Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 540
(upbeat music) Welcome back in everyone to a fabulous new whisper in the Winx from Stage Whisperer. We have an amazing, amazing beat, after whatever you want to call it, to talk about today and joining us, we've got three amazing artists who have made this possible. We have the co-organizers and lead research team members, Haley Andres, Randy Berry and Himana Garnica. They're here to talk to us about Culture Solidarity Fund Report entitled from re-granting to redistribution, how the Cultural Solidarity Fund moved money and why we need community-centered coalitions. This is a fascinating read. It's an incredible effort. I am excited to learn more about not only how this came to be, but who it's helped. So this is really, really fantastic. You're gonna love this. So let's go ahead and welcome in our guest, Haley, Randy, Himana. Welcome to Whisperer in the Winx from Stage Whisperer. - Hello. - Hello. - Got to be here. - Hi. - Yes. - Yes. - Thank you for having us. - I'm so excited to have all of you here. I cannot wait to talk more about this. First of all, from all of us in every facet of the arts community. Thank you for doing this. This is incredible. And furthermore, congratulations. Like, this is such an amazing thing. So, Randy, why don't we start with you? It's good to see you again. How long are you tell us a little bit about this fund, this report that you've put together? - Sure, hi. Thanks for having us back, Andrew. I guess I'll start partners with explaining a little bit about what the Cultural Solidarity Fund was and is, and how it got us here to the report. So, the Cultural Solidarity Fund was an effort that came together during COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic, really spurred on and inspired by our partner, Himana Garnica, who's here, who had the idea to help engage the arts and culture community in New York City. And encourage institutions to lead with solidarity in action, not just in words, as independent artists and individual artists and cultural workers were suffering at this point in the pandemic, and were not receiving the support that they needed from the city, the state, the federal government, and philanthropy. Individual artists who were most deeply impacted by COVID were falling through the cracks in all of these relief efforts. And Himana was compelling institutions to be in solidarity with the individuals in their communities and to ask them to pitch in and give support to those individuals. So, Himana came to Indie Space and asked Indie Space to be an administrator of this fund. A lot of work went into it. 17 different individuals or representatives from 17 different institutions came together as the individual, as their person, to fundraise for and build a grant application and grant a funding program that ended up serving so far 2030 artists with relief funding. And since then, we've still been pushing to try to fund. We have 200, at the time of the report, there are 224 people that still needed relief and support that we want to be in solidarity with. And so we decided to do a report on our efforts and see if we couldn't help, if we couldn't use this report to help inspire folks to be in solidarity with those last 204 folks and get us over the finish line in funding everyone. What did I miss? What big things did I miss, Himana? - I'll just say that the actual, like the what of the what that we did was provide $500 micro grants to artists and arts workers. So in the fundraising, where's that going? It was to those over 2000 artists and art workers who expressed a need that they needed financial support during that crisis. And we said, okay, and they each got $500. And that was kind of no strings attached. They can use it to whatever they needed at that time. So that was kind of the nitty gritty of what that we were doing. - That is incredible. What a, like you said, what a feat. What an incredible accomplishment. And the fact that you were continuing to work to help those people still in the waiting list is amazing. So I want to dive a little bit more. I mean, you touched on how you all came up with the idea and all of that. And Himana, I'm going to jump to you as one of the, I'll say founders and one of the brainchild of this. What was it like developing and securing these funds? - I think it was practice, a deep practice on solidarity. It was recognizing that if you bring a group of people in the room, everybody has power and has privilege. One way of another, different kind of privilege. So I think what happened was that we brought together these group of people that they all sort of like recognize that they had some connection. Maybe they were part of development departments in their own organizations. Maybe they had connections to founders. Maybe they knew how to write a grand proposal. Maybe they know how the system work. They knew how philanthropy was failing us and how we could potentially enter those spaces and push a little bit and resist a little bit and open a new way of seeing and a new way of which the money could circulate. So I think it was an exercise on solidarity in the sense of how we can help each other with what we have right now and how we could in practice our privilege and our positionality to blow the resources in this case was the money for individual our workers and artists. So I felt that it was not easy but it also wasn't hard. It's what I'm trying to say. The, I think the easy part was that because the rhythm of work can change, right? People, organizations were close. They were in programming a lot. It allowed a space for people to come and be in a weekly meeting that did not stop for a couple of years. Like we met every Monday and we were like brainstorming, strategizing, sharing tasks, who does what? And this is not an organization, right? This is just a group of individuals coming together to walk up on something. And then I think that was easy. Then I think it became a little bit more challenging as everything opened up and now this last effort of raising the money for the waiting people that we still feel like we shouldn't left behind has become a little bit more of a challenge because the world has moved into this idea that the emergency is passed when we know in our field and that it's an ongoing fragile time and infrastructure issues that we have. So yeah, it was an exercise on solidarity, I think. - That is amazing, amazing. It's incredible what people can do when they come together. You are all a testament to that. Now, Haley, I wanna ask you, I know that there are no funds available right now but what was the process for artists in the beginning to who you're distributing these funds to? What was the process for them applying? - We wanted it to be as easy as possible. It was a time where a lot was going on and there was a lot of need. So the team designed an application program, application process that was very straightforward. It was not merit-based. So there was no need to prove the quality of your artwork or no judging panel on what people think could be better about whatever you're doing. It was, you're an artist, you identify as an artist and/or you identify as an art worker and you have a need. From there, I mean, there were some basic demographic information so that we could know who we were serving but we used a lottery system to administer these funds. IndieSpace and Randy is a huge leader in that kind of equity practice in funding where we had individuals who applied, self-identified their level of need and that was on a scale of one to five, five being the most and one being the least. So we prioritized getting the grants out to those that said that they were in the most need, those fives. We also prioritized those artists and arts workers who have historically been failed by philanthropy and failed by the industry, which include BIPOC artists, immigrant artists, disabled artists and LGBTQIA+ artists. So while there were different kind of weights to make sure that we were administering the funds kind of with equity focus to those artists, it was ultimately a lottery system so that there was no judgment. I think we've all been to enough auditions or panels or written enough grants and loathe the like, oh, I have to make a case for why I need this. Like there shouldn't, like we're all of the belief that there shouldn't be and if you have a need, you have a need and we really were there to just meet that. So yeah. - I will say too, there was also available in Spanish, I believe and I don't think there were other languages but just given the number of artists in the city and the metropolitan area that are Spanish speakers, we wanted to make sure that that was accessible there as well. - It was actually translated into, you could translate into I think the 11 languages but only we only used only the artists only used the Spanish translation. We received 111 applications in Spanish. We also received three, we took three applications in over the telephone, no application in them. I mean, we put it into the application. - And I'll just say that we received 2,722 applications and I think Randy or Jimina remind me the window of open one. - One week, one week. So, you know, that's a really overwhelming need with, you know, over 50%, about 50% of those, 56% of those applicants expressing a dire need at that five level. So we were really overwhelmed, pleased to see that our outreach was meeting the people across the city but overwhelmed by the need at that time. - That is so fantastic. Randy, I wanna come back to you and I'm curious to know, I know you mentioned that you started this during the pandemic but how long exactly have you all been working on this? And particularly the report itself. - Well, I believe Jimina, you and I started talking in like December or something of 2020, I think. And the core group started meeting early 2021. Is that true? - Well, before you and me spoke, we had that three before. And so we started like October 2020. And then you realize December, January. So it's in now, how long is that? - That's a few years, so few years. But for the report itself, we started that in January, I think of 2023 and delivered a report or we're able to, you know, we're completed the report in March of 2024. So the process of evaluating the work, doing lots and lots of interviews with artists that participated with arts workers within institutions that participated or didn't with philanthropy that participated and with the other organizers, that research and the writing of the paper took about a year and three months. - That is incredible. What a time that must have been. - Kimena, I want to ask you, what message or thought are you hoping that audiences, that listeners, artists will walk away with from our conversation today? - I think the main thing is like, we all have something to give and that when we have come to a place of sense of chair purpose, when we have like this mutual responsibility, when the wellbeing of one is seen as connected as the wellbeing of all, like this of like my wellbeing depends on you wellbeing and I do have something to give and I also can receive and that sometimes those are no transactional that I might be giving a lot to something and I might receiving from somewhere else and that if we are aware of that circulation, I think we as a community in the theater, in the arts, in the world, in other ways, we can then lift up each other and I think that's the sense of the solidarity, the action solidarity. I think that that will allow people to feel and power and inspire that these cultural solidarity fun, it's not a cultural solidarity fun but that everybody can create their circles of solidarity and we are not the only ones during the pandemic and this is the history of other cultures. So you know, I come from a country where you make the stone soup, everybody brings something and then you got a soup for everyone. So it's sort of like reviving and relieving and leaving an action every day, that purpose of coming together for the wellbeing of everyone. - That is a beautiful answer. Thank you for that. Hayley, I want to come to you from my final question in this first part and as we've mentioned, you know, the funds have been handed out but there is a wait list. So I would love to know who do you hope have access to future funding particularly for these people on the waiting list? - We still have a wait list of just over 200 folks that are many of them at that four level of urgency or higher so we really want to close, one of our goals is to leave with no artists, no applicant and unfunded. So we're still working hard to kind of raise, you know, that $500 per person. We were really who that is. It's those people on that list but I just want to emphasize that it's a fund for not only the artists that make our city and our culture so vibrant, it's also the arts workers who are part of the ecosystem of making theaters run, of keeping museums open. We all depend on one another so it's both of those. And I was just really struck by, you know, the data that we have from folks who gave to this fund who you can still give to this fund and I'm sure we'll be able to share how soon but the theater community was so big on that. And out of all of the arts kind of groups or arts disciplines across the city, the theater community gave 8.25% of our total $1 million raised or of the individuals raised, right? So that was, there was other groups like visual arts or dance or other kind of disciplines we're giving also but there was this real stark theater kind of like support. I think that I've said this to Randy and Jimena, I think there's a real like important performing arts support that we've seen through this fund. And I think there's maybe something about the nature of the work that those artists and art workers do in the day-to-day in seeing like what Jimena is saying is that the wellbeing of one is the wellbeing of all and that it takes a company to put on a performance. And so they're more, maybe they're more likely to give. You can check out like all the details of who gave in our report but that was just something I was really, really struck by. - It was amazing. I do actually want to tag on one last question and you already kind of hinted at it. And it's that, you know, you mentioned that the fun, well, you all keep mentioning for the arts, this is not just a theater fun. This covers all facets, you know, if I understand right dance and music and it sounds like museums as well, I mean, you are touching everything. So if people want to support this cause, if they want to donate to the fun, how can they do so? Randy, let me hit you with that first. - Yes, thank you for saying that. It's true, this was for all artists and all art workers. So visual arts too, you did not just need to be a performing artist, you could be a visual artist or, you know, a graphic artist in some way or as well. But in order to donate to the Cultural Solidarity Fund, you can go to our website, culturalsolidarityfund.org. And on the website, there's links to donate and you can read the report. So you can understand a little bit more about how the Cultural Solidarity Fund came about, why we're continuing to fundraise for the remaining applicants and how we had done it up to this point. I want to mention one other thing. When I said why we did the report, it was to keep a magnifying glass on these folks that need support, but also it was to expand our community's access to information around solidarity so that the report doesn't just sit on a shelf, but that others, like Amanda mentioned, can take action and do something themselves in their own community. There's a toolkit, a mutual aid toolkit. We certainly, we were all organizers in our own right, but we are not the only people who did funds, we're not the only people who continue to do funds and this was not the only way to show up for your community during COVID. But there is a toolkit within the report that someone can use if they don't want to have to build the structure that we had to build at the time that we were building the Cultural Solidarity Fund. - That's incredible. Anything that any of you wanna add to that? - Well, like Randy said, you can go now to the website, you can donate, you can send a PayPal, you can send a check, but one of the things we discovered was also the challenges about institutions have around donating funds about being in solidarity that way because they have certain like adding items in the budget. And so we're also trying to encourage people, okay, maybe this is your marketing contribution. You know, look at us as a marketing contribution that you can take $500, $100, $200, $300 from your budget and put it into marketing. We happily will put your logo into the website. But it's also the report, it kind of unveils certain things of maybe why some institutions couldn't be in solidarity or where are those sort of stopping points that doesn't allow this to be in solidarity? And I think that is something that is worth exploring and delving into it if you read the report because I think it sounds very beautiful what I'm saying, let's all be together and help each other. And then there is a structure and places that sometimes doesn't allow for that to happen. So then how we resist those structures or how we go around them or how we purse them. And I think that we have to have creativity and then we have to like keep in mind the goal of being in solidarity with each other. - Hey, Lee, anything you'd like to add? - I don't think so. I just want to shout out a couple other folks that worked on this research with us. Our other co-organizer Michelle Amador was a part of this kind of the three of us and as organizing group members who took on the research as well as ML Wurowinski who helped design and lead the research for the report and Sruity Surinara Janin who was kind of like our lead researcher and does a lot of work within solidarity economies across the city. So just want to thank them for their leadership and collaboration and effort as well. They're superstars, truly, truly. We could not have done it without them. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Well, on the second part of our interview we love giving our listeners a chance to get to know our guests a little bit better, pull the curtain back, if you will. And I want to go ahead and jump to my favorite question to ask guests and that, of course, is what is your favorite theater memory? Or since we are talking about something that covers all facets of the arts, what's your favorite performing arts memory? - I was thinking about this before we were chatting today and I'll be, just put it out there. I'm not with, I don't work. I work within dance right now. I work at the Mark Morris Dance Group but I'm not myself a performing artist, nor a theater person. Though as a child, I tried to be and I think those are some of my favorite memories. Like when I was tree number one in my middle school production of Into the Woods and got kicked out of rehearsal for a flirting and then chewed gum during the first opening night performance and had never looked it down. So it's a memory that keeps on giving for my family to poke fun at me, but it really, it's one of my favorite memories. It was really fun to be a part of that and I still think about it decades later. So that's my favorite theater memory. - I can't believe it. I was a tree in a play also. It was like my first play. I was a tree in a mirror. I was a tree. - Yeah. - Just a box-stepping tree. - Just a box-stepping tree up there on stage, chewing my gum. - We were great. (laughs) - I heard it people. - It's amazing. I love those memories. Thank you for that amazing memory. Who would like to go next? - I guess my, I have like, it's hard to have just one memory and I love the theater. I grew up in the theater. My mom used to take me to see the marionette and the puppets of this Colombian puppetry here. And that's my first memories of actually being in the theater and they are just full of colors and shapes and lights and fantasy. So for me, also the favorite moment, maybe in the theater is that moment when the house silence and the lights go off and it's dark. I love that moment. Like, oh, I can leave forever in that moment. I really love that moment. And then I guess one of, just to name some moment of an artist, it was, Slava Pollooning was visiting our American Theater Festival in Bogota in Colombia and it's a clown. And I just remember being just so enchanted and just in awe of his craft and that performance that was tragic and happy and sad and beautiful and melancholic and everything at the same time together. Those are some memories. I have so many, but those are some. (laughs) Those were wonderful. I love those. I would love to pick your brain more about puppet theater and marionette, especially from, you know, we've had several guests from Colombia, from Uruguay, from Mexico, who do that. And it's fascinating. It's absolutely fascinating. I love the craftsmanship that goes into that incredible. So thank you for that. Randy, bring us home on this. What's another of your favorite memories? - My, one of my favorite theater memories was seeing machines, machines, machines, machines, machines, machines, machines at Hear Art Center. It was Rainpan, I think they're, the company's name is Rainpan 43 or Rainpan 93 or so. I don't, I don't remember exactly, but it was Rainpan and something. And the show was like, the whole show was like this big Rube Goldberg machine. And these people that were living in existing inside of them, the magic of that show and the danger of something not going right. And it being an absolute tragedy for the rest of the show, you know, was so exciting. And it was the kind, it was the, it's why you need live theatrical or, you know, experience, why you need to be in space with somebody, that kind of exchange that's happening between the artists and the audience and the set and the design and the whatever. I was there with a bunch of friends. We had no idea what we were coming to see. And we had like an absolute joyful, giddy experience. We were like yelling a little. Like it was like, we were laughing really hard and it didn't feel like we shouldn't, you know what I mean? Like we were laughing hard. And I remember getting up for my seat after it was over. And I was like jumping, like when we were applauding, like you couldn't believe it went the way that it went and that everything. And also it was heartbreaking and heartwarming and it was all of the feelings. But just the fact that we all got through it together felt like a huge feat. So I love that show. It's, we get to name shows or theater things that we love about our, in life on our website. And I put that one on our website just because it was such a fun show. - That's amazing. Wow, man, I wish I could have seen the show. You had me sold at Rude Goldberg. Like I love watching people come up with those. So thank you so much for those. Thank you all so much for those memories. As we wrap things up, I want to start by asking, you know, do any of you have any other projects, productions, fundraisers, grants, anything that we can plug for you coming on the pipeline? - I have so many things, (laughs) but one big one, we have a premiere of a work that I've been working six years. It's called A Meal, it's going to be a wonderful three-hour experience that is taking over here, art-centered, all building downstairs, theater upstairs, hallways, lobby, and it's going to be dance, theater, song, and food, the audience will get to eat and they get to also cook themselves. So that opens up in September 11 and it's going to run three weeks. And then we also have our classes here in our student, Williamsbury and Brooklyn, a space called Cave, and every Monday we have our physical practice called Ludus. So you all are welcome to check our website lemme.org and hopefully come and train with us in the studio or come be an audience and eat with us in September. - Indie Space has always got quite a bit going on. Right now we're in the middle of our community resources lottery. I don't, if anybody is interested in putting their name in a hat to receive free grant writing, strategic planning, headshots, somatic breath and body work. Like we have a bunch of items that are going to be in a lottery for both individual artists and small budget organizations. Community Resource Lottery is open now. And then coming up in, we're participating in the West Side Fest, which is all of the West Side cultural organizations or institutions are opening up a whole festival on July 12th, 13th and 14th that Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There's a bunch of institutions on the West Side that are opening their doors that day and having various activations for free. So our West Village rehearsal co-op will be open with rehearsals. We have people that are using the rehearsal space. They'll be doing open rehearsals all day so folks can just drop in and check it out. But also you should check out all of the work that's happening. The Whitney has their doors open. Poster House will have their doors open. The shed is doing something, Chelsea Factory's doing something a high line, little island, all of the groups on the West Side. And well, those are the next two things. So I'll leave it at that. I'll leave it at that. Incredible. Hailey. I'll just share. I mentioned I work for the Mark Moore Dance Group. And we've got some free performances coming up this summer, both in August on the 3rd, we'll be at Bryant Park. And on the 31st, oh, I think I have this next round. On the 3rd, we're going to be at Brooklyn Bridge Park. And on the 31st, we will be at Bryant Park. So come out across the boroughs to see some great dance. We'll lead some intergenerational classes before each performance so you can also come and dance yourself. Amazing. Amazing. So some amazing works all of you have or projects that you're involved in coming on the pipeline. This is some exciting stuff that we're going to have to add to our summer calendar. But it leads to my final question, which is if our listeners would like more information about this report or about future funding or about any of you, maybe they'd like to reach out to you, how can they do so? Well, the report right now, it's actually available online. You can download it in a PDF format in Spanish and also in English. Or you can just see it in the website. And the website is cultural solidarity fund.org. And if you have a slash report, you can get to the report. Or you can have more information about the cultural solidarity fund also in the website or Insta handles social cultural solidarity fund. And there, I think there are bubbles that also can lead to our different organizations. And this also leads to different organizer groups like right now, these three companies here, Mac Moritz and India Space and LeMay. But there are individuals who belong to many other organizations in the city as well. If you want to reach out to us, if you have questions about a solidarity project, if you just want to throw some ideas around, please email us. We, each of us as individuals, the cultural solidarity fund as a collective, really thrive in collaboration and are always kind of open to it. So this whole thing started when Hamena, who did not know Randy, reached out and wanted to chat. And now they're very close friends. We're all very close friends. And it just speaks to the power of a cold call, cold email. So please do it. Email us. Wonderful. Well, Haley, Randy, Hamena, thank you all so much for taking the time to speak with me. Thank you so much. Been the amazing work you have done and you continue to do. This is amazing. I feel so honored to have gotten to speak with you. So thank you so much for your time today. Thank you for having us. Thank you, Andrew. Thanks so much. It's really like an honor to get to talk about it with you. So thanks. Thank you. My guests today have been co-organizers and lead research team members, Haley Andres, Randy Berry and Hamena Garnica, who spoke to us today about the Cultural Solidarity Fund's report entitled From Regranting to Redistribution, How the Cultural Solidarity Fund Moved Money and Why We Need Community-Centered Coelitions. They are doing truly God's work out there. They're doing amazing things for artists and all facets. If you are in a position to, you should definitely support them, donate to them. There are several ways that you can do so. And also, there are several ways that you can find more information about this fund and this report. All of this is going to be in their contact information, which we are going to be including in our social media post, as well as our episode description. But right now, give a round of applause by them a drink. This is incredible. These three wonderful, wonderful leaders in the arts community. Thank them for doing this amazing report entitled From Regranting to Redistribution, How the Cultural Solidarity Fund Moved Money and Why We Need Community-Centered Coelitions. So until next time, I'm Andrew Cortez, reminding you to turn off your cell phones, unwrap your candies, and keep talking about that theater. In a stage whisper. Thank you. [MUSIC PLAYING] If you like what you hear, please leave a five-star review, like, and subscribe. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at StageWhisperPod. And feel free to reach out to us with your comments and personal stories at stagewhisperpod@gmail.com. And be sure to check out our website for all things StageWhisper and theater. 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