What is in my mind? Well, a lot of things. A lot of things that bother me, a lot of things that I want to fix but don't know how to, a lot of things that I am trying to make an impact in, even if it just me that is attempting to make a change. Our world is a pretty messed up place, filled with inequality, judgment, abuse, self-centeredness, hatred, fear, and a lack of love for all living and non-living things. So, although there are many issues that have been plaguing my brain, here is a smaller list of the main ones I want to work on as soon as possible:
Toolkit Research:
What strategies or findings most resonate with you? What information might have been entirely new and worth digging further into? What might be missing?
The toolkit I selected was Toolkits for Change: Growing Up in the Arts Toolkit. The strategies that I found most resonating with me were the selection, organization, and responsibilities of the administrative team/organization. Within the administrative team, the toolkit said it was important to have a person or persons dedicated to programming the events and teaching artists. They have to start a year, if not more, in advance to prepare for the budget, planning committee, grants, event, location, people involved, and means of outreach. They also have to organize all the individuals involved in the event, including teaching artists, performers, volunteers, interns, partnerships, and youth participants.
An essential part of the administrative committee was also the during- and post-event evaluations, something that I hadn't necessarily thought of as part of their duty, but clearly the job does not end when the event ends. They explained how it was the interns' role generally to deal with observations, documentation, and evaluation. This is crucial because doing an event is nothing if the feedback received is negative because then no one will want to return to the program or recommend it to people they know, and word of mouth publicity is often the best, most effective publicity.
I want to look further into how evaluations are done and how the program is made sustainable/repeatable so that it can be done year after year. I would have loved to know more about how the admins find and reach out to teaching artists and how the grants are written. I feel that it is essential to have a good team who represents/becomes the face of your project, and equally crucial to be able to secure the funds to make the event possible in the first place.
- Environmental Protection and Sustainability - this is the world we live on and will hopefully continue to live on, but we have messed it up and let our habits make it degraded to a point that is nearing no return. Before we hit that end line, there are species we need to protect, resources we need to conserve and distribute more equally, bodies of land, air, and water we need to clean, and habits we need to change. Many people from generations before us don't realize the impact human actions have had on the environment, and many don't worry about it because they won't live long enough to be affected. But since our generation and generations to come will, we should do something about it.
- Women's Rights - yes, this is broad, but all of what comes under this topic matters to me, from right to reproductive choice and care, equal pay, nondiscriminatory work conditions and job opportunities, the right to live (female feticide), media objectification, dowry, right to fair representation (not just a couple of representatives but actually correspondent to how many women are part of the country), etc. As a female-identifying person, these issues matter to me because they, in one way or another, affect me and other women, and no gender should be suppressed or oppressed or superior/inferior to another.
- Immigration - my parents immigrated here from India, so the immigrant idea is a huge part of my identity as a person and has had a big influence on my culture and upbringing. Especially with the current political administration's actions, I have the deepest sadness and empathy towards the families being ripped apart and the children being put into cages. This is a situation where I don't know what I can do other than using my platform as an artist to talk about the atrocities being inflicted on immigrants of all kinds and colors, from past to now.
Toolkit Research:
What strategies or findings most resonate with you? What information might have been entirely new and worth digging further into? What might be missing?
The toolkit I selected was Toolkits for Change: Growing Up in the Arts Toolkit. The strategies that I found most resonating with me were the selection, organization, and responsibilities of the administrative team/organization. Within the administrative team, the toolkit said it was important to have a person or persons dedicated to programming the events and teaching artists. They have to start a year, if not more, in advance to prepare for the budget, planning committee, grants, event, location, people involved, and means of outreach. They also have to organize all the individuals involved in the event, including teaching artists, performers, volunteers, interns, partnerships, and youth participants.
An essential part of the administrative committee was also the during- and post-event evaluations, something that I hadn't necessarily thought of as part of their duty, but clearly the job does not end when the event ends. They explained how it was the interns' role generally to deal with observations, documentation, and evaluation. This is crucial because doing an event is nothing if the feedback received is negative because then no one will want to return to the program or recommend it to people they know, and word of mouth publicity is often the best, most effective publicity.
I want to look further into how evaluations are done and how the program is made sustainable/repeatable so that it can be done year after year. I would have loved to know more about how the admins find and reach out to teaching artists and how the grants are written. I feel that it is essential to have a good team who represents/becomes the face of your project, and equally crucial to be able to secure the funds to make the event possible in the first place.
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