Artist Resources, Grants for Artists, Creative Projects, Making Money for Artists

Hold up. Gig work is work? We know this news may come as a shock to some readers. Unless you’re an artist, in which case you are intimately familiar with the hidden costs, expectations, and contradictions of 1099 work. Like many other unacceptable realities of American living, the financial precarity of gig workers has been normalized in day-to-day life and entrenched in our laws. But there are growing networks of people working to change this reality and offering promising visions for the future of gig work for artists. We’re here to bolster 1099 arts workers with a bundle of statistics, a not-so-secret stash of resources, and a heaping spoonful of hope:

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.

Theresa Koon is the creator of “Mother of Exiles,” a choral project committed to motivating people to discuss and address the complexities of immigration in America. Theresa is based in Portland, Oregon and became a member of Fractured Atlas last year in her efforts to raise the funding necessary to bring her project to life. She hopes that “Mother of Exiles” will ultimately be performed by choirs around the world and used as an anthem for organizations and campaigns that seek to support asylum seekers.

Andrew Purchin is the founder of The Curious Project, a series of visual art installations designed to confront and explore individuals' political and ideological differences. The project has taken place at various locations and events across the country, including the 2016 Republican and Democratic National Conventions. In 2018 it was installed during the 2020 Santa Cruz County elections and will be in five swing states in the months leading up to this year's presidential election. Andrew is based in Santa Cruz, California and has been a member of Fractured Atlas for four years.

Last year I met Kristina Wong in Chicago at Fractured Atlas' Artist Campaign School, a program that offers trainings for artists and arts administrators interested in running for political office. Kristina is a comedian, performance artist, and actor currently serving as an elected representative of the Wilshire Center Sub-District 5 Koreatown Neighborhood Council in Los Angeles, California. Created to engage and educate young people in civic participation, "Radical Cram School" recently launched its second season. Kristina took the time to share some insight into her journey and the process for bringing the web series to life.

Merce, The Series, created by Fractured Atlas member organization Skipping Boyz Productions, was produced to create an entertaining web series that combats the stigma against HIV. The series shows the life of a person living with the illness who isn’t sad, sick, or dying. Through music, love, and laughs, Merce, The Series hopes to prove that “Life Can Be Positive When You’re Positive.” Skipping Boyz Productions has been a member of Fractured Atlas since 2014 and is based in New York City. Tyne Firmin, Producer and Director of Merce, The Series shared some of their process with us on bringing the web series to life.

In October 2016, Fractured Atlas presented its commitment to anti-racism/anti-oppression. Specifically, As part of Fractured Atlas’s commitment to supporting individual artists and the arts sector overall in firmly planting themselves in justice, we are especially committed to ensuring that our environment, and those created by our member artists, are welcoming to all individuals, regardless of race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability, or any other bias that may present itself. Each day we are working, to paraphrase Mr. Baldwin, to dismiss the vocabulary we have hidden behind for so very long. [Emphasis added.]

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Navigator on Unsplash It’s easy to think that, thanks to the Internet, our services are 100% accessible, but that’s just not the case. The D/deaf and hard-of-hearing community are still underserved by online video and audio providers, and many websites are still not friendly to screen readers used by people who are blind or low vision. There are still a variety of barriers to using Fractured Atlas’s services, but we’re working on it, and thanks to our time during All Hands and our work with Equity Quotient, we’re growing our understanding and implementation of access.

As part of our commitment to anti-racism and anti-oppression, Fractured Atlas has been hosting race-based caucuses since late 2016. Each space serves a unique role in our work. We’re sharing our experiences in the hopes that more organizations will implement the practice.

Our AlterConf Contingent Fractured Atlas’s offices are in New York City, but most of our software development team works remotely. So, while we see each other during conference calls and chat on a daily basis, the on-site and remote staff don’t often get the chance to hang out in person. But when there’s an opportunity to hang out and talk about social justice? Sign us up! Last month, members of our Product, Engineering, and People teams got the chance to attend AlterConf NYC, a conference focused on marginalized people and those who support them in the tech and gaming industries. (As of September 2017, they have conferences coming up in Australia, Oregon, and San Francisco — check ’em out.) What got you excited about going to AlterConf NYC? Tasha Jones, Software Developer I had attended AlterConf in Washington, D.C., in the past and it was amazing. I couldn’t pass up on a second opportunity to experience it. Selena Juneau-Vogel, Director of Product Management Tasha! She was so excited about it, I just went with her recommendation. Also, I was excited to meet Angelique in person for the first time. Angelique Weger, Senior UX Engineer I went to AlterConf DC last year and still reference some of the great talks from that event. Plus, I was jazzed there was enough interest across our company that I would be able to attend with and meet coworkers! What aspects of the conference environment or setup impressed you the most? Marcus Swift, Product Management Specialist The organizers made a thoughtful effort to make sure the event was accessible to as many people as possible. They had conference rooms set up for people to take a break if they needed one, childcare was available, sign language interpreters were present, and talks had thorough content warnings. What blew me away the most, though, was the open captioning/live transcribing of the talks on two displays above the stage. At first, the speed of the captioning was disorienting. But, as someone who watches a lot of shows with closed captioning, I really appreciated them being there, along with the stenographer’s skill in transcribing the talk for everyone to read it. Tasha Jones The organizers provided attendees with multi-colored slips of paper to indicate our level of interest in social interaction. A green paper was used to indicate that you’re happy to speak with anyone, while the yellow indicated a preference for interacting with people who you already know, and the red paper indicated that you need space. As a person who swings pretty dramatically from feeling social to feeling like I need to have some personal time, I’d really love to see these at other conferences in the future. I definitely saw attendees and speakers taking advantage of these as a tool for nonverbal communication. What were your biggest takeaways from the presenters at AlterConf? Selena Juneau-Vogel Over the span of several presentations, I started to hear a theme I’m calling “how might we adjust so everyone can contribute?” A talk called “Design Ethics: Inclusivity in the Design Process” made me think: how can we adjust our software development process to include more perspectives without slowing down our commitment to agile and iterative deployment too much? A talk called “Low Spoons Leadership” introduced me to “Spoon Theory,” and made me think: how can we better adjust for one another’s emotional and physical capacity? And a talk called “Integrating Family & Career: Ensuring Women’s Dreams Continue to Take Flight After Motherhood” included a striking comparison: the hormones produced during pregnancy are more intense and span a shorter period of time than those produced during puberty. This reality impacts many pregnant individuals’ decision-making capacity. The speaker was pregnant herself, and was by no means suggesting that we take away or discount pregnant people’s decision making. Instead, she is working to develop AI technology to help pregnant people feel confident making their own decisions throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. Also, attendees pointed out that people other than cis-gendered women can be pregnant. So, what’s the takeaway here? Maybe it’s only awareness at this stage, but there’s so much more we can do to accept ourselves and our colleagues as humans, while also respecting their varied contributions. Angelique Weger I was very impressed by the talks that specifically addressed issues of poverty, illness, and disability within tech communities and teams, not just as people or issues tech can help/address. I hope the broader tech community engages with those topics. Also, Seán Hanson gave a talk on “Quiet Developers” that really helped gel a lot of thoughts I’d been having about who is visible in the tech communities I participate in, and at the conferences I attend. I expect I’ll be referencing his talk for months to come. Tasha Jones So many of the talks were really amazing. Seán Hanson’s talk on “Quiet Developers” was full of really valuable perspective that I didn’t have before. I recommend reading his blog post on the topic. Also, as a person who accidentally volunteers herself for things WAY too much, Emily Metcalfe’s talk on “Low-Spoons Leadership” was really helpful. I definitely feel like I had something to take away from every talk there, and I’m so grateful to each of the speakers for their time. AlterConf timed nicely with the eclipse, too. Marcus Swift Christine Bryant-Ryback gave a talk titled “Standing Desks and Free Pizza: Body Image Negotiations in Tech Spaces” that offered so much to consider about navigating body image in the workplace. The talk ranged from how “all bodies are good” philosophies can be unintentionally exclusive to people who may have legitimate reasons for finding their bodies problematic, to making sure that office wellness programs are optional and offer ways of including everyone in the office— taking into account both visible and invisible disabilities. Katriel Paige’s presentation on “The Privilege of Making” raised great questions about the intersection of space, making, and privilege. How do we ensure makerspaces are equitable and affordable? What are the gendered and socio-economic implications of terms like “making,” “crafting,” and “DIY?” How does the value of time and leisure factor into class in tech? As online shopping makes tech and other goods cheaper, are we leaving people behind who can’t access goods at cheaper prices because it’s not feasible or safe to have packages shipped to them? I know I’ll be thinking about these questions for a long time. What other conferences or events are you excited about attending this year? Selena Juneau-Vogel In a few weeks, I’m headed to San Jose for my first Women in Product conference. Also, our VP of Engineering and I are submitting presentation proposals to a few tech conferences coming up. We’re excited to talk about the product+engineering team process we’ve developed and be inspired from others to keep improving. Be sure to follow us to hear more. Tasha Jones I’m excited to be speaking at Windy City Rails in September, which will be extra fun since a couple members of our team will be meeting up there. Our team is fully remote, so it’s pretty exciting when we get to see each other in 3D. If you’re at Windy City Rails, be sure to say hi!