State of the Union 2017
Hi all,
Another holiday season, and time once again to update you on how things have been going with your local Artists' Union.
I have to be honest here: The leadership staff have been going through a lot of changes lately, and as of November 2017, we are going to be putting our public events and activities on hold. This means we will NOT be doing the Holiday Auction or Meet & Greet in December.
As an alternative to hosting the auction, we are going to put together a print-on-demand 2018 calendar, available on Redbubble, which will feature artwork from 12 different artists in support of the Union. Contributing artists will have space for a bio/description of their work, and contact information. Sales of the calendar will help with revenue towards operating expenses. Our goal is to have this available for purchase as soon before Christmas as we can.
Setting up the account on Redbubble also has a lot of useful potential in terms of helping promote artists' work, which we will be examining as we go forward.
We're taking art submissions for this now, so please get in touch if you're interested, and we will send an email with more detailed instructions.
We are also planning on an end-of year “appreciation potluck” and holiday gift exchange that will be open to all those volunteers, artists, and supporters who we've worked with over time. Timing will be based on when folks are available. We'll send out an event invite when this is finalized.
It's been a rough year for a lot of people, and things are not looking much more optimistic for 2018. Certainly the seemingly endless news hysteria and political wrestling matches have not done much to instill confidence about the future.
In terms of changes, I and our CTO, Kristoffer Godwin, have had to move out of Portland in order to deal with issues of chronic health and financial stability. That leaves our third volunteer staffer, Heather Nashif-Noland, as the only locally remaining Board member. She has been working full time, and has been involved in starting a new independent business to support writers getting their work published. So her time is now significantly more limited in terms of carrying out our organization's functions.
Although we continue to stand behind the mission, vision and values of Artists' Union, and will continue to work towards establishing it as a formally recognized non profit entity with the ability to issue dues memberships, advocate for working artists, and provide opportunities for career development and exhibition opportunities... We have had to admit that we, as fellow artists, face many of the same limitations, struggles, and barriers to long-term success & well-being as those we wish to help. It's a big part of what makes us so passionate about our cause. We've all been there... We know how hard it is to “make it”... Or, some months, for some folks, even to reach an acceptable standard of living.
Any successful community organization requires the ongoing support, commitment, and contribution of a large number of people: Not just Board staff, but also event staff, office and administrative staff, outreach/marketing/flyer posting crew, social media management, expert consultants, operations crew, and of course... our artists, allies and the larger community whom we serve.
We've learned that, until we can effectively recruit, train, and provide consistent and coherent leadership to a volunteer team that can help carry out our mission on the daily, our organization is at a standstill.
So what now? We are going to be leading a search for new blood: Ongoing volunteer staff for key positions such as Board membership, executive manager, volunteer coordinator, marketing/social media guru, outreach/event staff, and more. We will be getting in touch with several other organizations and networks to seek recruitment at a professional level (LinkedIn, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Smalll Business Development Center, and so on) as well as reaching out to potential helpers on a person-to-person level.
If you, or anyone you know, is interested in helping carry forward our efforts into 2018, please get in touch. You can sign up directly for our Meetup group for volunteers here:
or shoot us an email at: artistsunion503@gmail.com
Expect that we will start organizing volunteer meetups as soon as we have a volunteer lead stafffer to help coordinate in 2018. We may tap individual folks as needed to help with specific items before then.
We will also continue to work on the administrative structure of Artists' Union, such as finalizing operating policies and procedures, identifying Meetup group leadership, meeting with the legal team at The Commons Law Center regarding our nonprofit structure & Federal filing, development of a starting membership package, outreach and marketing materials, plans for show opportunities & Spring Art Swap for 2018, and more.
And of course, I want to also thank everyone who has helped participate in our efforts throughout 2017.
We have met with many like-minded folks who are more than ready to see us succeed, and who have deepened our understanding of what's really important to creative people in our Portland community and beyond.
We've grown from a humble gathering of just a small handful of individuals, to an online presence of hundreds of artists and allies.
We have a wonderfully diverse, talented, outspoken and experienced group of creative community members on our Networking Group, who publish a rich variety of quality local events and opportunities.
Nothing has made me more hopeful and more dedicated to seeing our efforts with Artists' Union through, than the magic that we've witnessed when people come together and carry out our shared dreams and goals in real life. And I know that we aren't the only group of creative folks out there who want a better day for Portland's working artists.
Let's keep those dreams and goals going in the coming year. Together, we can keep them alive and kickin'!
Yours Truly,
Serena B Appel aka Blossom Savolainen
President,
Artists' Union Local 503
