TRAINING and FACILITATION

Springboard, 501 Commons, Seattle

Springboard provides organizational development support, access to expertise and knowledge, as well as consulting to strengthen the functioning of small and mid-size cultural organizations. The program uses a cohort learning environment and customized consulting over a six month period with additional follow up. Each participating organization involves three staff and board members in the full program. A cohort of six organizations participates each year since the program’s inauguration in 2009. Claudia Bach worked with 501 Commons to develop the Springboard program based on a 2002 Capacity Building Initiative developed by Claudia with Christine Weed for the Seattle Arts Commission and Washington State Arts Alliance Foundation. Springboard today works in partnership with these and other regional arts entities, most notably 4Culture and the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. Claudia serves as presenter and facilitator for this program of 501 Commons, training volunteer consultants and leading cohort sessions.

Springboard, 501 Commons

Artist Trust’s EDGE and Native Creative Professional Development Programs

In 2003, AdvisArts worked with Artist Trust on the development of a new initiative to serve the professional development needs of visual artists in Washington State. The EDGE Professional Development Program, supported by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, provides artists with an opportunity to gain professional career building information and skills through a multi-faceted curriculum. AdvisArts worked with other professionals in the visual arts to design replicable curriculum content and materials responsive to the needs of adult learners, and provided seminar instruction for selected pilot program sessions. The program was also adapted to meet the particular needs of Native American artists in conjunction with the Longhouse, Olympia, WA. EDGE now is being offered for artists in other disciplines as well. The EDGE Program is built on a foundation of workshops and roundtables AdvisArts developed and presented starting in 1993 for Artist Trust. These popular programs, presented in over 20 communities statewide, were offered in support of Artist Trust’s mission of providing Washington State artists with targeted tools for professional growth. Claudia Bach remains an advisor and occasional instructor for EDGE.

Artist Trust EDGE Program

4Culture

4Culture marked the fifth year of the organization’s transition from the King County’s Office of Cultural Resources to a Public Development Authority (PDA) in 2007 and AdvisArts facilitated a Board of Directors’ retreat that evaluated this change. AdvisArts then worked with a 4Culture Planning Task Force of Board and staff to follow up on issues identified at the retreat. The Task Force focus was to assess the relationship between 4Culture’s four Advisory Committees (Arts, Heritage, Historic Preservation and Public Art), its Board of Directors, and staff to maximize the considerable depth of resources and expertise across the organization in service of its mission.

AdvisArts facilitated in-depth meetings with each of Advisory Committees to complement the information gathered through the Board retreat. Areas were defined for further development based on findings from these meetings and discussions with the Task Force. A Report on Structures, Roles and Communication of the 4Culture Board and Advisory Committees addressed these areas through four recommendations accompanied by draft documents and suggested strategies to serve as tools for next steps. This included a core values statement, reconfiguration of the Board and Advisory Committee liaison roles; development of materials to create common knowledge across and beyond the organization; and enhance internal communication.

4Culture