OurGoods

Organizing a 1-3 Day Arts Festival

Arts in Bushwick is an all volunteer organization that started in 2007 with one event (Bushwick Open Studios) and now organizes three events a year. Arts in Bushwick has seven core members who work (without pay) roughly fifteen hours a week year-round with rotating roles (this helps them focus internally AND helps people understand who to contact for what). The roles are: volunteer coordinator, press, sponsorship,lead producer, operations manager, budget, and extra helper.

Chloe Bass offered advice and structural suggestions for anyone throwing an arts festival for 1-3 days:

- “A common goal is more important than friendship. We’re a group that got in a room together and stayed.”

- Keep your budget low by NOT RENTING SPACE

- “We don’t curate. We may present 80% bad art and 20% good art, but if you find a festival with 100% good art and happy organizers, they should teach a class.”

- Go to your community board, your neighbors, the hospital, the school, churches, etc. for UPDATES and OUTREACH IN PERSON. If you tell them what you’re doing they might participate! For example, the Soul Tigers marching band joined in the parade Arts in Bushwick organized and they avoided overlapping with Puerto Rico Pride day the following year by being aware of the area.

- You can get event insurance from a fiscal sponsor like Fractured Atlas or The Field (they also act as fiscal sponsors, aka you can apply for non-profit grants through them)

- Liquor must be “sold” as donation only. Liquor licenses take 6 weeks to process OR a quicker 2 weeks if you hand deliver the form in Harlem.

- “Don’t say, ‘I know how to help you.’ Say ‘I’m here to help, let me know what you need.’”

- Ask for $50-$250 “general event sponsorship” from bodegas, coffee shops, and all the local businesses in exchange for logo space on your brochure (seen by 1000 people). If they are hesitant, leave information. Follow up and don’t harass them! You might also consider swapping mailing lists as a “press sponsorship” exchange and getting “unique sponsorship” and put a name next to your event’s title if a place or person gives you a lot of money.

- “Approach people at the level they feel comfortable with. If someone doesn’t want to work with you, they’ll just blow you off.”

- Read the local paper, contact local bloggers ahead of time, and know who runs your precinct!

- The Arts in Bushwick google conversation is publicly available so that anyone who wants to get involved can make an informed decision about the organization’s process. They are also on twitter.