C4 Atlanta

This coming Friday the C4 Atlanta Action Team will deliver a presentation, called “Why Arts Organizations Should Collect Data.” We’ll not simply discuss why data collection should happen, but also how to make it happen. Adam Natale of Fractured Atlas fame will join us during that session to talk about some of the exciting data initiatives happening on the national level and how they will benefit those organizations and regions who choose to participate.

Adam will also give an additional presentation this Friday, “The Artist’s Survival Guide.” For that presentation, Adam will discuss many of the resources available to help make the lives of artists and arts organizations a little easier.

To whet your appetite a little for these two presentations, I recently had the opportunity to interview both Adam and Jessyca for some podcasts, hosted by our friends at the Foundation Center:

The Artist’s Survival Guide: Preview and Register
Why Arts Organizations Should Collect Data: Preview and Register

Both of these sessions are an investment in your time only.

Many thanks to the Foundation Center for organizing and hosting this event. We look forward to seeing you on Friday morning!

August 20, 2011

11am – Board members arrive at the home of John and Debbie Holland in Ringgold, GA, a two hour drive from the heart of Atlanta. One by one, they walked in the house, located the bathrooms, got settled at the meeting table and plugged in various devices for communication and note taking. Why did they drive all this way…for a meeting?!

The WHY…

Powering Up for THE MEETING!

The reason we all committed to traveling 2 hours outside of Atlanta was so we could journey through unfamiliar space together. C4 Atlanta has only been in existence for a little over a year. It took us several months to build a board. We focused a lot on tasks and organization in year one. Last Saturday was about building solidarity, celebrating successes and embracing challenges ahead. C4 Atlanta board members talked about WHY we serve. As we talked one by one about the mission of C4 Atlanta through our own lenses, it was really awesome to hear a unifying theme: community. C4 Atlanta board members want a better Atlanta.

Their desire stems from wanting a place for families, businesses, better schools, and the desire to create a safe and encouraging space for artists. We want artists to thrive in Atlanta. Side note: some of the members of our board are a part of the arts community to some extent or another. Several come from outside of the arts, but recognize the tremendous value of what the arts brings to our city.

We are the champions, my friend!

As staff, we forget sometimes that our board members lead lives outside of our company. I mean…I guess that’s okay, right?

We can’t expect board members to know every little detail about everything we do on a day-to-day basis. In fact, that would be counterproductive. I once attended a board meeting (not C4 Atlanta) where we spent over an hour talking about an email template. During that discussion, staff could’ve been actually working on the template. Wast-O-time.

Low tech note taking

So, we get that micro-managing is bad. I got some advice from one of our donors (who knows board service). She suggested that we ask board members to champion one program. Ask that they become intimate with it. Speak about it passionately. Some of our board members like technology. Others totally get why many artists (and most entrepreneurs) need help with business planning. I like this approach. This takes the pressure off of board members to become regurgitation machines that spew out a static list of services & products to potential donors or other supporters. It helps our board members make a personal connection to C4 Atlanta that resonates with people outside of the organization.

Commune over food

1pm – It is important to break bread with friends and colleagues.  It is important to eat. Food. I honestly believe that the world changes one meal at a time.

Food is good. During lunch,  friends from Chattanooga, Enoch and Hannah Elwell (they are newlyweds, Awww) joined us. Enoch is with The Company Lab (Co.lab) in Chattanooga. Co.lab acquired the Springboard program– spun out of the Create Here initiative. Springboard is a program to help entrepreneurs take an idea to business. We met Enoch a few months back when the C4 Atlanta team visited arts groups in Chattanooga. Enoch and I have been sharing ideas on entrepreneurship. I hope to continue picking his brain as our program matures. Enoch and Hannah are very sweet people. I really believe the younger generation of workers are adept to collaboration. They get it. Atlanta has a lot to learn form our neighboring cities, but we also have a lot to offer.

After lunch we talked about fundraising, a very audacious goal for C4 Atlanta (more to come), and how board membership can help us reach our personal goals and visions. My husband, Spencer Holland, led a brief session on visioning. Spencer is a leader in his own company and a great guy. Really. He cooked all of our food for the Board meeting. He also asked us to think about our own impact within the community. Impact that lasts well after our tenure with C4 Atlanta is over. Well after we leave this earth.

It was a very successful board retreat. The most important principle to remember in these types of meetings is to trust the process. When we talk about vision and personal goals, we become vulnerable; however,  it is important to be vulnerable from time to time to become a strong leader. I wanted to write about this retreat because it isn’t always easy keeping perspective on the long-term. Challenges arise. Starting a new business, nonprofit or otherwise, is tough. But I know that I have a team supporting me. You have a team supporting you. C4 Atlanta cares about the future of our city.

5pm – It wouldn’t be a C4 Atlanta meeting without some type of explosive energy.

What are the skills an artists needs to be successful in today’s economy? Is it enough to possess innate creative talent or technique? How does an artist take a creative idea and put it into an action plan that will be sustainable? How do we foster creative innovation so Atlanta does not bleed artists to other cities?

Three years ago, I met up with Kamal Sinclair at a local pub in Decatur. We were connected through a mutual colleague, Adam Natale of Fractured Atlas. Adam thought we should meet. I trust Adam’s opinion, so Kamal and I met. Kamal is an artist, an MBA grad and collaborator on many successful projects. Kamal knows the challenges artists face on the business end. At the time, we knew of a few organizations who were offering business training to artists. Some were regional or national. I wanted to create an affordable business seminar for artists in the Atlanta area.

Kamal Sinclair created the curriculum for Fractured Atlas, Entrepreneurship in the Arts: the art of self promotion. Her course guides students through the process of creating a business plan. Not only was I impressed with the content of the curriculum, I really was struck by Kamal’s intelligence and charisma. Being in grad school at the time, I got stuck in a few online courses. I tried to avoid them as much as possible. Why? Because we learn in social situations. That is what I envisioned for this class: an incubator of creative ideas combined with a framework to take those ideas and put them into action. Creative action. I want artists from different disciplines to learn together, support one another…and, yes, even fail together only to rise together. After all, planning a strong business means learning from mistakes. Kamal shares this vision. Kamal is not so much an “instructor” as she is a facilitator. The EIA is a safe class for artists to delve into ideas, gain peer feedback, and then mold those ideas into a business plan.

Three years later, Kamal and C4 Atlanta are about to offer Entrepreneurship in the Arts (EIA) for a third session in one year. To add to our commitment to help artists reach sustainability, C4 Atlanta is a participating community partner of the Kaiser Permanente Bridge Program. The program is uniquely designed to help uninsured, income-eligible members obtain health care coverage for a low monthly charge for up to 24 months. Part of our obligation as a KP Bridge Program community partner is to offer this health care program in conjunction with professional development. Kaiser is therefore offering this program only to individual members of C4 Atlanta who have completed or are actively enrolled in our Entrepreneurship in the Arts class. ALL community partners offer some form of career advancement or financial stability training, with the 24 month subsidized insurance. The EIA seminar is full of content and moves quickly. Participants are expected to contribute by completing assignments and being prepared for a final presentation at the end of the course.

There are many reasons artists leave Atlanta. A 2003 study conducted by Ann Markusen and David King of the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Affairs revealed a major reason artists leave a large metropolitan area: lack of opportunities for artistic growth – both aesthetically and with regard to honing business skills. C4 Atlanta is a new service organization. We don’t have all the solutions to the problems and challenges facing our creative economy, but with the help of members, donors and you we can get there. We really can. If you are interested in our class, visit our website. The next round of classes are scheduled for Wednesdays, July 27, 2011 – August 31, 2011, 10 am – 1 pm OR 6 pm – 9 pm. We only have 15 slots per class. If you would like more info about the class or any of our other services, feel free to contact me: Jessyca@c4atlanta.org.

C4 Atlanta is proud to partner with the Kaiser Permanente Bridge Program to provide an affordable health care plan to eligible C4 Atlanta Individual Members. The program is uniquely designed to help uninsured, income-eligible members obtain health care coverage for a low monthly charge for up to 24 months. Eligible members pay a fraction of the premium cost and Kaiser Permanente subsidizes the rest. Coverage includes preventive services, hospitalization, comprehensive pharmacy and more.

Participating artists are expected to use the Bridge Program as an opportunity to grow as thriving, Atlanta-based artists. C4 Atlanta is therefore offering this program only to individual members who have completed or are enrolled in our Entrepreneurship in the Arts class.

By tying professional development with affordable healthcare, Kaiser Permanente and C4 Atlanta aim to help Atlanta Artists build a bridge towards a sustainable creative lifestyle.