There’s not much to smile about these days. As I’m writing this, the United States just surpassed China as the nation with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world, and it’s all but certain that by the time we “flatten the curve” we’ll see more loss of life than any other country as well. While the news is dotted every so often with a heartwarming story or ridiculous video of how we’re all coping with our new normal, it’s hard to feel that any good can come of this particular moment. I think there’s an opportunity for the arts community to address a massive issue that it can’t quite figure out how to talk about: poverty.

Meryl Jones Williams is a Brooklyn, New York-based analogue filmmaker. Her new project Goldilocks is a 16mm mixed-media, animated film set in 1989 that tells the story of two siblings who learn what they mean to each other when one follows the other unseen into the wilderness. Meryl was a member of Fractured Atlas several years ago and recently rejoined in her efforts to raise the funds necessary to bring Goldilocks to life. She shared some insight into the process of creating her first movie that integrates animation into old-school filmmaking and the impact that COVID-19 has had on the execution of her project.

The world is experiencing a huge shift as a result of COVID-19, especially when it comes to how we think about jobs and offices. All of a sudden, offices have had to rapidly get their teams set up with the right gear, the right technical tools, and beginning the process of emotionally adjusting to a virtual working - all in a matter of days or weeks. And one of the biggest changes to come about for newly virtual workers? The introduction of video conferencing through software like Zoom. Meetings that used to be face-to-face are now conducted through video. It might not seem like a huge shift, but it really is very different from face-to-face meeting. There are new questions about how to schedule meetings, what professionalism looks like, and more.

This is the third of four posts. Each tackles a piece of the elephant that is the recent Fractured Atlas move to a four-person “Chiefs Executive.”

So your job has just gone virtual. Now what? Once your company or organization has figured out how to get everyone a computer, which video conferencing and chat tools to use, and how to store files on a shared cloud-based drive, there’s still a huge amount of adjustment that needs to take place. Even though you’re still working on a computer, things probably feel totally different. It can be hard to get back into the swing of things. You might feel uninspired, isolated, or like you can’t concentrate. Even under the best circumstances, this is totally normal for workers who have transitioned from office life to virtual working.

Many artists and arts organizations are currently faced with potentially irreparable losses due to the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. With the national economy and public life ground to a halt, we understand the urgency of allocating critical resources to those in need in our communities. Artists and creatives are working together to sustain the cultural activities and creative projects that enrich all of our lives in unprecedented ways. It is essential that we support these efforts to strengthen our connections in spite of physical isolation. To this end, Fractured Atlas has put together a list of emergency resources for artists and arts organizations of all disciplines and designations. We encourage you to share these and to email us at support@fracturedatlas.org with updates or more resources that aren’t listed.

People talk a lot about remote work, and I don't love the word. It makes me think of people working on a deserted island, disconnected from the organization. That's not a great way to run an organization; it creates silos and a disconnected team. Silos and disconnection are a perfect recipe for organizations that can’t adapt to change, innovate, or make the world a bit of a better place.

Work. Shouldn’t. Suck. promotes people-centric organizational design for thriving workplaces. And these days, workplaces are increasingly going fully virtual, often in the span of days or weeks. How do we make sure that the transition sucks as little as possible?

Simone Alexander is the Producing Artistic Director of New Manifest Theatre, a contemporary theatre production company dedicated to reflecting the collective human experience through inclusive storytelling. New Manifest Theatre has been a fiscally-sponsored project of Fractured Atlas since 2018 and is based in Austin, Texas. Simone talked to us about good friday, New Manifest Theatre’s latest production, and the process involved in bringing the story to the stage.

The question that I’m increasingly asked nowadays (and something the team at Fractured Atlas who helped manage our own transition have been discussing) is: now that we’re an entirely virtual organization, having evolved into it over 4-5 years, what if we had to do again, overnight?