Hey y’all,

Come on down tonight and listen to me gab about alternative arts funding – specifically, about the project I work on called FEAST  – www.feastinbklyn.org

Can’t make it tonight?  There’s more on May 13th at Galapagos in Brooklyn, presented by The Field.  Check it out here.

Please join us for a conversation between funders, artists, and activists:

(ALTERNATIVE) ARTS FUNDING FOR SUSTAINABLE CREATIVE PRACTICE

A Panel Discussion

Thursday, April 30

7:00pm

NYU’s Barney Building

34 Stuyvesant Street at 9th Street between 3rd and 2nd Avenues

No RSVP, Free and open to the public

sponsored by NYU Steinhardt Art Events and Exhibitions

Department of Art and Art Professions

Panelists:

Ruby Lerner (President, Creative Capital)

Katie Hollander (Deputy Director, Creative Time)

Tim Cynova (Deputy Director, Fractured Atlas)

Jeff Hnilicka (Founder, FEAST [Funding Emerging Art with Sustainable Tactics])

Bryce Dwyer (InCUBATE, Chicago IL)

A.K. Burns (W.A.G.E. [Working Artists in the Greater Economy])

Organized and moderated by Tracy Candido, a Master’s candidate in Steinhardt’s Visual Culture Theory program and founder of Sweet Tooth of the Tiger’s Bake Sale Residency for Artists, a mini grant for artists who like to bake.

The economic downturn has art critics (Cotter, Peers, Saltz, Hickey) discussing whether this morbid financial climate is beneficial for artists; will it relegate art as luxury and therefore become less accessible to audiences, or will art for art’s sake return now that art as commodity is less of an issue? Both sides of the debate seem to leave the artist’s pockets empty.  Selling art to make a living has become even more difficult during the recession, and the alternative options for financial support are just as dire: jobs that may fund artists’ creative practice are scarce, grant options are dwindling, and art institutions are holding on tight to their fortune. How are artists adapting to the economic crisis?  Is the economic crisis bringing the dysfunctional art system into even harsher light?  Are artists taking matters into their own hands?

Please join us for this lively panel discussion that will address the shift in arts funding during the recession and concurrent issues such as democracy in the art system, the cultural discount applied to the artist and cultural producer, and advocating for new artist economies.

*Ruby Lerner, President of Creative Capital, a non-profit whose “programmatic blueprint melds financial support with an array of services so that artists can build a solid foundation for success”

*Tim Cynova, Deputy Director of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit which assists artists and arts organizations to function more effectively as businesses by providing access to funding, healthcare, and education

*Jeff Hnilicka, an arts professional who organizes FEAST (Funding Emerging Art with Sustainable Tactics), a recurring public dinner in Brooklyn designed to use community-driven financial support to democratically fund new and emerging art makers

*Katie Hollander, the Deputy Director of Creative Time, the “vanguard and veteran public arts presenter” that provides artists with “unparalleled opportunities to create ambitious new works that infiltrate the public realm and engage millions of people in New York City and across the globe;”

*Bryce Dwyer from InCubate (Chicago), a research institute that organizes the Sunday Soup Grant, a method of arts funding that is “transparent and participatory, drawing upon entrepreneurial and grassroots strategies to generate funds for artist initiatives and community projects;”

*A.K. Burns, an artist who is a founding member of W.A.G.E. (Working Artists in the Greater Economy), an arts activist group that advocate for fair artists’ wages.

For more info on Sweet Tooth of the Tiger, please visit www.sweettoothofthetiger.com