By Ron Evans
Over the past few years I have heard chatter in the local creative community about forming an alliance of artists and supporters of the arts here in the Wenatchee region. The chatter turned into a plot and the plot is being organized and furthered along. So we wanted to chat with one of those organizers, Kmbris Bond, about her role in this alliance - and about what the hay an arts alliance even is.
Bond is a teaching artist and was in the 2019-2020 cohort of the Teaching Artist Training Lab funded by the WA Endowment For the Arts. TAT Lab is a focused nine month training that connects artists from various disciplines - validates them as professionals and empowers them to advocate together for the arts, such as education for all ages, collaboration support, funding and community engagement.
Tell us about yourself and how you found your way to being a part of the efforts to form an arts alliance.
As a professional artist with a background in working on many nonprofit boards I’ve been interested in the art scene of the valley and wondered why we didn’t have a stronger arts advocacy group. After several conversations about this with various folks in the valley who lead or have led in arts disciplines I knew the interest was there, the need was there but the time, team, and resources had yet to align. This spring Scott Bailey reached out with a grant opportunity and after several conversations a group came together to start the process to form an art alliance while also submitting a letter of intent to the Community Foundation for much needed funding and guidance.
What exactly is an arts alliance when put into practice?
There are many alliance models out there and we are currently researching these models to see what would fit our region the best. Our survey is asking locals to give input into what is needed and wanted for the arts. There is clearly a desire for a collaborative hub for artists where they can promote their work and connect with potential commissioners, an education entity, an arts information source for promotion to tourism and economic development, and for me, I’d love to see a dynamic entity that promotes a diverse spectrum of arts disciplines and raises the awareness to the indigenous cultural history here. So my answer is basically, an art alliance is what a community needs it to be to promote and educate about the arts in their region or community. I’m hoping we learn from the survey what people really want, need and desire while developing the building blocks to a strong arts future for our region.
I think we need an arts advocacy alliance where outside funds can be received into the community through grant writing and lobbying locally, statewide and nationally, and I hope that deeper art appreciation through education and exposure will lead to a more robust art economy.
Talk about how it works concerning funding?
The steering committee is eager to get the alliance off the ground by working with Andy Fife, a consultant from Seattle. He is working with several regional nonprofits through the Community Foundation’s grant. We hope to be able to start applying for grant monies in a few months to secure funds to get things off the ground. We are early in the stages of what this will look like but various income streams will be investigated.
Are there examples of similar programs that are working successfully you can point people toward?
Methow Arts is one that is thriving! They support their local artists, provide funding for teaching and educational opportunities, are vibrant in how they represent the region and it attracts artists and art appreciators to the upper valley. Our own history has Allied Arts here in Wenatchee and I’d love for someone, like you, to research that and write about its successes. The committee is making a list now of the 20-25 that we will get a feel for and then dive into a handful that have aspects that we particularly are hoping to implement here. Andy has worked with many nonprofits and has suggestions. There are also several entities listed in our survey that we will explore. I’m specifically looking for how they engage with their communities, the businesses and champion the arts, what their funding structures are, their governance structures, and why they formed, what worked and didn’t work for them as they formed. If readers have seen alliances in other places that are doing it well, we would love to hear from them. Austin’s art scene is vibrant and supports up and coming arts in various disciplines; I want to learn more about how that happens there. Other more local established organizations that may inform our efforts are Ellensburg, and their Gallery One, Tieton’s Mighty Tieton and Yakima Allied Arts.
What steps are being taken to get this alliance off the ground?
A steering committee has organically formed made up of amazing and passionate art supporters, karen dawn dean, Scott Bailey, Lindsay Breidenthal, Natalie Dotzauer, Jamie Howell, Megan Kappler, and myself. We’ve put out the survey to glean as much input as we can from the community. As mentioned, we have obtained the services of Andy Fife to guide our efforts and to efficiently work through the process of becoming a non-profit with clear mission, values and purpose. We will be needing help and I hope that our community supports these efforts to dream with us. We plan to host on-line/hybrid ‘townhall’ type gatherings in the upcoming weeks to get input from those who support or identify in the areas of visual arts, performance arts, production/film arts and other forms. We will use contact information from the survey to communicate with the community about upcoming conversations and opportunities, so please complete the survey to get on our list. -Info on how to do that below-
How can people get involved if they want to help?
The committee would love for people to complete the survey. It is the container we have to glean contact information, feedback, input, concerns, ideas, hopes and dreams while we are still in a pandemic world. Our committee members will be looking for help to host the various ‘town hall’ events addressed above so if readers would like to help, let us know in the survey and please plan to attend.