Rona" as my twenty-year-olds call it, I was hit with what would eventually come out to a thirty-two thousand dollar deficit in my budget.
I knew I wasn't the only one.
I put it out there. I needed to say that out loud. That surprised some of my non-artist friends. They were not sure why I would admit such a thing in public.
Simply put, we are independent artists. Many of our small businesses consist of us and possibly one other person. Rarely are there more than just two and maybe even three. We are islands in the midst of this raging storm. I hoped that my simply laying it out would help anyone who was feeling adrift find some morsel of commonality, someplace where they could begin to talk about a devastating thing that we were sharing communally.
The message I wanted to share as loudly as I could as quickly as I could, was, "Is anyone out there? If you are, then we are sharing a common thing. You are not alone! We could be better together! We could support each other!"
The response from other artists was quick. People started connecting with me to say they felt the same way. We kept reassuring each other that we would get through this somehow.
The more I connected with my friends and colleagues, the more worried I became. I was worried about the misinformation that was going to start spouting everywhere about COVID. I was worried about the isolation that was coming. I was worried that many of my friends didn't have the funds to weather this crisis. I was worried about how to restart work in a world where storytellers couldn't see live audiences. I was worried about lots of things.
The amount of angst and helplessness I was starting to feel about the future was overwhelming.
Control Freaks don't do well when they can't control at least basic things. The David jumped into the mix within the first two days, suggesting a new business model, and we decided to run with it. We started reshaping our business before the weekend arrived.
That was great for me, but it didn't change my concern for the storytelling community and itinerate artists in general. I was still doing what I could through my various social media outlets to listen and respond to people.
I wished I had more to offer other than my written support.
Sheila Arnold, a person who has been an acquaintance of mine for many years, started responding on one of the threads I had going with a group of artists, and I could feel she was having the same thoughts I was.
She wanted to be doing something.
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| Sheila Arnold |
It was on that thread that we started talking to each other about the need to help artists who were looking down a bleak, empty barrel. It just so happened we were going to be at the first-ever Women's Storytelling Festival that was organized by Better Said Than Done that weekend in Virginia.
We carved out twenty minutes to sit and share our ideas. The end result of that was the need for a fund that would grant emergency cash to storytellers who needed immediate help to cover expenses.
As a card-carrying introvert and knowing that the way The David and I were going to have to work to transform our business, I was upfront about not being able to run such an endeavor.
There were other reasons as well: My hyper-focused, often abrasive, hyper controlling, hyper obsessive personality is not a good look when it is running something.
I know my limitations.
Luckily, Sheila really likes people, is happy doing the public upfront thing, is a very caring person, and enjoys organizing. Within two days we had a name.
Jim Brule started a Facebook Group -
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| Jim Brule |
We had an organizational meeting -
Sheila gathered some friends and they began to put the fund together -
We formed a grant committee - They started reviewing applications
NSN agreed to host the fund -
ASST started paying out cash grants
Sheila started running online storytelling events
My brain exploded - I thought - This has legs. This probably is going to need to become its own entity at some point. I started thinking about what that should look like. It needed a person to organize it. It needed someone to spend all of their time championing the bits of it. It needed someone to write copy, grants, find funders, reach out to various segments of society, bring people together. It needed to be a place for all artists, and possibly a place that might even attract younger storytellers. It needed to be an actual company as well as an artist conglomerate!
I suggested this to Sheila. She said, "I can't think about that right now."
That was true. She was really busy with the group that we'd started calling ASST - Assist
Sheila kept running Monday meetings. She single-handedly made ASST the gold standard for online performing.
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| Andrea Kamens |
Storytellers from all over the world stepped up to be a part of this growing thing
It was amazing what was pouring out of a quick conversation and Sheila's tenacity.
I promised Sheila that I would be whatever back-up the group needed. If she came to a wall, didn't have
enough of something, or wanted some kind of writing or anything, I would help.
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| Claudia Elizabeth Aldred |
I donated to the fund, set up a blog spot where information about grants and other things could be found, and stepped in when asked.
I came to see almost immediately that Sheila was perfect as our front lady. I was happy to be in the shadows. I brought up the idea of becoming an organized body again. Sheila informed me that it was a good thought, but not right now!
Then, we had what might be called and an inciting event - no need to discuss what it was - let's just say that I was planning to head to a Monday meeting when I got a chat query from a friend of mine in New Zealand.
Yes, Caroline, I am blaming this on you.
I called her to see what was up, and we ended up spending an hour video conferencing. It was productive, I was invigorated.
Sheila is a big proponent of really long meetings, so I figured I'd pop in for what I assumed was going to be the last half hour.
The Zoom Room was empty.
I panicked. I know that may sound odd, but I knew something was wrong. I didn't know what it was, but I figured it was bad.
I tried to contact Sheila immediately, but she was not responding. It took about half an hour before she got back to me. She was livid. Because of this incident, she told me that she'd announced in the Monday meeting that we were going to form our own 501c3. Now.
Okay.
That was less than a month ago. Since then...
We filed papers of incorporation
I took down the blog because it had become an ungainly mess.
We put together an actual website.
We started looking for an executive director.
We started interviewing candidates
We got an EIN number
We got an official bank account
We formed a board and had an "open board meeting"
We started a finance committee
Then, this morning, I got an email from the North Carolina Secretary of State informing me that Artists Standing Strong Together is now officially incorporated.
We are a legal, official, free-standing thing.
What does that mean?
Well, as far as people who are connecting with ASST are concerned, not much will change.
Internally, it means there will be lots of change. All of it will revolve around putting a structure in place so that after COVID and all of the touring artists go back to touring, and the volunteers are pooped, ASST will still be able to carry out its mission in our community.
"What," you might ask, "is Artists Standing Strong Together's mission?"
Our Mission Statement:
Connecting Itinerate Artists With Resources
That's it.
That is what we were formed to do.
That will be the work of Artists Standing Strong Together
We will be a group that houses and administers the Storyteller Relief Fund
We will be a group that listens to the needs of the itinerate performing community and responds
We will be a group that offers practical advice on how to run a successful independent artist business
We will be a group that continues to offer online storytelling and performing venues
We will continue to be a group that welcomes and facilitates the conversations artists want to have about race, gender, cultural misappropriation, taxes, mentoring, crafting material, personal narrative, virtual storytelling, how to use Zoom or anything else independent artist want to talk about!
We meet every Monday at 4pm.
Want to know more?
Want to follow what's happening?
Want to apply for a grant?
Want to donate to the cause?
Want to get involved in some other way?
Drop us a line through the site.
We are here.
You are not alone.
We have each other.
Together - we are strong.
Happy Working Together -
