AS220 - More Lessons from Rhode Island
When I was up in Providence last week for the SEEED Conference, I went on a backstage tour of AS220 - an artist community that redeveloped three blocks of DownCity into a vibrant live/work/eat/create district. With N+J, we got to see and hear the gritty from Umberto Crenca; Founder, Flaranutist and Artistic Director and Susan Clausen; Founder, Property Manager and Teacher. We went on St. Patrick's Day night, and it was as rowdy a group as you could hope for - but so diverse: Hipsters with fixies, businessmen in suits, frat boys with backwards caps, old hippies jamming on squeezboxes while waiting for a table at a restaurant, post-punk punks with strollers, techies, posh gay men, posher Latina women, and us -- a couple of tourists.
AS220 started out as a collection of avant-garde artists living the bohemian dream; squatting and creating experimental art in warehouses. Green Day played at their space before anyone cared. Today AS220 owns three historic buildings and operates apartments, "cottage industries" or creative-entrepreneurial workshops that generate income, music and theatrical venues, a youth program, and leases space to retail/restaurants and offices. The organization and the spaces it manages plays a critical role as urban "third space" for social interactions. With the upcoming National Symposium on Cultural Districts coming up here in Station North, Baltimore - it might be good to scribble my notes.
Stick to your values: I feel that there is a false comparison between financial solvency and "selling out". AS220 is a mature organization with a board, real estate, relationships with private and government partners, and cash but it has not "sold out". It remains committed to its core values of providing an accessible, uncensored, unjuried, diverse home for the arts in Rhode Island. These values shape all the decisions made by the organization from who gets a studio, which bands play, to what companies are sought after to lease their storefronts. According to Crenca, "We are guided by an agenda, and that agenda is as much diversity as possible." Thus the mix of visual and performing artists in the same building. Residents range from teenagers to a woman in her 70's. The organization is structured specifically to mix all races, classes, aesthetics and viewpoints together. Values are not words on a mission statement but are actively lived through how staff treat each other, the expectations of the community, projects and programming.
When you have a clear articulated set of values, your organization has the freedom to make strategic decisions to further, not contradict, your mission. This includes saying no to some growth opportunities, but also expanding in unexpected ways. You need to know what you are standing for before you can figure out how to stand for it.
Work the system: Non-profits and artists are always complaining about a lack of resources for our endeavors and great ideas. Crenca, who is described in one biography as someone who is equally dedicated to independence and 'troublemaking for its own sake' mastered the dense bureaucracy and politics of state and local government (and Rhode Island is not a particularly easy state to do that in), historical tax credits, zoning laws and organizational management to build a small artistic empire that serves an estimated 50,000 people a year. AS220's capital includes the skillset to find resources, and dismantle the barriers that would otherwise prevent it from accomplishing its mission. Learning how to work the system doesn't compromise artistic integrity but expands it.
Get the right people for the right jobs: An interesting and probably controversial element of AS220's organizational structure is the flat income policy (prorated for part-time positions). Meaning that the guy pouring your beer or teaching kids makes the same pay as the Executive Director, and CFO. Such a policy means that people are motivated to do this work because they choose to be part of this community, and they love what they do. A lot of orgs contend to be flat, but such a policy really enacts it. If you are great with soundsystems and awesome at booking bands you'll probably end up doing just that - if you are great web developer and could make a ton of money, you are probably there because you'd rather be working at AS220 then anywhere else.
Get off the teat: Very few artistic venues even dream of being able to rely on attendance to break even. Much less one that runs a program serving at-risk youth, and refuses to book gigs based on economic draw. AS220 runs a series of "cottage industries" including a darkroom, letterpress, digital hack labs, game design program, restaurant and classes -- these are all income generating (along with the below market rate apartments and retail renters) and allow them to operate without exclusive dependence on philanthropy and grants. By diversifying your income base, your organization not only provides value to your community, creates jobs, builds resumes, and is sustainable but also provides goods and services.
Work with neighbors: One of the most remarkable lessons from AS220 was how they worked with existing retail and landowners to make sure they were included in the community that was growing up around them. This deserves it's own research and blog post... so in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy a little Flaranute.
