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This week we spoke with Jennifer Wright Cook, the Executive Director of The Field, an organization that helps artists through fundraising support and by providing other important creative resources. Jennifer had some very keen insights into the current environment and the challenges faced by traditional and non-traditional Creatives. Here is Part 1 of our interview:

What is The Field and how does it help artists?

We are what’s called an “arts service organization”.  I often say that this means we’re like a gas station for artists, giving them the fuel they need to thrive: www.thefield.org  What does that really mean though?

Founded by artists for artists in 1986, The Field is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping independent performing artists and companies thrive artistically and administratively.  From fostering creative exploration to stewarding innovative fundraising strategies, we are delighted to help artists reach their fullest potential.  Field programs, poised at the intersection between knowledge and practice, can generally speaking be divided into Artistic and Management Services. These include super subsidized page to stage rehearsal/performance residencies (4,000 hours a year at less than $4 an hour), fiscal sponsorship, business skill-building classes like grantwriting and budgeting, one-on-one consultations and free out-of-town creative retreats.  In addition to this evolving core curriculum, The Field responds proactively to sector-wide challenges through various Special Topics, which currently includes our Economic Revitalization for Performing Artists (ERPA) program which aims to help artists make new money for their art, from their art. 

We help about 2,000 artists and companies a year.  Most of our artists are the “primary generators” of the work; meaning they are the directors, choreographers, composers, etc.  They are emerging and mid-career artists working in experimental and traditional forms of dance, theater, music, puppetry and performance art. Field artists win Bessie (dance) awards, NYIT (theater) awards and Obies (theater).  They get grants from the MAP Fund, Jerome, and NYSCA to name a few and they tour nationally and internationally.  We don’t like to drop names but we will!  Currently Field programs serve multi-award winning companies like Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People, miguelgutierrez.org/ The Secret City thesecretcity.typepad.com, Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant avantgarderestaurant.com, and OurGoods ourgoods.org.  We also have 11 national and international sites run by local artists to help their own communities thrive artistically.

What I think makes The Field special is our individualized and direct attention to you, the artist.  We are a small staff and we work really hard and mostly behind the scenes to help each artist do his or her best work.   In addition, everyone who works at The Field is a working artist, so we know from personal experience the challenges and opportunities you face in the creative economy.  Lastly, we don’t judge your artwork by highly mutable aesthetic criteria – our programs are open to any performing artist or company who wants to make work.

What is your role at The Field?

I am the Executive Director of The Field and I came on board in 2006 first as Development Manager, then as Co-Director, then as Executive Director in August 2007.   In addition to my organizational visioning and managing duties, I run the ERPA program.  I love the work I get to do with ERPA and with the ERPA artists.  They have changed my life. 

I also know from first-hand experience how much The Field can change an artist’s life.   Back in the day when I was a 25 year old dance/theater performer in New York, I was doing what so many artists do to make money – waiting tables and personal training.  I was physically exhausted, financially insolvent and my self-esteem was super depleted.  I needed a big change mentally and job-wise.  I started thinking about arts administration.   A friend of mine said, “You should check out The Field.  They run this artist-manager training program teaching artists how to be managers.”  I signed up, and my life changed 180 degrees.  I got 8 weeks of arts admin boot camp for free from the amazing expertise of Steve Gross (Field Founder) and then I got hooked up with an emerging choreographer named Pam Tanowitz pamtanowitzdance.org/ Pam had her first show at Danspace Project and I was thrown into the fire of self-production.  I learned crazy fast.  I got our first grant ($500 from the then new to New York Starbucks!) and I met dozens of stakeholders who are still my friends and colleagues.  And the training I got at The Field moved me from waitressing and personal training (no disrespect to these jobs though) to arts administration.  It’s a really good match for me I think.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with Jennifer. Check out Part 2 next week.