Lobbying, Grant deadlines, and where to rehearse

As part of the Minnesotans United for All Families coalition Minnesota Playlist is encouraging folks to participate in the upcoming Lobby Day of action on March 29th at the Minnesota State Capitol. Minnesotans United is joining forces with OutFront Minnesota in a Lobby Day of Action on Thursday, March 29. Here’s what the Lobby Day is all about, according to a press release from OutFront Minnesota- “There's a lot of work ahead of us to defeat the amendment to ban marriage for same-sex couples, and the time to commit to action is now. This is about more than meeting with your legislators. This is about uniting as Minnesotans to stand up for a Minnesota where all people and their families are treated with dignity and respect.” Here’s an outline of what’s planned for March 29th. Morning – Twin Cities Metro Regional Sessions (near the Capitol) Noon – Rally on the Capitol lawn Afternoon – Greater Minnesota Regional Sessions (near the Capitol) 4:30– 5:30pm Faith Reception and 5:30-6:30pm Service, Mt. Zion Temple, St. Paul Hope you can make it ________ Lately I’ve noticed a lot of folks chatting about finding rehearsal spaces for various projects. So, I thought it’d be worth mentioning SpacemART Minnesota. Springboard for the Arts and the Minnesota Theater Alliance have collaborated to create a searchable database of facilities available for rent anywhere in the state of Minnesota. You can search by what kind of usage you’ll need it for, or by discipline. And if you know about or have a space to offer you can add it to the database. One less barrier to making your cool project happen! ________ Unsurprisingly, the Playwrights’ Centerin Minneapolis can be a great place to find new plays either in development or ready to be produced. This week the Playwrights’ Center is hosting two new play readings. On Wednesday, March 14th, there will be a reading of a new work by Trista Baldwin called “Angel Fat.” It’ll be at 3pm and free to all. On Friday, March 16th, at 3pm there will be a free reading of “God Box,” a new work by Janaki Ranpura. Live readings of a new play can be invaluable in the creative process of the playwright and it can also be very informative for theater makers in attendance. So go help a playwright while maybe getting a little something for yourself. ________ The Minnesota Regional Arts Council has a few grants workshops and some grant application deadlines coming up. Never written a grant before? Writing grants but having little success? Or may you just haven’t done it in a while. The MRAC workshops can give you the necessary information to structure your grant application and point you towards other resources to make your application all it can be. Go find a workshop or a grant description and get yourself on the path to funded creativity. The Arts Activities Support Grant has an April 9th deadline so you’ve still got time. ________ Fast Company recently published an article on businesses offering unlimited vacation to employees with the caveat being that each employee is solely responsible for ensuring their work is done on time. Unlimited Vacation Doesn't Create Slackers--It Ensures Productivity The article talks about how this can increase productivity by putting that trust and responsibility into each individual’s hands. But it cautions about the dangers of individuals working too much and too hard, taking no vacations and eventually burning themselves out. I think any artist who is self-employed or responsible for creating her own deadlines could easily speak to the pros and the cons of this kind of management-free work. One of the great things about being an art maker is that if you get an idea for a project you don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to try and make it happen. You want to write a play, sit down and start writing. You want to choreograph a dance, find a space or a sound and start interacting with it. You want to act in a show, get auditioning or get producing the show. The only barrier to working on these projects is your willingness to get working. Of course, as any artist can tell you, the most challenging and difficult barrier to get past is one’s self when it comes to making work that no one asked for. A self-employed artist has to decide every single day that she is going to keep working on that thing, perhaps with no other accountability than her own desire to create or his own desire to not feel like a failure. On the flip-side, I know countless numbers of art makers who struggle everyday to know when they’ve worked enough on their project or when they can take a break from making anything at all. When there’s no boss, or manager, or collaborator telling you that those bloodshot eye’s, hunched back, and permanent brow crease mean you’ve been putting in too much time on your laptop it can be tremendously difficult for an artist to know when to get out of the world of the project and back into reality. And, perhaps most importantly, this employee driven technique of getting work done by removing constant management and supervision probably only works when the employee is passionate about the project. ________ Keep letting us know about new works or ongoing work in the world of Minnesota’s performing arts. Have a week full of self-motivation! -Levi