Are you an army of one?
June 28th, 2007 at 10:27am Katherine Copeland
You are the executive director, marketing manager, fundraiser, event planning guru, board and volunteer coordinator, and finance expert. Sound familiar? You are not alone. Well, sort of…
Many arts organizations, particularly those in small communities or rural areas, are run by one person. If not one, a few people. Small staffs are so common in the nonprofit arts that talk of wearing multiple hats has become a cliche. And yet it’s the reality for most of our members.
It’s easy to feel isolated when you work in a small office, or you are the only arts professional in your town. But that’s where Americans for the Arts comes in. You are part of a national network of people all working toward the same goals. We provide a variety of programs and services just for you.
- Connect with other small organizations like yours through the Rural and Small Communities Peer Group. The peer group meets annually at our convention, and throughout the year on a listserv dedicated to your needs.
- Visit our Online Store and browse through books specific to arts in small communities, books that connect you with the field at large, and books to help you brush up on arts management skills they didn’t teach you in school.
- Create a network of people working in the arts in your community. We make it easy to hold a Creative Conversation during October, which is National Arts and Humanities Month, or any time of year.
- Raise awareness in your community about the need for arts education. Get involved in our Art. Ask for More. Campaign, visit our Online Resource Center for arts in public schools, and learn how No Child Left Behind might affect arts in your schools.
- Take advantage of free information resources, including Creative Industries Reports available online for every state legislative district in the country, and ArtsMarketing.org, a virtual clearinghouse for all things related to marketing the arts.
And don’t forget: you are much bigger than the size of your staff or the number of people in your town. You have a voice on the national level. And the work you are doing advances the arts for all Americans.
