Support for Individual Artists Preconference

Artists and Grantmakers: A Shared Enterprise

This preconference focuses on the ways artists and funders inform each other, develop meaningful and productive relationships, and work together to create and refine programs that support kindred visions and consequential collaborations. The preconference is designed and led by both artists and funders and will be held at artist-run Experimental Station located in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago’s south side.

Throughout the single-day gathering, individual and group presentations will be interspersed with open dialogue that encourages engagement by everyone in attendance. Sessions encompass candid conversation between artists and grantmakers, new enterprises in the sector, practical tools for program implementation, a performance art piece, and a culminating conversation led by artists.

Schedule

Introduction to the Day
Esther Grimm, executive director, 3Arts; Rose Parisi, director of programs, Illinois Arts Council; Dan Peterman, artist and founder of Experimental Station

Learning to Love You More: Real Relationships, Real Challenges
A multimedia conversation examining the dynamics between grantors and artists.
Presented by Julia Antonick, independant dancer and choreographer; Ginger Farley, dancer and director, Chicago Dancemakers Forum; Theaster Gates, visual artist; Jonathan Meyer, artistic director, Khecari Dance Theatre; Ute Zimmermann, program manager, Artadia.

New Shared Enterprises
This panel discussion features four entrepreneurial programs from across the country that illuminate new modes of connecting artists with the public, filling funding gaps, and moving beyond both traditional grantmaking models and the constraints of current economic conditions.
Moderated by Esther Grimm. Presented by Amada Cruz, program director, United States Artists; Kristen Cox and Isis Ferguson, The Fire This Time Fund; Shannon Stratton, executive director, threewalls; Laura Zabel, executive director, Springboard for the Arts; Latham Zearfoss, founder and organizer, Chances Dances.

The Black Monks of Mississippi: I Need Sugar, Lord
The Black Monks take on the subjects of food, diet, and the utensil with humor, candor, and angst as they drive you through a north to south migration journey unlike any you’ve experienced. Catered by Out of the Box Catering, an African American owned, South Side catering company, the meal will be presented in recycled shoe boxes collected from South Side families and will contain tidbits of ephemera and the best cold chicken in Chicago.
Presented by Yaw Agyeman, Leroy Bach, Theaster Gates, Khari Lemuel, Carisma Sweat.

Shared Success: The Evaluation Enigma
This session will investigate what shared success looks like for artists and funders, what evaluation means for various kinds of artists’ grants (fellowship, residency, project-based) and why we evaluate in the first place.
Presented by Julie Gordon Dalgleish, president, Arts Development Associates; Bill Cleveland, director, Center for the Study of Art and Community.

Artists Talk Back
A discussion of expectations, experiences, and ideas sparked by the day.
Presented by John Corbett, writer, adjunct associate professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, co-founder, Corbett vs. Dempsey Gallery; Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, freelance director, managing director, 500 Clown; Jon Satrom, artist, educator, hacker, principal, StudioThread; Roell Schmidt, writer and director, Links Hall.

Final 15
GIA’s new Support for Individual Artists Steering Committee.
Presented by Cindy Gehrig, president, Jerome Foundation.

Support for Individual Artists Committee
Irene Borger, Alpert Award in the Arts
Denise Brown, Leeway Foundation
Amada Cruz, United States Artists
Ginger Farley, Artist, Chicago Dancemakers Forum/Weasel Fund
Theaster Gates, Visual Artist
Esther Grimm (co-chair), 3Arts
Lila Kanner, Artadia, The Fund for Art and Dialogue
Victoria Lord, Rasmuson Foundation
Rose Parisi (co-chair), Illinois Arts Council
Laura Zimmermann, McKnight Foundation
Ute Zimmermann, Artadia