THOUGHTS

Thoughts about art and community.

Posts in artist insight
For the Common Good: A Community Arts Leader Interview with Allison McGuire

Back in 2017, I had the very good fortune of meeting Allison and Andy McGuire, two talented and community-centered theatre-makers from the George Daily Community Auditorium in Oskaloosa, Iowa (population 11,463). The Auditorium had just been awarded an Arts Build Communities grant from the Iowa Arts Council to create Home Again, a multimedia variety show to explore and share the many stories of the Oskaloosa and Mahaska County communities.

Read More
Introducing Pop-Up! A Toolkit for [fun, invigorating, life-affirming] Temporary Experiences

I can't wait to share the fourth Community Arts Toolkit with y'all.

Pop-Up! offers an introduction to the nuts and bolts of planning for and pulling off a pop-up experience, be that an exhibition, a one-night event, an out-of-the-box community experience, or anything in between. Ideally, this toolkit will aid you in being thoughtful about every decision you make so you can squeeze the most mileage out of your event.

Read More
For the Common Good: A Community Artist Interview with Akwi Nji

I’m so delighted to feature my friend (and one of my favorite artists, period) Akwi Nji in the community artist interview series, For the Common Good, as she truly encapsulates the essence of what this series celebrates. Each participating artist responds to a series of questions about how their personal and community creative practices align. It’s my hope that these interviews provide insights into how and why artists work with communities, both to artists aspiring to do this work, as well as to communities who strive to engage more creatively with their residents.

Read More
POW! A Plan of Work Template for Community Art Projects

We often don’t know what we don’t know, which can be paralyzing when starting something new. This POW will prompt you to have necessary conversations with yourself, your collaborators, and your community, such as: “What are we really trying to do here? Why does it matter? What is our timeline/budget/materials? Who’s doing what by when? How do we know if this has been a successful effort?”

Read More
The Power of Artist-in-Residence Programs for Artists and Communities

If you’re a civic leader, or part of a community organization, you may consider the benefit of inviting a local artist to be a part of what you’re doing. Or you could invite a non-local artist to live in your community for bit. We creatives thrive on transforming a set of challenges into a new possibility. Our brains are wired to see potential, to see something better.

Read More
Behind the Scenes: Interviewing Folks for The What's Good Project

A big part of The What’s Good Project involves traveling around to different communities and convincing folks - many of whom have never met or heard of me - to tell me stories about inspiring aspects of where they live.

My mother is a journalist. My father is a trial lawyer. I majored in cultural anthropology. I’m also a Southerner. I come by asking strangers personal questions pretty naturally.

Read More