September 2024 News
October 1, 2024 • 7 minute read
Artists Share Stories of Art and Liberation in NPN’s Voices From the Network
The best way to learn about the artistic process — the unexpected inspiration, the research and hard work, the challenges of production and promotion, the responses from different audiences — is to do it yourself. The next best way is to read stories about these experiences from the artists themselves. NPN’s Voices from the Network is an ongoing series on npnweb.org where we feature artist-written personal essays and interviews about how they fund, develop, and share their deeply personal work.
We love all of these personal stories, but if you don’t know where to start, here are some suggestions:
Drag performer Carla Rossi (Anthony Hudson) turns a targeted anti-drag backlash into a hilarious and affirming theatrical performance.
https://npnweb.org/a-tale-as-old-as-time/
Performer James Scruggs uses his own experiences to develop a restorative justice performance that helps BIPOC folk expunge nonviolent criminal records.
https://npnweb.org/off-the-record-acts-of-restorative-justice/
Artist Zaire Love describes her plans for Remade Ruins, a “Black-owned Oasis” in Mississippi that combines agricultural production, collective art experiences, community gardens, and more.
https://npnweb.org/remade-ruins-by-zaire-love/
W.A.G.E. Introduces New Skills Calculator
Working Artists and the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.) has launched a new, user-friendly tool for calculating the fair market value of arts workers’ skills, and NPN is proud to be among its advocates. Many occupations in the arts have been poorly defined, and most are not listed in the federal Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, resulting in a lack of industry standards for much of the labor integral to the production and distribution of art. This not only perpetuates the under-paying of artists and arts workers, but also undermines the social value of the arts. W.A.G.E.’s new Skills Calculator helps arts workers define their skills with greater precision and price them according to prevailing wages. Searchable by skill type, the database matches each skill to regional wages drawn from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
NPN has been a long-time collaborator with W.A.G.E., supporting the evolution of their work through a performing arts lens and providing artists with tools to build more sustainable and humane careers. “NPN’s mission is to build artists’ power,” says Director of National Programs Stanlyn Brevé, “and W.A.G.E.’s work is so important to our field, as it brings greater accountability and transparency to our sector’s labor practices.”
The Skills Calculator is accessible through WAGENCY, a membership-based organizing infrastructure for artists and arts workers. Originally launched in 2018, WAGENCY now offers several tools designed to increase workers’ individual bargaining power and build collective leverage. A monthly WAGENCY subscription — akin to union dues — is also a way to financially support W.A.G.E.’s work on behalf of artists. By contributing $5/month, members get access to tools including the Skills Calculator while building solidarity with other WAGENTS. Join WAGENCY at wageforwork.com.
Anne Ishii and the Threshold of Transformation
Asian Arts Initiative (an NPN Partner) announced last month its executive director Anne Ishii was departing for a new role as Program Director at United States Artists. Anne, who serves on NPNs board of directors, shared that “working with artists at the threshold of transformation is, I’ve realized, my life’s absolute mission.” Anne stewarded AAI during the chaotic challenges and change of the last 6 years. “I hope what we did for the art of disagreement and social impact can be viewed as a practice of mercy.”
Read more of Anne’s reflection and her invitation to be kind, be cool, and be brave.
National Dance Project and National Theater Project Face an Uncertain Future
The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) announced in September that the upcoming grant cycles will be the final ones for the National Theater Project (NTP) and the National Dance Project (NDP) in their current form. “Shifts in the funding landscape are natural; Mellon is concluding their decades-long funding arc that has supported NDP and NTP,” writes executive director Harold Steward. “It is human to grieve change even as we embrace it. As we look to the future, NEFA will embark on a reimagining of both NTP and NDP amidst our strategic planning process, which is underway.”
The two programs have contributed $42.8 Million toward the creation, development, and touring of new artist-led work in dance and theater and—alongside NPN—are one of only a small number of national commissioning and touring grants in the performing arts. As such, the loss of NDP and NTP impacts our whole arts ecosystem, as our programs were designed to be complementary. “NPN affirms our commitment to supporting the creation and presentation of new performance work”, says NPN president Caitlin Strokosch, “and we will continue to advocate for deeper, more equitable investment in artists, now and in the years to come.”
Preliminary applications for the final NTP grant cycle are currently being accepted until October 10, 2024.
Preliminary applications for the final NDP grant cycle will open in January 2025.
2025 Development Fund’s New Rolling Deadline Supports Artists on Their Schedule
Attention all artists who have received NPN Creation Fund support within the past three years: the application guidelines for the NPN 2025 Development Fund are now available!
Starting with the 2025 fund, we’ve made things more artist friendly by switching to a rolling deadline, which means now you may access the fund when it makes sense for your project’s timeline. Artists may apply for up to $5,000 for individual artist projects, or up to $10,000 for team-based projects with a commissioner of their choosing.
Learn more and download the Development Fund Guidelines and Application Guide.
Join Us To Celebrate NPN’s 40th Anniversary at the 2025 Annual Conference
Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the National Performance Network, which was founded in 1985 by a group of 14 artist-centered, geographically-diverse presenting organizations to more effectively locate and distribute national funding for the performing arts. Join us at the 2025 Annual Conference on October 6-9, 2025, to celebrate the thousands of artists, arts organizations, and supporters who have filled the past four decades with art that’s inspiring, provocative, healing, joyous, political, personal, and so much more.
We’ll share more about the Annual Conference soon. In the meantime, be sure to save the date, and enjoy the inspiring and insightful discussions from our 2023 Annual Conference keynote panels.
Moving From a React Mindset to a Respond Mindset
“You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it.”
—Grace Lee Boggs
The world overflows with injustice against so many types of people that it can be hard to decide where to focus our efforts. Card 16 of the Mixed Metaphor Learning Deck shares a set of questions to help you name systems of oppression, then study how they propagate and how to avoid falling into their practices. When we explored the card, our answers led us to focus on Racial Justice and Cultural Equity. We invite you to walk through these questions with your staff and build actions around your own answers.
Opportunities
Applications Now Open for “Get Ready” Grants to Help Craft Artists Safeguard Their Work
If you’re a craft artist based in the U.S. or U.S. Territories, you have until October 29, 2024 to apply for a Get Ready grant from the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+) and NPN. Artists have used the grants of up to $1,000 to pay for utilities, repair housing, purchase archival services, and more.
Announcements
MIX-MIX: The Filipino Adventures of a German Jewish Boy by Boni B. Alvarez Wins 7 Scenies
NPN is happy to share that Boni B. Alvarez’s play MIX-MIX received 7 honors at the 2023-24 Stage Scene LA “Scenie” Awards, including outstanding production, lead and ensemble acting, direction, choreography, and production design. MIX-MIX was an NPN 2023 Development Fund recipient and co-commissioned by Playwrights’ Arena, Miami New Drama, Ma-Yi Theater Company, and the Skirball Center Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The play, based on a true story, tells the coming-of-age tale of a 13-year-old refugee and his parents who have escaped Nazi Germany to find safety in the Philippines.
