Mesa Arts Center Receives International Award

Hi All!

http://mesaartcenter.org

 This is the Mesa Arts Center commonly referred to as "The MAC". The MAC were recently honored with an international award as was posted in the The East Valley Tribune.

The Mesa Arts Center received an award from a trade group after competing against venues that included the famed Sydney Opera House. The MAC got accolades from International Association of Venue Managers, which presented the center with its Venue Excellence Award in the performing arts center category. The Mesa Arts Center was competing with the Sydney Opera House and the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa Bay, Fla. Click here to find out more! The award is given to an organization based on service to the community, team building, professional development, and safety and security operations. “This honor belongs to the entire Mesa community, which has been so supportive and engaged with the Mesa Arts Center and its programs,” Mayor Scott Smith said. “We took center stage hosting CNN in February for a Republican Presidential Debate and the immediate response from those on site was that our facility and its staff are second to none.” 

Congratulations to the MAC.

Michelle

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Arizona Consortium for the Arts Indigo Hotel Fundraiser

Yesterday I attended a fundraiser for the Arizona Consortium for the Arts (Artizona.org) at the lovely Indigo Hotel in downtown Scottsdale. I remember when Elena Thornton first started the organization and was struggling to get it off the ground. She hung in there and brought it in to being. Many have come on board to volunteer and take on critical positions to move the organization forward. Now the goal is the consortium's own facility pictured below.

The rendering of the consortium's dream multicultural arts center by Effie Bouras, Building Designer, Mechanik Design Office, LLC

Great prizes were donated for the silent auction.

The  entertainment was provided by Rhythm & The Rose a jazz trio lead by singer Brit Rose. They performed easy listening jazz that was perfect for the event.

                                                  http://facebook.com/rthymandtherose

If you're looking for an organization to support the arts,with your money.time or service, this is a good one. 


You can click on the video to enjoy the music. The consortium is on facebook, so like them to be notified of their next fundraiser.


As always, you can click on shop to find find a "pretty" to add to your collection or to give as a gift.




Michelle

Are You Afraid to Ask for What You're Worth?

Know Your Worth: A New Year's Resolution Every Artist (and Every Person) Should Make

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  Arts , Knowing Your Worth , New Year's Resolutions 2012 , Artist Monetary Worth , Artist Resolutions , The Value Of Art , Value Of Artist , Arts News

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Submit this storyAn artist friend of mine calls me the other night, upset that his manager is still accepting low ball fees without a fight from presenters he's already proven himself to in performances from years before. He goes on and on about how much he has accomplished over the last few years and I stop him to ask, "So you believe your value has increased? You think you're worth more now?". He hesitates, almost as if he's ashamed to admit it, but he finally says, "Yes." I tell him the problem is simple to see, "Your manager doesn't agree." The solution was even simpler, he needed a new manager.

A wise friend once told me that it does not matter how great you see yourself in your own eyes. If the team around you doesn't see you that way, they cannot help you get to where you want to be. They cannot advocate earnestly and fervently on your behalf. I add to that by saying if you do not understand your own worth you cannot increase your monetary value. In every other business employees prove themselves, show their worth and then rightfully demand promotions or increases in pay. But in the arts world, we artists have tricked ourselves into believing that if what we do brings us so much joy and happens to come easily to us, surely we should not charge a premium for it. Heck, we even offer our services for free much of the time. We have been taught to believe we are in service to the art, and that is true to a great extent when we are on the stage. But prior to making our entrance from the wings, a few things need to be established:

1. Your Time Is Worth Something: Because we've been practicing our craft since we were little ones, we sometimes discount the value of our practice time. Remember that without that time spent we would be unprepared for our engagements. Therefore, that time is valuable beyond measure. Consider it when you are setting your fees. I'm not talking about billable hours (though wouldn't that be nice?!), but rather I'm asking you not to blow off the monetary value embedded in your preparation.

2. The More You Offer, the More You Are Worth: Artists must stop thinking of ourselves as bargains and begin to see ourselves as extremely valuable package deals. If you offer more than a performance experience, don't throw in all your perks (lectures, outreach, masterclasses, etc.) for free. Every activity you offer provides extra value to the presenter and his audience.

3. Consider the Value of Your Residual Impact: This is why I envy TV actors. Years later, when we're still laughing at their sitcoms and crying over their dramas, they are still getting paid for it! What kind of impression will you leave behind that has residual value? A concert will hopefully impact your audience and they will remember the experience or even be moved by it for years. But in your supplementary activities is your chance to change lives, to cause young artists to think or play differently, to expose outreach audiences to new art they might not have known otherwise. And even though it will be you bringing the experience to town, the art presenter will benefit greatly in reputation from the positive experience you provide. That is worth a lot.

And so are you. Stop right now with the excuses about the down economy and the drop in funding for the arts and understand this:

People find a way to pay for what they really want.

The only time I have not gotten more for my services is when I have failed to ask. As Chrissy fromLove and Hip-Hop said on the last episode (yes, this high brow Classical musician is fascinated by reality TV), "People don't give you what you deserve. You only get what you negotiate for."

I happen to think you and your art are worth a little negotiation, don't you?

Happy New Year! Here's to a prosperous 2012.

Check out Jade's Emerge Already! blog, the go-to destination for creative types looking to take their careers to Level Next: http://emergealready.blogspot.com/.

Thanks to the Huffingtonpost.com  for sharing. 

Michelle