“Arts Forward” forges a path to the future
For the last three years, Chattanooga’s artistic community has been undergoing a kind of quiet revolution. In rooms all over the city, arts leaders have been sharing the challenges they face on myriad issues, big and small, in a quest for solutions.
The revolution is called “Arts Forward” and it’s an initiative which aims to strengthen and empower arts organizations in areas such as sustainability, operating capacity, programming, and internal processes. Specific program goals include fostering better collaboration between arts groups and finding ways of empowering professionals.
The creation of Arts Forward began in 2016 with Kathleen Nolte, Program Officer for the Lyndhurst Foundation, and Kristy Huntley, Program Officer for the Benwood Foundation.
For years community arts groups frequently approached these local foundations seeking financial help, as well as guidance on topics such as capacity building, new staffing strategies, improved board training, and long-range planning. Nolte and Huntley had a notion that they could address these needs within the Chattanooga arts ecosystem.
Nolte had heard of a consultant group called Arts Action Research, run by a dynamic duo, Nello McDaniel and Anne Dunning. They had a reputation for in-depth and complex organizational development with arts groups. Nolte also heard of the good work they had done with many groups in North Carolina, and so she reached out to them.
Nello and Anne specialized in working with arts workers and thinkers in a consortium format, building strong networks of communication and collaboration within those communities.
It was clear to Nolte and Huntley that Nello and Anne’s cohort-style approach could be helpful and timely. Late in 2016, Nello visited Chattanooga for conversations with foundation officials and other arts makers. Soon thereafter, program framework and a timeline took shape. The Footprint Foundation joined in, playing a major role in funding. And Arts Forward was born.
The program kicked off in summer 2017 with twelve chief participants: ArtsBuild, Bessie Smith Cultural Center, Chattanooga Boys Choir, the Theatre Centre, CoPAC/Barking Legs, Glass House Collective, HART Gallery, Hunter Museum, Scenic City Clay Arts, Sculpture Fields at Montague Park, SoundCorps, and Unity Performing Arts Foundation.
The larger group gathered every other month, while CEOs met with Nello or Anne for additional one-on-one coaching sessions. Occasionally they met with boards or staff. Topics ranged from “How to Engage Boards,” Long-Range Planning, and S.W.O.T. analyses (assessing institutional Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).
Immediately, CEOs appreciated the individualized attention. “Arts Forward has allowed our organization to take an aerial view of the challenges we face,” says Anne Rushing, Executive Director of Sculpture Fields. “We’re now able to look beyond the short-term needs of the organization, and towards a sustainable and impactful relationship with the greater community and with our core supporters.”
The partner foundations were pleased by the initial results, citing what they noticed was a deep level of organizational growth, reduced stress, greater organizational capacity, as well as improved relationships with fellow arts organizations.
As such, new arts organizations were invited to join the program, including Pop-up Project, StoveWorks, Art120, The Chattery, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, and Scenic City Clay Arts. Together this expanded group tackled a wider span of topics driven by needs of the participants.
Samantha Teter, Executive Director of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, said, “Arts Forward is helping arts organizations and artists control their own destinies by providing resources and training in areas where they need the most help.”
As Arts Forward enters year three, the format has evolved from internal work to now looking at the greater arts community, helping to shape what the future holds for the city.
The topics deemed most pressing in the city are: arts advocacy, social engagement, expanding audiences, increasing visibility, centralizing information, sharing resources, supporting arts workers, and arts in education.
“It’s a huge step to identify and come to a consensus on community challenges and goals within a group,” says Jules Downum and Mattie Waters of The Pop-up Project, Chattanooga’s only modern dance company. Teter stresses, “While there is still a lot of work to be done, bringing all of the arts together has been a great way to share knowledge and expertise and lift each other up.”
Nolte’s assessment thus far is positive. “We have seen tremendous growth in the eighteen participating organizations and, importantly, these arts organizations have developed closer relationships with one another, and a more cohesive arts community.” Thanks to the foundations, Arts Forward will continue to nurture cultural leadership and strengthen the economic and social vibrancy of Chattanooga.