Hello there ✌️,
This a small update on whats happening behind the scenes of the Future Arts Network.
This Jan/Feb we hosted our first workshops of the year that was focused on creative writing. We hosted 8 online sessions with 13 participants across Canada, and we’re currently putting together a print publication with our participants. It’s super exciting because we’ve never developed a publication before and it will be a great way to keep our cohort connected and immortalize our time together.
This summer, we started working with Roots & Rivers to develop a bit of a ‘strategic plan’ to plan how we work in the next few years. In June, we emailed all our past program participants since 2016 and developed a community survey to learn more about our wider community of artists. This September, we are aiming to host an in-person session to discuss the major themes and vision for Future Arts Network but in the meantime, here are a few key takeaways from the surveys and interviews:
- Focus on mentorship (navigating issues like tokenism, build relationships, supporting emerging artists)
- Building intentional space & gatherings
- Skill building workshops
- Community care through an arts organization looks like: collective discussion, tranparency, centreing rest.
- Mutual aid through an arts organization looks like: funding to support needs: creating a fund to support artists, prioritizing the collective.
- Rest through an arts organization looks like: respecting boundaries, actively encouraging and holding space for rest, disconnecting from hustle culture.
There’s lots of learning and doing in the near future and we’re excited about this plan as it will help us shape the future of “the Future.”
Hope you have a great summer!
xoxo