How to get it?
First off, don't forget to check the Hot Topix post for final comments. Wright and Becky gave their 4 cents, and I wrote up a rough summary of everyone's desires.
Now then. As we have a rough idea of what we want, it logically follows that we should devise an at least equally rough idea of how to get it, and how to maintain it. Sadly, this largely revolves around money. Happily, the focus can be on interesting and positive ways of getting money, not just on the money itself.
It seems to me, that the most difficult part of our endeavor will be obtaining the initial start-up funds, to purchase a property, and whip it into shape for our needs. I don't think this is out of the question, however, if we're willing to pool our resources. Myself, I have purchased a small parcel of land, that I'm willing to sell to obtain funds for a down payment...not much of a down payment, but something nonetheless. I won't be much in the credit department unless I get a hot job modeling for millions of dollars right out of my master's program. But, I'll bet my parents would be willing to try and work some sort of loan out should we have a well thought out plan and proposal. I imagine that we are roughly in similar places in this regard. Third, it apparently doesn't take too long to earn decent credit. The good Mr. Schine (who was invited to the blog and has yet to show up ((I'll remind him here shortly)) recently divulged that after less than a year of working a fairly lucrative job, he was preapproved for a $180,000 home loan. So, it's certainly possible.
Aside from preliminary discussions, this is a topic for the future. The question now is how do we sustain ourselves once we're there?
A number of possibilities have already been suggested.
To reiterate:
Classes/Meetings
Selling of Art
Selling of food/spirits/baked goods, a restaurant
Income from rents paid by visiting artists
Barter of goods and services
Performances and shows
Energy Production (I've heard, and correct me if I'm wrong, that many farms get as much as 33% of their income from a single
windmill, and that the government will give you money if you're producing more energy than you're using.)
Grants, government funds.
Private Donors
Day Jobs
Publishing
Please add anything that I've forgotten.
Now then, most of these are down the road, though we would do well to find out everything we can now. I have two further proposals, one for the future, and one for the present. Let's see what you all think.
Future: Inspired by a visit to the Watermill Center website, one way of securing funding at least in the summer months, would be to offer an arts summer camp. We would get to design the curricula, and select the age group and requirements for participation. Now initially it might be easier to do this as a day camp, our society being as litigious as it is, but it could develop into an overnight thing. Thus far, it sounds like a purely commercial venture, but I now add an ingredient to make it both a commercial and a charitable venture...a beautiful symbiosis.
What if (at least for a couple of sessions a summer) our camp was for disadvantaged/troubled youth. We could open it to children who have been abused, foster children, inner city children, children with criminal records, children with mental handicaps, substance abuse problems...you name it. Now, we could develop a curriculum to use the arts as a type of therapy for these campers, but also a means of learning about our respective crafts, and helping to bolster these students senses of self and their self-esteem. Moreover, as we would be doing such a service, my hunch is that we would make ourselves (in the least self-serving manner possible) more eligible for funding from the government and charitable organizations. Plus, we would better legitimize ourselves in the eyes of whatever rural community we settle in. Instead of being the weirdo artists from the city, we would be the weirdo artists from the city who help kids. Plus, these kids and their families now increase the positive word of mouth about our site.
Allison brought up a good point, that we should be careful in our thinking to think first of what we want to spend our time doing, then think of how to finance it, rather than the reverse. As far as the camp thing goes, I think it's one possibility that I'm interested in, but I wouldn't want to devote all of my efforts for the year to it. It would definitely be a summertime sort of thing in my mind.
Now, here's where the expertise of Mr. Schine comes in. He's was a camp director (including recruiting, hiring, legal issues, promotion) for a year, before creating and overseeing an after school program in the arts at the high school level using government monies for the past year. If he chooses, he could be a huge resource in this process, legitimizing our efforts in the eyes of the state, and bringing tremendous first-hand experience. Even if he chooses not to be involved personally, we should keep him (and others with similar experience) in mind as resources.
The idea for the present: I'd like to set up a virtual Pangaea. (in addition to this one) My thinking is as follows... We have all been trained as thinkers, regardless of our respective disciplines, and we're all very intelligent and creative, and we should begin to share. We can't work together right now for obvious reasons, but we can online. Many of us already routinely visit certain websites (McSweeney's and PitchforkMedia jump immediately to mind) for info and reviews of music, books, and movies. These websites are great, nothing against them. However (I can't honestly speak with regard to McSweeney's here) their reviews are of new products, books and albums, and not necessarily the specific things that interest us. Second, they don't feature art exhibitions or live performances, which we could.
Even if it's as simple as another blog, we should start posting things online, reviews of books we've just read, records we've been listening to a lot, trees detailing writers who have influenced other writers and how they fit together, i.e. if you like this, try this this this and this. Furthermore, we can start putting our own work up. Becky, you can put up photos you've taken, Rachel pictures of clothes, and or designs for clothes and accessories, Patrick, sound files, stories, recipes etc. Wright, your plays/writings...Allison, writings, drawings, we should have a science section (if you want, I'm not relegating you to science world) in which we can discuss certain pertinent issues and how they might affect us....how technological development is influencing the arts...really it's very open.
Besides the fact that it would be cool to do this, I see it serving to further our plans in several ways.
1) It gets an artistic conversation going between all of us, so we have a better idea of all of our respective interests, talents, and loves.
2)It's free, yet provides us with a body of work that can be referenced back to before the creation of the real space.
3)Conceivably, (I realize that it's a very crowded market) we could eventually earn some money/recognition out of the deal by selling advertising, products, or subscriptions. Even if we don't sell anything, we can open it up to the public, and begin getting some recognition (if only from our friends). We can also open it up to our friends...while the Pangaea colony might not be able to accommodate everyone, a website would have much more room, and potentially help us to form bonds with other artists.
4)One more plus, it's very low key. If you're busy, not a problem. If you've got 6 projects burning a hole in your fingers, great! slap 'em up.
All we need is someone with a little bit of internet programming savvy, or someone willing to learn. I'm totally willing, but with limited time. However, I'll do what I can with pleasure. I can't wait to hear back from you all on all this stuff. Here's wishing you the best.
Mr. Sinclair
Now then. As we have a rough idea of what we want, it logically follows that we should devise an at least equally rough idea of how to get it, and how to maintain it. Sadly, this largely revolves around money. Happily, the focus can be on interesting and positive ways of getting money, not just on the money itself.
It seems to me, that the most difficult part of our endeavor will be obtaining the initial start-up funds, to purchase a property, and whip it into shape for our needs. I don't think this is out of the question, however, if we're willing to pool our resources. Myself, I have purchased a small parcel of land, that I'm willing to sell to obtain funds for a down payment...not much of a down payment, but something nonetheless. I won't be much in the credit department unless I get a hot job modeling for millions of dollars right out of my master's program. But, I'll bet my parents would be willing to try and work some sort of loan out should we have a well thought out plan and proposal. I imagine that we are roughly in similar places in this regard. Third, it apparently doesn't take too long to earn decent credit. The good Mr. Schine (who was invited to the blog and has yet to show up ((I'll remind him here shortly)) recently divulged that after less than a year of working a fairly lucrative job, he was preapproved for a $180,000 home loan. So, it's certainly possible.
Aside from preliminary discussions, this is a topic for the future. The question now is how do we sustain ourselves once we're there?
A number of possibilities have already been suggested.
To reiterate:
Classes/Meetings
Selling of Art
Selling of food/spirits/baked goods, a restaurant
Income from rents paid by visiting artists
Barter of goods and services
Performances and shows
Energy Production (I've heard, and correct me if I'm wrong, that many farms get as much as 33% of their income from a single
windmill, and that the government will give you money if you're producing more energy than you're using.)
Grants, government funds.
Private Donors
Day Jobs
Publishing
Please add anything that I've forgotten.
Now then, most of these are down the road, though we would do well to find out everything we can now. I have two further proposals, one for the future, and one for the present. Let's see what you all think.
Future: Inspired by a visit to the Watermill Center website, one way of securing funding at least in the summer months, would be to offer an arts summer camp. We would get to design the curricula, and select the age group and requirements for participation. Now initially it might be easier to do this as a day camp, our society being as litigious as it is, but it could develop into an overnight thing. Thus far, it sounds like a purely commercial venture, but I now add an ingredient to make it both a commercial and a charitable venture...a beautiful symbiosis.
What if (at least for a couple of sessions a summer) our camp was for disadvantaged/troubled youth. We could open it to children who have been abused, foster children, inner city children, children with criminal records, children with mental handicaps, substance abuse problems...you name it. Now, we could develop a curriculum to use the arts as a type of therapy for these campers, but also a means of learning about our respective crafts, and helping to bolster these students senses of self and their self-esteem. Moreover, as we would be doing such a service, my hunch is that we would make ourselves (in the least self-serving manner possible) more eligible for funding from the government and charitable organizations. Plus, we would better legitimize ourselves in the eyes of whatever rural community we settle in. Instead of being the weirdo artists from the city, we would be the weirdo artists from the city who help kids. Plus, these kids and their families now increase the positive word of mouth about our site.
Allison brought up a good point, that we should be careful in our thinking to think first of what we want to spend our time doing, then think of how to finance it, rather than the reverse. As far as the camp thing goes, I think it's one possibility that I'm interested in, but I wouldn't want to devote all of my efforts for the year to it. It would definitely be a summertime sort of thing in my mind.
Now, here's where the expertise of Mr. Schine comes in. He's was a camp director (including recruiting, hiring, legal issues, promotion) for a year, before creating and overseeing an after school program in the arts at the high school level using government monies for the past year. If he chooses, he could be a huge resource in this process, legitimizing our efforts in the eyes of the state, and bringing tremendous first-hand experience. Even if he chooses not to be involved personally, we should keep him (and others with similar experience) in mind as resources.
The idea for the present: I'd like to set up a virtual Pangaea. (in addition to this one) My thinking is as follows... We have all been trained as thinkers, regardless of our respective disciplines, and we're all very intelligent and creative, and we should begin to share. We can't work together right now for obvious reasons, but we can online. Many of us already routinely visit certain websites (McSweeney's and PitchforkMedia jump immediately to mind) for info and reviews of music, books, and movies. These websites are great, nothing against them. However (I can't honestly speak with regard to McSweeney's here) their reviews are of new products, books and albums, and not necessarily the specific things that interest us. Second, they don't feature art exhibitions or live performances, which we could.
Even if it's as simple as another blog, we should start posting things online, reviews of books we've just read, records we've been listening to a lot, trees detailing writers who have influenced other writers and how they fit together, i.e. if you like this, try this this this and this. Furthermore, we can start putting our own work up. Becky, you can put up photos you've taken, Rachel pictures of clothes, and or designs for clothes and accessories, Patrick, sound files, stories, recipes etc. Wright, your plays/writings...Allison, writings, drawings, we should have a science section (if you want, I'm not relegating you to science world) in which we can discuss certain pertinent issues and how they might affect us....how technological development is influencing the arts...really it's very open.
Besides the fact that it would be cool to do this, I see it serving to further our plans in several ways.
1) It gets an artistic conversation going between all of us, so we have a better idea of all of our respective interests, talents, and loves.
2)It's free, yet provides us with a body of work that can be referenced back to before the creation of the real space.
3)Conceivably, (I realize that it's a very crowded market) we could eventually earn some money/recognition out of the deal by selling advertising, products, or subscriptions. Even if we don't sell anything, we can open it up to the public, and begin getting some recognition (if only from our friends). We can also open it up to our friends...while the Pangaea colony might not be able to accommodate everyone, a website would have much more room, and potentially help us to form bonds with other artists.
4)One more plus, it's very low key. If you're busy, not a problem. If you've got 6 projects burning a hole in your fingers, great! slap 'em up.
All we need is someone with a little bit of internet programming savvy, or someone willing to learn. I'm totally willing, but with limited time. However, I'll do what I can with pleasure. I can't wait to hear back from you all on all this stuff. Here's wishing you the best.
Mr. Sinclair
posted by Sinclair at 6:04 PM
1 Comments:
First up, props to Patrick for speaking his mind re the summer camp idea. For my part, I'm not ready to abandon the idea completely, but I recognize it as one of many possibilities and not a necessity by any means. I'm also glad that Patrick is interested in the HTML situation. I figured that would be right up your alley, and you'll be good at it P. Becky, on the blogger home page are directions for posting pictures...sounds pretty easy. So, P, when we look at this overlap, the attempt is to formulate a model in which all of our various interests can co-habitate in one arena? or to find a way that various disciplines can work together towards sustaining our environment? I remain a little unclear on this point. Off to class.
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