Each month we feature one of our fiscally sponsored projects who have been successful at using our program to advance their art/cause/career. This month’s featured project is Broad’s Word Ensemble.

When you’re setting up a crowdfunding campaign, one of the first decisions that you’ll make is setting your goal, the amount of money that you want to raise. This decision can have far-reaching consequences and is often where the campaign lives or dies.

photo credit: Gender/Power Composition IV, a MAP Fund recipient and Fractured Atlas member Calling all presenting artists and arts organizations! If you’re fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas and interested in applying for the MAP Fund, please continue reading for some important information about applying.

Guest post by Jamie Hoffman, Home Decor and Garden Buyer at UncommonGoods Jamie Hoffman — Uncommon Goods As a buyer for UncommonGoods, I spend my days scouring craft fairs and trade shows looking for new items to sell in our online shop. I meet a lot of talented artists who’ve worked hard to perfect their products, but who are struggling with how to break into the commercial market. Sometimes it’s because they haven’t figured out how to scale their production capacity in a way that inspires confidence. Other times it’s because they’re neglecting to frame their work in a way that shows how special it is — be it through photography or written product descriptions. Because of my experience and perspective as a retail buyer, I know that every aspect of developing and showcasing product is an opportunity to share it with the customer.

New book for your summer reading list: The Art of Relevance by Nina Simon (photo by Lisa Niedermeyer) The title of Nina Simon’s new book, The Art of Relevance, perfectly sets up our expectations as a reader. It could have been titled The Ultimate Guide to Relevance, or 10 Steps to Being More Relevant, but Simon would never choose such titles because she understands relevance is a moving target. Framing the pursuit of relevance as an art primes us to seek insights into process. Many of you already know Nina’s work from her popular blog Museum 2.0, her best selling book The Participatory Museum or her TEDx Talk Opening Up the Museum. However, for those of you who don’t recognize the name, here is all you need to know in order to be interested in this book’s author — Nina is hungry for accountability. It is not enough to just talk about building relevance in diverse communities, she is deeply invested in what actually works and holding oneself accountable. Before reading this book my working definition of ‘relevance’ was something along the lines of ‘to be relevant you must be in tune with the current environment; you are topical and timely’. Simon replaces such milk-toast definitions of relevance with the following: Relevance is a key that unlocks meaning. It opens doors to experiences that matter to us, surprise us, and bring value into our lives. If we believe the products, services and experiences we create are relevant to a certain audience, but we aren’t unlocking new meaningful experiences for that audience, we aren’t in fact relevant to them at all. Take a moment to let that truly sink in. Many of us are likely attempting to market to, invite, and build for specific communities, but are we unlocking new information that is meaningful to the lives of those individuals? What would it look like if we did? What does it take to authentically do it well? How might the pursuit of relevance change us? What is the danger of irrelevance? The Art of Relevance is an opportunity to learn from others stories and Simon’s thoughtful framing. As I read the book I dog-eared page after page, making notes of the people in my world that I wanted to share the a-ha’s with. Here are the groupings those folks fell into, I highly recommend this book to: People designing new experiences (artists, software developers, curators). People leading efforts around equity and inclusion (arts admins, founders, board members). People advocating for the intersection of communities (disability + dance, museum + homeless, lgbt + race). People tuning into potential for scalable relevance (philanthropists, investors, entrepreneurs). The Art of Relevance is an engaging, 196 page read, anchored with stories and examples ranging from small artist-led community projects to large established institutions. (It’s worth noting 2 of the projects featured are Fractured Atlas members and past honorees of our Arts Entrepreneurship Award. Kudos to Museum of Impact and The Laundromat Project!). While the e-book version offers the convenience of reading on the device of your choice, the printed version offers a bright key covered front, thoughtfully designed as a social object. What conversations might be sparked with a stranger on a plane, on a park bench, on your commute, because you are both curious about unlocking meaning?

Each month we feature one of our fiscally sponsored projects who have been successful at using our program to advance their art/cause/career. This month’s featured project is Catacomb of Veils.

Arts, Technology, and Business Stories to Watch by Fractured Atlas Every week, we find the most interesting and important stories at the intersection of the Arts, technology, and business and share them with you. (If you’d like to get these in your e-mail inbox you can subscribe to here). Check back every week for insightful and eye-opening stories that peaked our interest, and hopefully yours too.

Music licensing for video productions can be complicated. You know you can’t grab a song out of iTunes and throw it on top of your video, but what can you do? More than anything else, your budget is going to control your song selection. If you don’t have tens of thousands of dollars allotted to your music budget alone, mainstream Top 40 pop songs will be out of your reach. But you still have options.

One of our favorite books at Fractured Atlas is Brandraising. We have several copies floating around our office and we recommend it at every opportunity. In 2014, I inaugurated our blog book club with a write-up.

Each month we feature one of our fiscally sponsored projects who have been successful at using our program to advance their art/cause/career. This month’s featured project is Such A Funny Life. Cover Photo by Gavin Whitner (https://musicoomph.com)